Lunula: Understanding the Crescent Shape at the Base of Your Nail

The crescent-shaped white area at the base of your fingernail is called the lunula (plural: lunulae).

It's not actually white, but rather a translucent area of the nail matrix, the part of the nail that produces the nail plate. The lunula appears white because the underlying blood vessels are obscured by the thicker layer of nail matrix cells in this region.