I.

Noble Elements (according to Latin Names)

Element Symbol Latin Name English

1. Antimony (from Sb Stibium Mark/symbol
antimonos
mening
opposed)
2. Copper Cu Cuprum Island of Cyprus, Britsh colony
3. Gold Au Aurum Shinning Dawn
4. Iron (from Iren) Fe Ferrum Iron
5. Lead Pb Plumbum Lead
6. Mercury (from Hg Hydrargyrum Liquid silver
the planet
mercury)
7. Potassium K Kalium Potash
8. Silver (from Ag Argentum Silver
seolfor)
9. Sodium Na Natrium Soda
10. Tin Sn Stannum Tin
11. Tellurium Te Tellus Earth

II. Elements Named after a Planet

Element Symbol Name

1. Uranium U Uranus
2. Neptunium Np Neptune
3. Plutonium Pu Pluto
4. Tellurium Te (Latin name Tellus) Earth

III. Elements named after Pagan Gods and Goddesses

Element Symbol God/Goddess Name Meaning

1. Titanium Ti Titan 1st son of Earth (Sun-God)
2. Tantalum Ta Tantalus Father of Niobe (Lit.)
3. Vanadium V Vanadis Scandinavian Goddess
4. Promethium Pm Promethus Stole fire from heaven
5. Niobium Nb Niobe Daughter of Tantalus
6. Thorium Th Thor Scandinavian God of war
7. Palladium Pa Pallas Goddess of wisdom

IV. Element named after a mineral

Element Symbol Name Meaning

1. Tungsten (tung W Wolfram Used as filaments for bulbs
sten, meaning
heavy stone)

V. Elements Named after a Color

Element Symbol Name Meaning/Color

1. Chromium Cr Greek name “Chroma” Color
2. Chlorine Cl Green name “Chloros” Greenish yellow
3. Cesium Cs Latin name “ Caesius” Sky blue
4. Iodine I Greek name “Ioeides” Violet
5. Indium In Indian origin “Indigo” Gray
6. Rubidium Rb Latin name “ Rubidius” Deepest red
7. Zirconium (from Zr Arabic name “Zargum” Gold color
zircon or gem)
8. Iridium Ir Irish name “Rainbow” ROYGBV
9. Arsenic (from As Greek name “Arsenikon” Yellow
arsenikos or male)
10. Boron B Arabic name “Buraq” White
11. Carbon C Ancient name “Carbo” Charcoal color, black
12. Praseodymium Pr Greek name “ Praseos” Green
13. Rhodium Rh Greek name “Rhodon” Red-rose color
14. Bismuth Bi German name White
“Bismutum”
15. Actinium Ac German name “Aktus” Beam/ray yellow
 VI. Elements named after a country/place

Element Symbol Country/Place

1. Californium Ca California
2. Germanium Ge Germany
3. Americium Am America
4. Berkelium Bk Berkeley, California
5. Francium Fr France
6. Gallium Ga Gallia, France
7. Yttrium Y Ytterby, a town in Sweden
8. Polonium Po Poland
9. Hafnium Hf Hafnia, Latin name of Copenhagen
Ho Stockholm, capital of Sweden, latin name
10. Holmium
“Holmia”
11. Europium Eu Europe
12. Rhenium Re Rhine, a river in Germany
13. Ruthenium Ru Ruthenia or Russia
14. Scandium Sc Scandinavia, Latin Scandia
15. Strontium Sr Strontian, a town in Scotland
16. Thulium Tm A town in Sweden
17. Terbium Tb A town in Sweden
18. Lutetium Lu Lutetia, Ancient name of Paris
19. Magnesium Mg Magnesia, a district in Greece
20. Nihonium Nh Japan
21. Moscovium Mc Moscow, Russia
22. Tennessine Ts Tennesse, USA
23. Ytterbium Yb Ytterby, a town in Sweden
24. Terbium Tb Ytterby, a town in Sweden
25. Erbium Er Ytterby, a town in Sweden
26. Thulium Tm From Thule or Northland
27. Dubnium Db Named after Dubna, Russia
28. Hassium Hs Hassia, Germany
29. Darmstadtium Ds - Named in honor of the Laboratory for
heavy Ion Research (called GSI) in
Damstadt, Germany
- Previously named Ununnilium
30. Livermorium Lv Lawrence Livermore National laboratory

VII. Elements whose symbol is derived from the first letter

Element Symbol Derivation and Meaning

1. Sulfur S from sulphur or brimstone
2. Oxygen O from oxy and gen meaning acid-forming
3. Phosphorus P From phosphoros or light bearer
4. Fluorine F from fluo, meaning flow
5. Nitrogen N From nitron and gen, niter-forming
6. Hydrogen H From hyro and gen, meaning water-forming

VIII. Elements whose symbol is derived from the first 2 letters

Elements Symbol
1. Helium He helios or sun
2. Neon Ne neos or new
3. Argon Ar argon or inactive
4. Xenon Xe xenos or stranger
5. Selenium Se selene or moon
6. Silicon Si silex or flint
7. Krypton Kr kryptos or hidden
8. Barium Ba barys, heavy or dense
9. Calcium Ca calx, or lime
10. Cobalt Co kobold or evil spirit
11. Molybdenum Mo molybdos or lead
12. Nickel Ni kupfernickel or false copper
13. Lanthanum La lanthanein, to lie hidden or to escape notice
14. Aluminum Al alumen or alum
15. Radon Rn from radium, heaviest of the noble gases
16. Osmium Os osme or odor
17. Lithium Li lithus or stone
18. Beryllium Be from mineral beryl
19. Radium Ra radius or ray
20. Manganese Mn magnes or magnets
21. Technetium Tc technetus or artificial
22. Zinc Zn From zin, German for tin
23. Paladium Pa After the asteroid Pallas
24. Cadmium Cd Kadmia or Earth
25. Osmium Os Osme or odor
26. Platinum Pt Platina or little silver
27. Gold Au From geolo or yellow, Au from Aurum
28. Thallium Tl From thallos or green shoot
29. Bismuth Bi From the German wissmuth or white mass
30. Bromine Br From bromos, meaning stench
31. Astatine At Astatos or unstable
32. Cerium Ce After the asteroid Ceres
33. Praseodymium Pr From prasios didymus or green twin
34. Neodymium Nd From neos didymus or new twin
35. Samarium Sm From the mineral samarskite named in honor of
Col. V.E Samarsky, a Russian mine official
36. Gadolinium Gd From gadolinite, a mineral named after s Finnish
chemist John Gadolin
37. Dysprosium Dy From dysprositos, a hard to get at its salt have
an extremely high magnetic susceptibility
38. Actinium Ac aktinos or ray
39. Protactinium Pa protos or first

IX. Elements named after a person/people

Element Symbol Name of person/people

1. Curium Cm Pierre and Marie Curie
2. Einsteinium Es Albert Einstein
3. Fermium Fm Enrico Femi, isolated from the debris of
hydrogen bomb test
4. Mendelevium Md Dmitry Mendeleyev
5. Nobelium No Alfred Nobel
6. Lawrencium Lr Ernest O. Lawrence
7. Rutherfordium Rf Ernest Rutherford
8. Saborgium Sg Glenn Seaborg
9. Bohrium Bh Neils Bohr
10. Meitnerium Mt Lise Meitner, an Austrian-Swadish
Physicist
- Previously named Unnilenium
11. Roentgenium Rg Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen
12. Flerovium Fl Georgy Flyorov
13. Oganesson Og Yuri Oganessian