From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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 after 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 Russia
- 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
Additionally, the following elements are named for 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
