List of chemical elements named after people
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This is a list of chemical elements named after people. The symbol and atomic number are given in brackets.
- For other lists of eponyms (names derived from people) see Lists of etymologies.
- For a list of eponyms sorted by name see List of eponyms.
- bohrium (Bh, 107) — Niels Bohr
- curium (Cm, 96) — Pierre and Marie Curie
- einsteinium (Es, 99) — Albert Einstein
- fermium (Fm, 100) — Enrico Fermi
- gallium (Ga, 31) — although named after Gallia (Latin for France), the discoverer of the metal Lecoq de Boisbaudran subtly attached an association with his name. Lecoq (rooster) in Latin is gallus.
- lawrencium (Lr, 103) — Ernest Lawrence
- meitnerium (Mt, 109) — Lise Meitner
- mendelevium (Md, 101) — Dmitri Mendeleev
- nobelium (No, 102) — Alfred Nobel
- roentgenium (Rg, 111) — Wilhelm Roentgen
- rutherfordium (Rf, 104) — Ernest Rutherford
- seaborgium (Sg, 106) — Glenn T. Seaborg
The element naming controversy that surrounded elements 104 to 109 saw two further names derived from people gain partial acceptance. Neither was or is accepted by IUPAC.
- hahnium (Hh, 105) — Otto Hahn. Now known as dubnium.
- kurchatovium (Ku, 104) — Igor Kurchatov. Now known as rutherfordium.
Named after mythical characters
- niobium (Nb, 41) — Niobe, a mortal woman in Greek mythology
- promethium (Pm, 61) — Prometheus, a Titan from Greek mythology
- tantalum (Ta, 73) — Tantalus, from Greek mythology
- thorium (Th, 90) — Thor, the Norse god of thunder
- titanium (Ti, 22) — the Titans, from Greek mythology
- vanadium (V, 23) — Scandinavian goddess Vanadis (Freyja)
Many chemical elements are named after astronomical bodies which are named after Greek or Roman deities. See Chemical elements named after places.
- Gadolinium (Gd, 64) is named from the mineral gadolinite, which in turn is named after the Finnish chemist and geologist Johan Gadolin.
- Samarium (Sm, 62) is named from the mineral samarskite which in turn is named after Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets, a Russian mine official.
[edit] See also
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