| 1 | H | Hydrogen | Named by Antoine Lavoisier | The name is derived from the Greek hyrdo- (ὑδρο) meaning "water" and -genes (γενής) meaning "former". |
| 2 | He | Helium | Named by Edward Frankland, Norman Lockyer | The name is derived from the Greek word for sun, helios. Helios is also the name of the Greek god of the Sun. |
| 3 | Li | Lithium | | The name is derived from the Greek word 'lithos' meaning, 'stone.' |
| 4 | Be | Beryllium | | The name is derived from the beryllos, the Greek name for the mineral beryl, the element was originally known as glucinium - from Greek glykys, meaning 'sweet' - to reflect its characteristic taste. |
| 5 | B | Boron | | The name is derived from the Arabic word 'buraq', a term signifying the element. |
| 6 | C | Carbon | | The name probably is derived from the Latin carbo, meaning variously “coal”, “charcoal”, “ember”, and its word origin can be traced to ancient times. |
| 7 | N | Nitrogen | Named by Jean-Antoine Chaptal | The name is derived from the Latin nitrum and the Greek nitron for "native soda" and genes for "forming". |
| 8 | O | Oxygen | Named by Antoine Lavoisier | The name is derived from the Greek words oxy and genes, which together mean "acid forming." |
| 9 | F | Fluorine | Named by Humphry Davy, André-Marie Ampère | The name is derived from the mineral fluorite which comes from the Latin word fluere meaning "to flow". |
| 10 | Ne | Neon | | The name is derived from the Greek word, νέον, neuter singular form of νέος (neos), meaning 'new'. |
| 11 | Na | Sodium | | The name is derived from the English word soda and Medieval Latin word sodanum for "headache remedy". |
| 12 | Mg | Magnesium | | The name is derived from the Greek word Magnesia, a district of Eastern Thessaly in Greece where the mineral magnesia alba was first found. |
| 13 | Al | Aluminium | Named by Humphry Davy | The name is derived from the ancient Latin name for alum, which was alumen, meaning bitter salt. |
| 14 | Si | Silicon | Named by Thomas Thomson (chemist) | The name is derived from the Latin word silex or silicis, meaning flint or hard stone. |
| 15 | P | Phosphorus | | The name is derived from the Greek word phosphoros, meaning bringer of light because it has the property of glowing in the dark. Phosphorus was the ancient name for the planet Venus. |
| 16 | S | Sulfur | | The name is derived either from Arabic word ‘sufra’ meaning yellow (which is the color of the naturally occurring form of the element) or from the Sanskrit word sulvere or the Latin word sulfurium, which meaning sulfur or brimstone. |
| 17 | Cl | Chlorine | Named by Sir Humphry Davy | The name is derived from the Greek word chloros, meaning pale green or yellow-green. |
| 18 | Ar | Argon | | The name is derived from the Greek word argos (ἀργόν), meaning lazy or idle, as a reference to the fact that the element undergoes almost no chemical reactions. |
| 19 | K | Potassium | | The name is derived from the English word potash (pot ashes) from which potassium was first isolated. |
| 20 | Ca | Calcium | | The name is derived from the Latin word 'calx' meaning lime, which was obtained from heating limestone. |
| 21 | Sc | Scandium | | The name derives from the Latin word 'Scandia', meaning Scandinavia, because the element occurs in rare minerals found there. |
| 22 | Ti | Titanium | Named by Martin Heinrich Klaproth | The name comes from Greek word Titans, the mythological "first sons of the Earth". |
| 23 | V | Vanadium | Named by Nils Gabriel Sefström | The name originated from 'Vanadis', the old Norse name for the Scandinavian goddess of of love and beauty (Freyja), because of the beautiful multicolored compounds formed by the metal. |
| 24 | Cr | Chromium | | The name is derived from the Greek word 'chroma', meaning color because it forms a variety of colorful compounds. |
| 25 | Mn | Manganese | | The name either derives from the Latin word 'magnes', meaning magnet, or from ‘magnesia nigra’ indicating the black magnesium oxide in Latin. |
| 26 | Fe | Iron | | The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon word 'iren'. The element has been known from prehistoric times. |
| 27 | Co | Cobalt | | The name is derived from the German word 'kobald', meaning goblin or evil spirit. It was named by miners in 16th century Saxony who thought they had found deposits of silver but had actually found cobalt arsenide. |
| 28 | Ni | Nickel | | The name is derived from a mischievous sprite of German miner mythology, Nickel (similar to Old Nick), who personified the fact that copper-nickel ores resisted refinement into copper. It also from the German word for the mineral niccolite, kupfernickel, which means "Old Nick's copper." |
| 29 | Cu | Copper | | The name is derived from the Old English name 'coper' in turn derived from the Latin ‘Cyprium aes’, meaning ‘Cyprus metal’, the island where the Romans first obtained copper. |
| 30 | Zn | Zinc | Named by Paracelsus | The name is derived from the German word 'zinc', a word of unknown origin. |
| 31 | Ga | Gallium | | The name is derived from the Latin name Gallia, the old name of France, in honor of its discoverer's home country. |
