chemical elements named after people

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 Curie 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

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.

See also