Green is the most prevalent colour in the natural world, making a bridge between the warm tones of yellow, and the cool tones of blue. It is most commonly associated with nature, Spring and regeneration. "Green" is often synonymous with someone who cares for the environment, and "green fingured" denotes someone good with plants.
It is thought that green is a calming and soothing colour that can reduce anxiety, and is used to represent safety. This is one of the reasons that it is commonly used around the world in connection with hospitals and pharmacies.
In Islam green is a sacred colour, and is used to signify the Prophet Mohammed. In Japan it symbolises eternal life, while in the ancient world, many religions connected green with deities of fertility and agriculture.
Words used to describe the colour green include: conservation, healing, growth, renewal, harmony, tranquility, youth, luck, rejuvenation, vitality, abundance, prosperity, security, freshness, nature.
There are several shades of green including:
Apple
Chartreuse
Dartmouth green
Fern
Forest
Harlequin
Honeydew
Hunter green
India green
Lime
Mantis
Mint
Olive
Paris green
Pine
Pistachio
Teal
Viridian
The Ancient Greek word for green, (or fresh, verdant) is χλωρός (chloros) from which derives the name Chloris. In Greek mythology Khloris was a nymph goddess of flowers and spring, associated with the Roman goddess Flora, and wife of the West Wind Zephyr (Zephyros). Meliboea, the daughter of Niobe and Amphion, was renamed Chloris after turning a pale-green upon seeing the death of her siblings. A related name is Chloe, used as an epithet for the agricultural goddess Demeter meaning "green/first shoot."
The Proto-Celtic *glasto- "green, blue, grey" has lent to the adjective glas in both Welsh and Irish. The boundaries between the colours were less distinct originally in the Celtic languages, so glas could be used for shades of green, blue and grey. Irish derivatives include Glass, borne by a legendary king of Munster; Glaisne, a king of Ulster and favourite among the Mac Mahons; and Glassan, a saint, and prince of Ulster.
Welsh variants include Glesni, Glesig, Glasfryn (glas + bryn "hill"), Glasnant (glas + nant "stream") and Glasynys (glas + ynys "island").
Old Irish also gives us úanne "green" from which we get Uaithne, Uainide, and Uaine. Uaine was borne by two women in the Finn-tales. Firstly the daughter of Modarn, and lover of Finn, who was able to transform into the shape of different animals, and secondly the daughter of Buide, who made the most beautiful music accompanied by all the birds from the Land of Promise.
Other "green" names include Blerta (Albanian) and Midori (Japanese). For straight translations we can use: berde (Basque), prasino (Greek), verde (Italian, Spanish), vert (French), viridis (Latin), žalia (Lithuanian), zelena (Czech), zielony (Polish).
Finally, there are also a host of green gems from which we can derive inspiration.
Emerald is one of the most well known green gems, with Esmeralda being used commonly used as a feminine name in Spain and Portugal, and Emeraud seeing occasional usage in France. Jade also has had long usage as a name, alongside Giada in Italy, and the unisex Lin in China.
Other gems include Alexandrite, Chrysoprase, Malachite, Peridot, Seraphinite, Verdite and Zoisite.