| 32 | Ge | Germanium | | The name is derived from the Latin for Germany, 'Germania', in honor of its discoverer's home country. |
| 33 | As | Arsenic | | The name is thought to come from the Greek word 'arsenikon' meaning yellow orpiment or from the Greek word 'arsenikos' meaning strong, brave or male. Word was adopted in Latin as arsenicum, which in French became arsenic, from which the English word arsenic is taken. |
| 34 | Se | Selenium | | The name is derived from the Greek word 'selene', who was the Greek goddess and the personification of the Moon because the element is chemically found with tellurium (Tellus was the Roman goddess of the Earth). |
| 35 | Br | Bromine | | The name comes from the Ancient Greek 'bromos' (βρῶμος) meaning stench, referring to its sharp and pungent smell. |
| 36 | Kr | Krypton | | The name is derived from the Greek word 'kryptos', meaning concealed or 'the hidden one'. |
| 37 | Rb | Rubidium | | The name is derived from the Latin word 'rubidius', meaning deep red because of the two "deep red lines" in its spectra. |
| 38 | Sr | Strontium | | The name is derived from Strontian, a small town in Scotland where the metal was first discovered in 1790. |
| 39 | Y | Yttrium | | The name derived from the Swedish village of Ytterby near Vaxholm where the mineral gadolinite was found. |
| 40 | Zr | Zirconium | | The name is derived from the Arabic word 'zargun', meaning gold coloured. |
| 41 | Nb | Niobium | | The name is derived from the Greek goddess of tears, Niobe, who was the daughter of king Tantalus, due to the element's similarities to tantalum. |
| 42 | Mo | Molybdenum | | The name comes from Ancient Greek word molybdos (Μόλυβδος) meaning lead-like, as its ores were confused with lead ores. |
| 43 | Tc | Technetium | | The name is derived from the Greek word 'tekhnetos' meaning artificial, because it was the first manmade element synthesized. |
| 44 | Ru | Ruthenium | | The name is derived from 'Ruthenia', the Latin name for Russia, as the platinum ores were originally from the Ural Mountains in Russia. |
| 45 | Rh | Rhodium | | The name is derived from the Greek word 'rhodon', meaning rose coloured, named for the rose-red color of dilute solutions of its salts. |
| 46 | Pd | Palladium | | The name comes from the second largest asteroid in the solar system Pallas. The asteroid itself was named after the Greek goddess of wisdom Pallas Athena. |
| 47 | Ag | Silver | | |
| 48 | Cd | Cadmium | Named by Friedrich Stromeyer | |
| 49 | In | Indium | | |
| 50 | Sn | Tin | | |
| 51 | Sb | Antimony | | |
| 52 | Te | Tellurium | Named by Martin Heinrich Klaproth | |
| 53 | I | Iodine | Named by Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac | |
| 54 | Xe | Xenon | Named by William Ramsay | |
| 55 | Cs | Cesium | | |
| 56 | Ba | Barium | | |
| 57 | La | Lanthanum | Named by Carl Gustaf Mosander | |
| 58 | Ce | Cerium | Named by Jöns Jacob Berzelius | |
| 59 | Pr | Praseodymium | | |
| 60 | Nd | Neodymium | | |
| 61 | Pm | Promethium | Named by Grace Mary Coryell | |
| 62 | Sm | Samarium | Named by Lecoq de Boisbaudran | |
| 63 | Eu | Europium | | |
| 64 | Gd | Gadolinium | | |
| 65 | Tb | Terbium | | |
| 66 | Dy | Dysprosium | Named by Lecoq de Boisbaudran | The name is derived from the Greek word 'dysprositos', which means 'hard to get at'. |
| 67 | Ho | Holmium | Named by Per Teodor Cleve | The name is derived from the Latin word for the city of Stockholm, Holmia. |
| 68 | Er | Erbium | | |
| 69 | Tm | Thulium | | |
| 70 | Yb | Ytterbium | | |
| 71 | Lu | Lutetium | Named by Georges Urbain | |
| 72 | Hf | Hafnium | | |
| 73 | Ta | Tantalum | | |
| 74 | W | Tungsten | Named by Torbern Bergman | |
| 75 | Re | Rhenium | | |
| 76 | Os | Osmium | Named by Smithson Tennant | |
| 77 | Ir | Iridium | | |
| 78 | Pt | Platinum | | |
| 79 | Au | Gold | | |
| 80 | Hg | Mercury | | |
| 81 | Tl | Thallium | | |
| 82 | Pb | Lead | | |
| 83 | Bi | Bismuth | | |
| 84 | Po | Polonium | Named by Pierre Curie, Marie Curie | |
| 85 | At | Astatine | | |
| 86 | Rn | Radon | | |
| 87 | Fr | Francium | | |
| 88 | Ra | Radium | | |
| 89 | Ac | Actinium | Named by André-Louis Debierne | |
| 90 | Th | Thorium | | |
| 91 | Pa | Protactinium | Named by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner | |
| 92 | U | Uranium | | |
| 93 | Np | Neptunium | | |
| 94 | Pu | Plutonium | | |
| 95 | Am | Americium | | |
| 96 | Cm | Curium | | |
| 97 | Bk | Berkelium | | |
| 98 | Cf | Californium | | |
| 99 | Es | Einsteinium | | |
| 100 | Fm | Fermium | | |
| 101 | Md | Mendelevium | | |
| 102 | No | Nobelium | | |
| 103 | Lr | Lawrencium | | |
| 104 | Rf | Rutherfordium | | |
| 105 | Db | Dubnium | | |
| 106 | Sg | Seaborgium | | |
| 107 | Bh | Bohrium | | |
| 108 | Hs | Hassium | | |
| 109 | Mt | Meitnerium | | |
| 110 | Ds | Darmstadtium | | |
| 111 | Rg | Roentgenium | | |
| 112 | Cn | Copernicium | | |
| 113 | Nh | Nihonium | | |
| 114 | Fl | Flerovium | | |
| 115 | Mc | Moscovium | | |
| 116 | Lv | Livermorium | | |
| 117 | Ts | Tennessine | | |
| 118 | Og | Oganesson | | |