Element names and symbols
When you sat in chemistry class, you no doubt puzzled over the abbreviation for some of the elements. "H" for hydrogen seemed simple, and so did "O" for oxygen. But why is "K" for potassium, "Na" for Sodium, and "Fe" for Iron?- 1 Hydrogen H
- discovered by Nicolas Lémery who was sure it was one of the components of water, thus the link to the Greek word ὕδωρ meaning "water"
- 2 Helium He
- comes from ἥλιος the Greek sun god because it was first found in the solar atmosphere
- 3 Lithium Li
- comes from the Greek λίθος meaning "stone" because the ore from which it came looked like a stone
- 4 Beryllium Be
- comes from the Latin beryllinus which means "green" because of the colour of the element
- 5 Boron B
- a coined word based on borax
- 6 Carbon C
- comes from the Latin carbo meaning "coal"
- 7 Nitrogen N
- the name was given in its relation to nitric acid. Lavoisier suggested the name azote from the Greek ἀζωτικός meaning "no life," and is used in several other languages
- 8 Oxygen O
- comes from the Greek ὀξύς meaning "acid sour" and γένημα meaning "produce" because it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition
- 9 Fluorine F
- was used as a flux in metallurgical operations and was called by Germans Fluss-spat and the Latin fluere meaning "to flow"; coincidentally it "flows out" of almost anything you try to keep it in.
- 10 Neon Ne
- was a new element named after the Greek word νέος for "new" when Sir William Ramsay discovered it
- 11 Sodium Na
- The common English name is derived from soda, but the symbol is derived from the word Natrium, which was both common and mysterious until someone found out that the original is an Arabic word neter, meaning "herb ash" (not to be confused with kalyun, "wood ash").
- 12 Magnesium Mg
- The name comes from the mineral magnesia, which in turn was named after an ancient city: Μαγνησία.
- 13 Aluminum Al
- named after the mineral alum; British spelling is aluminium
- 14 Silicon Si
- comes from the Latin silex meaning "flint"
- 15 Phosphorus P
- comes from the Greek φωσφόρος meaning "light carrier"
- 16 Sulfur S
- Also spelled "sulphur"; the origin of the name is lost. Greek name is θεῖον which also means brimstone
- 17 Chlorine Cl
- comes from the Greek χλωρός meaning "green"
- 18 Argon Ar
- was named by Sir William Ramsay who used the Greek word ἀργός meaning "lazy, sluggish" because the element did not want to combine with anything.
- 19 Potassium K
- The international name is kalium (wood ash); but the English name is derived from pot ash, resulting in potassium.
- 20 Calcium Ca
- was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy and gets its name from the Latin calx meaning "burned lime."
- 21 Scandium Sc
- Lars Nilson discovered this element and named it after Scandinavia
- 22 Titanium Ti
- Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius discovered titanium and referred to Greek mythology for the name that the τιτάν (titans) were the "sons of the earth."
- 23 Vanadium V
- was discovered by Nils Sefström of Sweden and took the name of the German goddess Vanadis also known as Freya
- 24 Chromium Cr
- comes from the Greek χρῶμα meaning "colour" because of the distinctive colour of chromium yellow
- 25 Manganese Mn
- named for pyrolusite and other black minerals from the region of Magnesia (Greek: Μαγνησίας) in Greece
- 26 Iron Fe
- comes from the Latin ferrum; the Greek equivalent σίδηρος can be found in siderite which is an iron meterorite.
- 27 Cobalt Co
- comes from the German Kobald meaning "gnome"
- 28 Nickel Ni
- comes from the German Nickel meaning "water sprite" because it deceptively looked like silver to the miners
- 29 Copper Cu
- comes from the Latin cuprum which was probably derived from the name of the island of Cyprus
- 30 Zinc Zn
- comes from the German Zinke which means "protrusion" because it sublimed in the furnace and condensed in protrusions in the cooler parts
- 31 Gallium Ga
- named for the area of Gaul
- 32 Germanium Ge
- named for Germany
- 33 Arsenic As
- was first isolated by Albertus Magnus and comes from the Greek ἄρσην meaning "strong" or "manly"
- 34 Selenium Se
- was discovered by Jöns Jakob Berzelius and named after Σελήνη the Greek goddess of the moon
- 35 Bromine Br
- was discovered by Antoine-Jérôme Balard who based its name on the Greek word βρῶμος meaning "stench" because of its offensive smell.
