Birthstone and Birth Flower Finder

By the Age-Finder team · Last updated 7 November 2026

If you have ever typed what is my birthstone into a search box, the answer is simpler than it looks: every month of the year has a gemstone assigned to it. Find your birth month in the table below and you have your birthstone, along with its traditional color and meaning.

Birthstones turn up everywhere: in birthday jewelry, engagement rings, graduation gifts, and family keepsakes. This guide gives you the complete 12-month birthstone chart, a short history of where the tradition comes from, a worked example, and answers to the questions people ask most.

How to Use the Birthstone and Birth Flower Finder

Choose your birth month from the menu and select Find My Birthstone. The result shows the stone or stones for that month, their typical color, the qualities traditionally linked to them, and your birth flowers.

Only the month matters: the day and the year do not change the stone. If you pick August, the calculator adds a note of its own: spinel was added as a second August birthstone in 2016.

Birthstones by Month: The Complete Table

Here is the modern birthstone list, the version jewelers in the United States have used since 1912 (with later additions noted below).

Hardness is the Mohs scale, 1 to 10, with diamond at 10: the higher the number, the better the stone stands up to everyday wear.

Pearl is the softest stone on the list at 2.5 to 4.5, which is why pearl jewelry needs gentle care, while diamond, ruby and sapphire are the hardest and the most practical for rings worn every day.

Birth Flowers by Month

The calculator gives a birth flower for every month as well as a birthstone. The flowers below are the ones the calculator shows, taken from the same table it uses.

November is the only month with a single birth flower, chrysanthemum; every other month has two. Like the stones, the flowers are a tradition for gift-giving, not a rule.

The History of Birthstones (in Brief)

The idea of linking gems to the calendar is ancient. The breastplate of the high priest Aaron, described in the Book of Exodus, was set with twelve stones, and the first-century historian Josephus connected those twelve stones with the twelve months of the year and the twelve signs of the zodiac.

By the 8th and 9th centuries, a custom had developed (recorded in Hindu tradition and later in Europe) of owning all twelve stones and wearing the one for the current month.

The personal-birthstone idea we know today took shape much later. In 18th-century Poland, wearing the gemstone of your own birth month became fashionable, and the custom spread across Europe. In 1912, the American National Retail Jewelers Association published the first standardized modern list, which is the chart above.

It has been updated a few times since: alexandrite, tourmaline, citrine, and zircon were added as alternates in 1952, tanzanite joined December in 2002, and spinel was added as an August alternate in 2016.

Month-by-Month Birthstone Highlights

January: Garnet. The deep red garnet was carried by medieval travelers and warriors as a stone of protection, and it remains one of the most affordable birthstones, which makes it a popular choice for everyday jewelry.

February: Amethyst. This purple quartz gets its name from the Greek amethystos, meaning not intoxicated: ancient Greeks believed it guarded against drunkenness. It has long symbolized calm and clear thinking.

March: Aquamarine. Named for seawater, aquamarine was the talisman of sailors, who believed it kept them safe on the waves. Its pale blue color is associated with serenity and honest communication.

April: Diamond. The hardest natural material known, the diamond takes its name from the Greek adamas, meaning unbreakable. It symbolizes strength and everlasting love, which is why it dominates engagement rings.

May: Emerald. Cleopatra was famously devoted to emeralds from Egypt’s mines. The vivid green stone stands for love, rebirth, and wisdom, fitting for the heart of spring.

June: Pearl, Moonstone and Alexandrite. The pearl is the only major gemstone that comes from a living creature, and it has symbolized purity for millennia. Alexandrite is the chameleon of the list: it looks green in daylight and red under lamplight, and it is one of the rarest birthstones of all.

July: Ruby. Called the king of precious stones in ancient Sanskrit texts, the ruby was worn by warriors who believed it made them invincible in battle. Today it stands for passion and prosperity.

August: Peridot. This yellow-green gem forms in volcanic rock and, remarkably, in meteorites that fall to Earth. The green sands of some Hawaiian beaches get their color from peridot crystals.

September: Sapphire. Medieval clergy wore sapphires as symbols of heaven, and the stone’s fame exploded again with Princess Diana’s (now Catherine’s) blue sapphire engagement ring. It represents wisdom and loyalty.

October: Opal and Tourmaline. The opal’s shifting play of color made it a symbol of hope and creativity. Tourmaline, added in 1952, is one of the most colorful gemstones in existence, appearing in nearly every hue.

