chemical elements named after places

This is a list of chemical elements named after places. For a list of other toponyms, i.e., names derived from a place or region, see List of toponyms.

americium – The Americas
berkelium – University of California, Berkeley
californium – state of California and University of California, Berkeley
copper is probably named after Cyprus
darmstadtium – Darmstadt, Germany
dubnium – Dubna, Russia
erbium – Ytterby, Sweden
europium – Europe
francium – France
gallium – Gallia, Latin for France. Frenchman Lecoq de Boisbaudran, who was the discoverer of the metal, named it after his country and also subtly for himself. Lecoq (rooster) in Latin is gallus.
germanium – Germany
hafnium – Hafnia, Latin for Copenhagen
hassium – Hesse, Germany
holmium – Holmia, Latin for Stockholm
lutetium – Lutetia, Latin for Paris
magnesium – Magnesia prefecture in Thessaly, Greece
polonium – Poland
rhenium – Rhenus, Latin for Rhine
ruthenium – Ruthenia, Latin for Rus'
scandium – Scandia, Latin for Scandinavia
strontium – Strontian, Scotland
terbium – Ytterby, Sweden
thulium – Thule, a mythical island in the far north, perhaps Scandinavia
ytterbium – Ytterby, Sweden
yttrium – Ytterby, Sweden

Note: Ytterby in Sweden has given its name to four elements: Erbium, Terbium, Ytterbium and Yttrium. Additionally, the following elements are named after astronomical objects:

cerium – Ceres
helium – Helios, the Greek name for the Sun
neptunium – Neptune
palladium – Pallas
plutonium – Pluto
selenium – Selene, the Greek name for the Moon
tellurium – Tellus, the Latin name for the Earth
uranium – Uranus

Chemical Elements Named After Places

See also