Azul

This name is linked to “Lapis lazuli, the intense azure color stone. Lapis is the Latin word for “stone” and “lazuli.” It is the genitive form of the Medieval Latin “lazulum,” which in turn derives from the Old Persian “lâžvard / lâžavard,” meaning “azure, heaven, sky”; therefore, it is the “stone of heaven” or “sky stone” or “azure stone.” Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color. Lapis lazuli was being mined in the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan as early as the 3rd millennium BC, and some sources are found as far east as in the region around Lake Baikal in Siberia.