The Origin of the Names of Chemical Elements

Each chemical element has its own unique name and symbol for easy identification. The official names of chemical elements are regulated by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). This organization generally accepts the names chosen by the individual or organization that discovered the element.

Note: This list is organized alphabetically, and the numbers preceding the names are not the atomic numbers of the elements on the periodic table.

1. Actinium (Ac) 89, 1899, from the Greek word “aktis” meaning “ray” due to the radiation emitted by this element.
2. Argon (Ar) 18, 1894, a gas, from the Greek word “argon” meaning “lazy” or “inactive.”
3. Americium (Am) 95, 1944, named to commemorate America as the place where it was first discovered (artificially).
4. Antimony (Sb) 51, from medieval times, with the symbol derived from the ancient Latin “Stibium” meaning solid.
5. Arsenic (As) 33, from medieval times, from the Greek “arsenikon” meaning “bright.” The ancient Greeks used arsenic compounds as pigments (arseniosulfide).
6. Astatine (At) 85, 1940, from the Greek word “astatos” meaning unstable.
7. Nitrogen (N) 7, 1772, a gas, from the French “Nitrogène” meaning a substance that produces nitrates, such as sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate.
8. Silver (Ag) 47, from prehistoric times, with the symbol derived from the ancient name for silver, “argentium.”
9. Barium (Ba) 56, 1808, named after the mineral barite, or ore slag containing barium, from the Greek “barys” meaning “heavy.”
10. Berkelium (Bk) 97, 1949, named after the city of Berkeley in California, USA, where it was first synthesized.
11. Beryllium (Be) 4, 1797, discovered from the mineral beryl.
12. Boron (B) 5, 1808, named after one of its compounds, borax.
13. Bromine (Br) 35, 1825, a liquid, from the Greek “Bromos” meaning “stench.”
14. Carbon (C) 6, from prehistoric times, with the symbol derived from the Latin “carbo” meaning coal.
15. Cadmium (Cd) 48, 1817, named after a type of ore in ancient Latin, from which it was first discovered.
16. Californium (Cf) 98, 1950, named after the state of California, USA, where it was first synthesized at a university.
17. Calcium (Ca) 20, 1808, from the Latin “Calcis” meaning lime or calcium oxide.
18. Lead (Pb) 82, from prehistoric times, with the symbol derived from the Latin name for lead “plumbum.”
19. Chlorine (Cl) 17, 1774, from the Greek “chloros” meaning bright green. Chlorine gas has a yellow-green color.
20. Cobalt (Co) 27, 1737, from the German “kobold,” the name of a spirit that hindered the smelting of iron.

Periodic Table of Elements.

