Elements

Element names and symbols

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