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Element name origins

Where does each element's name come from? Some honour planets, mythological figures or scientists, others their country or town of discovery. Tap a tile or filter by name source and language of origin to trace two centuries of naming conventions across the periodic table.

Every chemical element name carries a story. The oldest elements were known to ancient civilisations and their names trace back to the physical properties of the metals or the places they were mined. From the Renaissance through the 19th century, discoverers turned to Greek and Latin roots to coin scientific-sounding names. Modern synthesised elements typically honour scientists, laboratories or places of discovery. The grid below colours each element by its name source, with a small square in the top-right corner of each cell marking the language of the original word.

Of these 118 elements, 29 are named after places, 49 after a property of the element, 15 after a person, 9 from mythology, 9 after an astronomical body and 7 after a mineral. The most common languages of origin are Greek (40), Latin (31), English (23).

Name source

Mineral Astronomical body Mythology Person Place Properties

Language of origin

Greek Latin Russian English German Swedish Japanese Anglo-Saxon Spanish Norse Arabic
Grid Table
1 H HYDROGEN Water-forming 2 He HELIUM Sun 3 Li LITHIUM Stone 4 Be BERYLLIUM Beryl 5 B BORON Borax mineral 6 C CARBON Charcoal 7 N NITROGEN Nitre-forming 8 O OXYGEN Acid-forming 9 F FLUORINE To flow 10 Ne NEON New 11 Na SODIUM Soda 12 Mg MAGNESIUM Magnesia district 13 Al ALUMINIUM Bitter salt 14 Si SILICON Flint 15 P PHOSPHORUS Bringer of light 16 S SULFUR Brimstone 17 Cl CHLORINE Greenish-yellow 18 Ar ARGON Idle 19 K POTASSIUM Potash 20 Ca CALCIUM Lime 21 Sc SCANDIUM Scandinavia 22 Ti TITANIUM Titans 23 V VANADIUM Vanadis (Freyja) 24 Cr CHROMIUM Colour 25 Mn MANGANESE Magnet 26 Fe IRON Iren 27 Co COBALT Goblin 28 Ni NICKEL Devil's copper 29 Cu COPPER From Cyprus 30 Zn ZINC Zink 31 Ga GALLIUM France / Gaul 32 Ge GERMANIUM Germany 33 As ARSENIC Orpiment 34 Se SELENIUM Moon 35 Br BROMINE Stench 36 Kr KRYPTON Hidden 37 Rb RUBIDIUM Dark red 38 Sr STRONTIUM Strontian village 39 Y YTTRIUM Ytterby 40 Zr ZIRCONIUM Gold-like 41 Nb NIOBIUM Niobe 42 Mo MOLYBDENUM Lead 43 Tc TECHNETIUM Artificial 44 Ru RUTHENIUM Russia 45 Rh RHODIUM Rose-coloured 46 Pd PALLADIUM Pallas (asteroid) 47 Ag SILVER Seolfor 48 Cd CADMIUM Calamine 49 In INDIUM Indigo 50 Sn TIN Tin 51 Sb ANTIMONY Not alone 52 Te TELLURIUM Earth 53 I IODINE Violet 54 Xe XENON Stranger 55 Cs CESIUM Sky blue 56 Ba BARIUM Heavy 57 La LANTHANUM Lie hidden 58 Ce CERIUM Ceres (dwarf planet) 59 Pr PRASEODYMIUM Green twin 60 Nd NEODYMIUM New twin 61 Pm PROMETHIUM Prometheus 62 Sm SAMARIUM Samarskite 63 Eu EUROPIUM Europe 64 Gd GADOLINIUM Johan Gadolin 65 Tb TERBIUM Ytterby 66 Dy DYSPROSIUM Hard to obtain 67 Ho HOLMIUM Holmia (Stockholm) 68 Er ERBIUM Ytterby 69 Tm THULIUM Thule (northern lands) 70 Yb YTTERBIUM Ytterby 71 Lu LUTETIUM Paris (Lutetia) 72 Hf HAFNIUM Copenhagen (Hafnia) 73 Ta TANTALUM Tantalus 74 W TUNGSTEN Heavy stone 75 Re RHENIUM Rhine river 76 Os OSMIUM Smell 77 Ir IRIDIUM Iris 78 Pt PLATINUM Little silver 79 Au GOLD Gold 80 Hg MERCURY Mercury (planet) 81 Tl THALLIUM Green twig 82 Pb LEAD Lead 83 Bi BISMUTH White mass 84 Po POLONIUM Poland 85 At ASTATINE Unstable 86 Rn RADON From radium 87 Fr FRANCIUM France 88 Ra RADIUM Ray 89 Ac ACTINIUM Ray 90 Th THORIUM Thor 91 Pa PROTACTINIUM First ray 92 U URANIUM Uranus (planet) 93 Np NEPTUNIUM Neptune (planet) 94 Pu PLUTONIUM Pluto (planet) 95 Am AMERICIUM America 96 Cm CURIUM Marie Curie 97 Bk BERKELIUM Berkeley 98 Cf CALIFORNIUM California 99 Es EINSTEINIUM Albert Einstein 100 Fm FERMIUM Enrico Fermi 101 Md MENDELEVIUM Dmitri Mendeleev 102 No NOBELIUM Alfred Nobel 103 Lr LAWRENCIUM Ernest Lawrence 104 Rf RUTHERFORDIUM Ernest Rutherford 105 Db DUBNIUM Dubna 106 Sg SEABORGIUM Glenn Seaborg 107 Bh BOHRIUM Niels Bohr 108 Hs HASSIUM Hesse (state) 109 Mt MEITNERIUM Lise Meitner 110 Ds DARMSTADTIUM Darmstadt 111 Rg ROENTGENIUM Wilhelm Röntgen 112 Cn COPERNICIUM Nicolaus Copernicus 113 Nh NIHONIUM Japan 114 Fl FLEROVIUM Georgy Flerov 115 Mc MOSCOVIUM Moscow 116 Lv LIVERMORIUM Livermore Lab 117 Ts TENNESSINE Tennessee 118 Og OGANESSON Yuri Oganessian
57-71
89-103

Frequently asked questions

What does "Name source" mean?
Name source is the category an element is named after, such as a mineral, an astronomical body, a mythological figure, a person, a place or a property of the element. Helium, for example, comes from the Greek helios ("sun"), so its name source is astronomical.
Why are so many element names from Greek and Latin?
For most of the history of chemistry, Latin was the language of science and Greek the language of natural philosophy. Discoverers from the 18th and 19th centuries routinely coined names from classical roots so the words would feel scientific and be readable across European languages.
What is an eponym?
An eponym is a name derived from a person. Curium honours Marie and Pierre Curie, einsteinium honours Albert Einstein, and seaborgium was the first element officially named after a living person (Glenn T. Seaborg).
Who decides the official names of new elements?
The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) approves all official element names and symbols. The discovering team submits a proposal, IUPAC runs a public review, and then publishes the final name.
Are any elements named after a country or state?
Yes, more than a dozen. Examples include francium (France), germanium (Germany), americium (the Americas), polonium (Poland), nihonium (Nihon, a Japanese name for Japan) and tennessine (the US state of Tennessee).
When does a newly synthesised element get its official name?
Once a joint IUPAC/IUPAP working party has confirmed the discovery (which can take years) the discovering team is invited to propose a name. IUPAC then runs a five-month public review before publishing the official name.