21. Chromium (Cr) 24, 1797, from the Greek word “chroma” meaning color. It is used as a coloring agent.
22. Curium (Cm) 96, 1944, named to honor the couple, scientists Marie and Pierre Curie.
23. Dysprosium (Dy) 66, 1886, from the Greek word “dysprositos” meaning “difficult, scarce.”
24. Copper (Cu) 29, prehistoric, from the Latin “Cuprum” or “Cuprus” – the name of the island of Cyprus, which provided copper to ancient peoples.
25. Einsteinium (Es) 99, 1952, named to honor Einstein, the great physicist.
26. Erbium (Er) 68, 1843, named after a place in Ytterby, Sweden, where many rare earth ores were discovered.
27. Europium (Eu) 63, 1901, derived from Europe (Eurpie).
28. Fermium (Fm) 100, 1953, named to honor Enrico Fermi, the great physicist.
29. Fluorine (F) 9, 1886, a gas, from the Latin “fluo” meaning “to flow,” a compound often used as a flux.
30. Francium (Fr) 87, 1939, named to honor France.
31. Gadolinium (Gd) 64, 1986, named after Finnish chemist Johan Gadolin, who researched rare earths.
32. Gallium (Ga) 31, 1875, named to honor France, derived from “Gallia,” the ancient name for the country.
33. Germanium (Ge) 32, 1886, named to honor Germany (Germanie).
34. Hafnium (Hf) 72, 1923, from “Hafnia,” the Latin name for the capital of Denmark (Copenhagen).
35. Helium (He) 2, 1868, a gas, from the Greek word “helios” meaning Sun, because it was first discovered in the solar spectrum.
36. Hydrogen (H) 1, 1766, from the French “hydrogène” meaning “water generator.” Water is produced when hydrogen is burned.
37. Holmium (Ho) 67, 1897, from “Holmia,” the Latin name for the capital of Sweden, Stockholm.
38. Indium (In) 49, 1863, from the Latin “Indicum” because it was discovered through its spectrum. Its spectrum has a violet color (indigo).
39. Iodine (I) 53, 1811, from the Latin “Iodes” meaning violet.
40. Iridium (Ir) 77, 1804, from the Greek “iridis” meaning rainbow, because some of its solutions have a rainbow-like appearance.
41. Potassium (K) 19, 1807, from the Arabic “alcali” meaning the ash of plants.
42. Zinc (Zn) 30, 17th century, named from the German “Zink.”
43. Krypton (Kr) 36, 1898, a gas, from the Greek “kryptos” meaning “hidden.”
44. Lanthanum (La) 57, 1839, from the Greek “lanthanein” meaning to lie hidden.
45. Lithium (Li) 3, 1817, from the Greek “lithos” meaning stone.
46. Lutetium (Lu) 71, 1907, from “Lutetia,” the ancient name for Paris.
47. Sulfur (S) 16, prehistoric, from the Latin “sulfur.”
48. Magnesium (Mg) 12, 1808, from the name “Magnesia lithos” meaning magnesian stone. It is a white mineral first found in the region of Macedonia in ancient Greece.
49. Manganese (Mn) 25, 1774, from the Italian “Manganese“, a variant of the Latin “Magnesius” meaning Magnesium.
50. Mendelevium (Md), 101, 1955, named to honor Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev – the great Russian chemist.
51. Molybdenum (Mo) 42, 1781, from the Greek “molybdos” meaning “lead,” molybdenum was first discovered from lead ore, which was previously thought to be lead ore.
52. Sodium (Na) 11, 1807, from the Arabic “Natrum” meaning natural salt.
53. Neodymium (Nd) 60, 1885, from the Greek “neos” meaning “new” and “didymos” meaning “twin.” Neodymium and praseodymium were isolated from a substance called “didymium” and are considered elements similar to lanthanum.
54. Neon (Ne) 10, 1898, from the Greek “neos” meaning “new.”
55. Neptunium (Np) 93, 1940, named to honor the planet Neptune (Neptum).
56. Aluminum (Al) 13, 1825, from the Latin “alumen,” “aluminis” meaning alum.
57. Nickel (Ni) 28, 1751, from the German “Kupfernicket” meaning “goblin copper.”
58. Niobium (Nb) 41, 1801, named to honor Niobe, the daughter of Tantalus (from Greek mythology).
59. Osmium (Os) 76, 1804, from the Greek “osme” meaning “smell.”
60. Oxygen (O) 8, 1771, from the French “oxygène” meaning “acid generator.” Oxygen is a component of acids.
61. Palladium (Pd) 46, 1803, named to honor the small planet Pallas discovered in 1801.
