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.
- hahnium (105) – Otto Hahn. This element name is not accepted by IUPAC. See element naming controversy
- 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
Named after fictional 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 and warm summer weather
- titanium (Ti, 22) – the Titans, from Greek mythology
- vanadium (Va, 23) – Scandinavian goddess Vanadis (Freya)
Many chemical elements are named after astronomical bodies which are named after Greek or Roman deities. See Chemical elements named after places.
Note :
- 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 Colonel Samarski, a Russian mine official.