- 36 Krypton Kr
- Sir William Ramsay said he found krypton hidden among some other gasses and used the Greek word κρυπτός meaning "hidden"
- 37 Rubidium Rb
- named because of its ruby red line in the spectrum
- 38 Strontium Sr
- named after Strontian County Argyll, Scotland
- 39 Yttrium Y
- named after Ytterby in Sweden
- 40 Zirconium Zr
- named after the mineral zircon, which comes from a Persian word zargun meaning "gold-colured."
- 41 Niobium Nb
- was originally called columbium in English speaking countries. Niobe (Greek: Νιόβη) was the daughter of Tantalus (see element 73)
- 42 Molybdenum Mo
- was named after the Greek word for lead μόλιβος or μόλυβος
- 43 Technetium Tc
- was originally named Masurium after the landscape of Masuren in East Prussia; but later it was named after the Greek word τέχνη meaning "skill"
- 44 Ruthenium Ru
- was named after Ruthenia, Russia
- 45 Rhodium Rh
- comes from the Greek word ῥόδον meaning "rose"
- 46 Palladium Pd
- was named after the newly discovered planetoid Pallas which comes from the Greek πάλλας meaning "youth" or one of the charactes of Greek history
- 47 Silver Ag
- while the word "silver" has old English and German derivatives, the symbol stands for the Latin argentum and the Greek ἄργυρος
- 48 Cadmium Cd
- comes from the Greek mythological character Κάδμος, the founder of Thebes
- 49 Indium In
- was named not after India, but from the indigo-blue line in its spectrum
- 50 Tin Sn
- comes from the Latin stanum
- 51 Antimony Sb
- while the symbol comes from the Latin stibium, the English word antimony comes from two Latin words anti monachon meaning "against the monks" which appeared in an edict of Frances II of France, forbidding its medicinal use by the clergy.
- 52 Tellurium Te
- comes from the Latin tellus for Earth
- 53 Iodine I
- comes from the Greek ἰοειδής for the colour violet or purple like the flower
- 54 Xenon Xe
- comes from the Greek ξενος meaning "stranger"
- 55 Cesium Cs
- comes from the Latin caesius meaning "bluish" even though the element looks like silver. However there is a blue line in the spectrum
- 56 Barium Ba
- comes from the Greek βαρύς meaning "heavy" but is not much heavier than aluminum
- 57 Lanthanum La
- comes from the Greek λανθάνω which means "to elude, escape notice"
- 58 Cerium Ce
- was named after the recently discovered planetoid Ceres, not directly after the Roman goddess.