62. Phosphorus (P) 15, 1669, from the Greek “phosphoros” meaning “light bearer.”
63. Platinum (Pt) 78, 16th century, from the Spanish “platina” meaning “silver.”
64. Plutonium (Pu) 94, 1940, named after the planet Pluto.
65. Polonium (Po) 84, 1898, discovered by the Curies and named after Marie Curie’s homeland in Poland (Polonia).
66. Praseodymium (Pr) 59, 1885, from the Greek “prasios” meaning “green” and “didymos” meaning “twin.” Its salts are green and can be confused with neodymium salts.
67. Promethium (Pm) 61, 1945, named after the Greek god Prometheus, who stole fire from the heavens to give to humanity.
68. Protactinium (Pa) 91, 1917, with the prefix “proto” meaning “first,” thus “the first actinide.” Upon decay, protactinium transforms into actinium.
69. Radium (Ra) 88, 1898, from the Latin “radius” meaning “ray.” Radium emits radioactive rays.
70. Rhenium (Re) 75, 1925, named to honor the Rhine River in Europe, from the Latin Rhenus.
71. Radon (Rn) 86, 1900, named from the element radium, with the suffix “-on” to denote all noble gases (except helium). Radon is a decay product of radium and is itself radioactive.
72. Rhodium (Rh) 45, 1803, from the Greek “Rhodon” meaning “rose.” Some of its salts have a pink color.
73. Rubidium (Rb) 37, 1861, from the Latin “Rubidus” meaning “red.” This element was discovered using a spectroscope and has red lines in its spectrum.
74. Ruthenium (Ru) 44, 1844, named to honor Russia, from the Latin “Ruthenia” meaning Russia.
75. Samarium (Sm) 62, 1879, first discovered from the ore samarskite, named after a Russian mining engineer, Samarsky.
76. Iron (Fe) 26, prehistoric, from the ancient name of iron “Ferrum.”
77. Scandium (Sc) 21, 1879, named to honor the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe.
78. Selenium (Se) 34, 1818, “Selene” in Greek means “moon,” because it resembles tellurium, which is named to honor Earth.
79. Silicon (Si) 14, 1824, from the Latin “Silica” meaning “sand.”
80. Strontium (Sr) 38, 1808, named after the mineral strontianite (Strontian is a locality in Scotland).
81. Thallium (Tl) 81, 1861, from the Greek “Thallos” meaning “young shoot,” named because it has a distinct green line in its spectrum.
82. Tantalum (Ta) 73, 1802, named from Greek mythology, Tantalus is the son of Tantalus, punished by being made to kneel in water, unable to drink when thirsty as the water recedes.
83. Technetium (Tc) 43, 1937, from the Greek “technetos” meaning “artificial.” It is the first element obtained through artificial means.
84. Terbium (Tb) 65, 1843, named after Ytterby, Sweden.
85. Tellurium (Te) 52, 1783, from the Latin “telluris” meaning Earth.
86. Tin (Sn) 50, prehistoric, origin unclear.
87. Thorium (Th) 90, 1828, first discovered from thorite ore.
88. Mercury (Hg) 80, prehistoric, named “hydrargyrum” meaning “water silver,” from Greek, “Hydos” meaning “water” and “arguros” meaning “silver.”
89. Titanium (Ti) 22, 1791, named to honor the giants of Greek mythology.
90. Thulium (Tm) 69, 1879, from the ancient name “thule” for the northern region of the Scandinavian peninsula.
91. Uranium (U) 92, 1789, from the Greek “uranos” meaning “sky,” named to honor the planet Uranus discovered in 1782.
92. Vanadium (V) 23, 1801, named to admire the love and beauty of a goddess in ancient Scandinavia named Vanadis.
93. Gold (Au) 79, prehistoric, symbol derived from the ancient name of gold “Aurium.”
94. Xenon (Xe) 54, 1895, from the Greek “xenos” meaning “strange,” “unknown.”
95. Cesium (Cs) 55, 1860, from the Latin “Caesies” meaning “sky blue.” Cesium and rubidium were the first elements discovered by Robert Bunzen and Crookes through their spectra. Cesium is identified by the sky blue lines in its spectrum.
96. Cerium (Ce) 58, 1803, named to honor the small planet “Ceres” discovered in 1801.
97. Ytterbium (Yb) 70, 1878, named after Ytterby, a locality in Sweden, where many rare earth ores were discovered.
98. Zirconium (Zr) 40, 1789, named from the mineral zircon from which it was first discovered.