Which Elements Are Named After People?

Curium is named for Marie and Pierre Curie.
Curium is named for Marie and Pierre Curie. Unknown/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain
by
Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels.
Updated March 08, 2017

There are 14 elements named after people, although only 13 of the names are formally accepted by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).

  • Samarium (Sm, 62) - The first element named in honor of a person. Samarium is named for its ore, samarskite, which in turn is named for V.E. Samarsky-Bukjovets, the Russian engineer who allowed researchers access to him mineral samples.
  • 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) – both named after Gallia (Latin for France) and its discoverer, Lecoq de Boisbaudran (le coq, the French word for 'rooster' translates to gallus in Latin)
  • Hahnium (105) – Otto Hahn (Dubnium, named for Dubna in Russia, is the IUPAC-accepted name for element 105)
  • 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 (formerly Ununumium)
  • Rutherfordium (Rf, 104) – Ernest Rutherford
  • Seaborgium (Sg, 106) – Glenn T. Seaborg