November: Topaz and Citrine. Golden topaz takes its name from the Sanskrit tapas, meaning heat. Citrine, sometimes called healing quartz, brings the sunny yellow end of the spectrum and stands for joy and energy.

December: Turquoise, Zircon, and Tanzanite. Turquoise adorned Egyptian pharaohs thousands of years ago. Zircon, one of the oldest minerals on Earth, comes in a brilliant blue. Tanzanite, the newcomer, is found in only one place in the world (Tanzania) and was added to the list in 2002.

Worked Example: Born in June? Your Birthstone Is Pearl

Suppose your birthday is June 14, 1998. Look up June in the table: your birthstone is the pearl, with moonstone and alexandrite as alternates. That is the entire method, no calculation needed, just the month.

Traditionally you would choose the pearl for its classic meaning of purity, moonstone for its soft, milky glow, or alexandrite if you prefer a rare color-changing gem. If you want to count down to the next time you can celebrate with it, our next-birthday countdown shows exactly how long remains until your birthday.

Which Months Have More Than One Birthstone?

October and November each have two birthstones, and June and December have three. The extras were added over the years to give jewelers and buyers more choice: alexandrite and tourmaline in 1952, citrine as a November alternate, tanzanite in 2002, and spinel for August in 2016.

There is no official rule for choosing: pick the stone whose color you like, whose meaning speaks to you, or whose price fits your budget. Many people simply wear both.

Modern vs Traditional Birthstones

The modern list is the 1912 standard plus its later additions. The traditional list is older, and the two differ for four months. March is the biggest change: the traditional stone is bloodstone, a dark green stone with red flecks, and the modern list replaced it with aquamarine.

August is the other month with two different stones: the traditional list has peridot and sardonyx, the modern list has peridot and spinel. June and December kept their traditional stones and gained alternates instead.

Both lists are valid; the modern list is what jewelers sell by.

If a jeweler abroad shows you a different stone for your month, ask which list they follow: the United Kingdom, for example, has historically used slightly different stones for some months, and Hindu and Ayurvedic traditions use the nine-gem navaratna system rather than the twelve-month list.

Related Reading

Your birth month says more about you than just your birthstone.

Find your zodiac sign by date of birth (the classic birth-month companion), see when your next birthday is, explore legal age thresholds around the world, learn what age is considered senior citizen, or return to the homepage to calculate your exact age.

Your birth date holds more than a birthstone: discover your Chinese Zodiac Finder animal and element from your exact birth date.

The 1912-2016 Lineage: Every Change to the List

The modern list has changed four times since it was first published. Each change is dated below, with the body that made it.

Worked Example: Born December 25

Modern birthstones for December are turquoise, tanzanite, and zircon. Tanzanite was only added in 2002, discovered in 1967 in the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, so anyone born before that date grew up with a two-stone list. The traditional December stones differ: turquoise, ruby, lapis lazuli.

Birthstone Facts

Modern vs traditional

The modern list is the 1912 standard plus later additions. Traditional lists predate it and differ by month. Both are valid; the modern list is what jewelers sell by.

The UK list differs

The 2013 UK list is not identical to the US list. August, for example, is peridot and sardonyx in the UK, peridot and spinel in the US.

Turquoise is ancient

Turquoise has been sacred to Egyptian and Native American cultures for about 5,000 years, making it the oldest December stone by far.

What other birthstone calculators offer

Most birthstone calculators on the first page give the same twelve stones this one does. What sets them apart is how much detail they add. The comparison below is against the three birthstone calculators that rank highest.

What the tool leaves out: the tool shows no Mohs hardness and no modern-vs-traditional list; it takes a month only, so it gives no zodiac sign stone and no answer for a leap-day birthday beyond the month; and it names the birth flowers without their meanings.

What it adds is the birth flowers, which none of the three shows, and the hardness, the modern-vs-traditional table and the lineage worked through by hand in the guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Wikipedia: Birthstone (modern list lineage: 1912, 1952, 2002, 2016, with citations).
• Farmers’ Almanac: Birthstones by Month (1912 Kansas City meeting; modern vs traditional comparison).
• The Gem Tray: Birthstones by Month (GIA-referenced list; 1912 history).
• Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the source for the Mohs hardness values in Table 1.
• Age-Finder methodology (how ages and 29 February birthdays are calculated).