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 (Ha, 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.

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