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Other Resources

Elements named after minerals

A handful of elements take their name directly from the mineral or ore in which they were first identified. Beryllium derives from the mineral beryl, calcium from calx (limestone), boron from the mineral borax, and so on. These names connect the elemental list back to the world of geology and mining.

Back to name origins

Name source

Mineral Astronomical body Mythology Person Place Properties

Language of origin

Greek Latin Russian English German Swedish Japanese Anglo-Saxon Spanish Norse Arabic
No. Symbol Element Original word Meaning Language Named by
4 Be Beryllium beryllos Beryl Greek
5 B Boron buraq / borax Borax mineral Arabic
14 Si Silicon silex Flint Latin Thomas Thomson (1817)
20 Ca Calcium calx Lime Latin
33 As Arsenic arsenikon Orpiment Greek
48 Cd Cadmium cadmia Calamine Latin Friedrich Stromeyer (1817)
62 Sm Samarium Samarskit Samarskite German Lecoq de Boisbaudran