- 59 Praseodymium Pr
- comes from the Greek πράσινος δίδυμος meaning "green twin"
- 60 Neodymium Nd
- comes from the Greek νέος δίδυμος meaning "new twin" because the previous element had split into two
- 61 Promethium Pm
- was first called Illinium after the University of Illinois, but was later changed to a name after Προμηθεύς (the Greek god Prometheus who was the giver of fire)
- 62 Samarium Sm
- was named after the Russian mine inspector Samarski
- 63 Europium Eu
- was named after the continent of Europe
- 64 Gadolinium Gd
- was named in honour of the Finnish chemist Gadolin
- 65 Terbium Tb
- was named after Ytterby in Sweden
- 66 Dysprosium Dy
- comes from the Greek word δυπρόσωπον meaning "difficult face, mask"
- 67 Holmium Ho
- was named after Holmia which is the Latin name of Stockholm
- 68 Erbium Er
- was named after Ytterby in Sweden
- 69 Thulium Tm
- was named after Tule, a northern land of Pytheas of Massilia
- 70 Ytterbium Yb
- was named after Ytterby in Sweden
- 71 Lutetium Lu
- was named after Lutetia, the Latin name for Paris
- 72 Hafnium Hf
- was named after Kjöbenhavn, Denmark
- 73 Tantalum Ta
- Named after Tantalus (Greek: Τάνταλος) because the element is insoluble in most acids. Τάνταλος was the mythological person who was punished in Tartarus by standing in a pool of water below a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the water always receding before he could take a drink. His daughter was Niobe, whose name provided the name for element 41
- 74 Tungsten W
- A Swedish word for "heavy stone." Its symbol stood for Wolfram
- 75 Rhenium Re
- was named from the Latin Rhenus which refers to the Rhine river
- 76 Osmium Os
- comes from the Greek word ὀσμή meaning "bad odour"
- 77 Iridium Ir
- named because of its iridescent solutions
- 78 Platinum Pt
- comes from the Spanish for "little silver"
- 79 Gold Au
- the English word comes from the Germanic meaning "yellow"; the symbol comes from the Latin aurum. FYI, the Greek word is χρυσίον. You might suppose that it is the origin of the word crystal, but its origin is κρύσταλλος meaning "ice" or "rock-crystal"
- 80 Mercury Hg
- named after the Roman god. The element is called Quecksilber in Germany because of its silver colour and its natural liquid state. The symbol Hg comes from the Latin hydrargium meaning "liquid silver"
- 81 Thallium Tl
- comes from the Greek word θαλλός meaning "green twig, young branch"
- 82 Lead Pb
- the English word is probably a variant of "load" because of its weight. The symbol comes from the Latin plumbum from which we also get the word plumber. The Greek word is μόλιβος or μόλυβος which is used for element 42
- 83 Bismuth Bi
- has an originally German name, Wiesematte, which denotes a "flowering meadow." That makes sense if you saw the colourful display of a pan of hardening bismuth
- 84 Polonium Po
- named after Madame Curie's native Poland
- 85 Astatine At
- comes from the Greek word ἀστασία meaning "unsteady, inconstant"
- 86 Radon Rn
- at first it was called "emanation"; but later got its name from the Latin radius for "ray, beam"
- 87 Francium Fr
- discovered by Mlle. Marguerite Perey, it is named after France
- 88 Radium Ra
- also comes from the Latin radius for "ray, beam"
- 89 Actinium Ac
- comes from the Greek ἀκτίς meaning "ray, beam"
- 90 Thorium Th
- named after the Norse god Thor
- 91 Protactinium Pa
- comes from the Greek πρῶτος ἀκτίς meaning "first, before ray, beam," i.e., before element 89 Actinium
- 92 Uranium U
- named after the planet Uranus which in turn was named after the Greek god Ouranos (Greek: οὐρανός) which means "sky, heaven"
- 93 Neptunium Np
- named after the planet Neptune which in turn was named after the Roman god of the sea
- 94 Plutonium Pu
- named after the planet Pluto which in turn was named after the Greek god Πλούτων who was the ruler of the underworld
- 95 Americium Am
- named after America
- 96 Curium Cm
- named after Madame Curie
- 97 Berkelium Bk
- named after Berkeley California
- 98 Californium Cf
- named after California
- 99 Einsteinium Es
- named after Albert Einstein
- 100 Fermium Fm
- named after Enrico Fermi, one of the pioneers of nuclear physics
- 101 Mendelevium Md
- named after Dmitri Mendeleev, the father of the periodic table of the chemical elements
- 102 Nobelium No
- named after Alfred Nobel, the financial benefactor of science and the inventor of dynamite, which in turn was named after the Greek δύναμις meaning "power, might."
- 103 Lawrencium Lr
- named after Ernest Lawrence the inventor of the cyclotron
- 104 Rutherfordium Rf
- named after physicist Ernest Rutherford
- 105 Dubnium Db
- named after the town of Dubna, Russia
- 106 Seaborgium Sg
- named after nuclear chemist Glenn T. Seaborg
- 107 Bohrium Bh
- named after Danish physicist Niels Bohr
- 108 Hassium Hs
- named after the German state of Hesse