IUPAC systematic nomenclature - Elementymology & Elements Multidict

The systematic names for the new discovered elements are derived from their atomic numbers. Each digit is converted into a word based on Latin and Greek words for the number, at the end a suffix is added.

digit & syllable	derivation	Russian	other variants
0 = nil	Latin nihil = nothing	нил
1 = un	Latin unus = one	ун	ūn Latvian
2 = bi	Latin bis = two as adverb	би
3 = tri	Latin tres = three	три	terc Croatian§
4 = quad	Latin quattuor = four	квад	kvad Croatian, Esperanto, Latvian cuad Spanish (also quad)
5 = pent	Greek pente = five	пент
6 = hex	Greek ex = six	хекс	heks Croatian, Latvian, Norwegian
7 = sept	Latin septem = seven	септ
8 = oct	Latin octo = eight	окт	okt Croatian, Latvian
9 = en*	Greek ennea = nine...	ен
Suffix = -ium**	usual for elements	-ий	-io Italian, Portuguese, Spanish -иjум Serbian -ij Croatian -ijs Latvian

Example element 116: 1 + 1 + 6 = un + un + hex + ium = ununhexium, symbol Uuh; element 130 will be untrinilium, symbol Utn.

The Transfermium Working Group was established in 1986 by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). The working group published several reports, and then recommended that elements should not be named after living persons. This greatly upset the USA - who wanted to name an element after Glenn T. Seaborg. In 1994 a IUPAC recommendation was made (names marked (1) in the table below). As a result of the criticisms on these names, the commission reconsidered the names at a meeting in August 1996.

"After some discussion CNIC [= IUPAC Commission on Nomenclature in Inorganic Chemistry] agreed that elements 101, 102 and 103 should retain their commonly accepted names mendelevium, nobelium, and lawrencium. This is despite the fact that the original Swedish claim to have prepared element 102 was subsequently shown to have been in error by the Dubna laboratory, which finally achieved an undisputed synthesis. The adjudicate on competing claims for priority of discovery.
The Commission hopes that the present collection of names will be accepted as a fair compromise between the various claims and suggestions. It recognizes important experimental and theoretical contributions to the discovery of new elements and also the international discovery of element 106 by the Berkeley laboratory is uncontested and the name proposed by the discoverers, seaborgium, was accepted.
The discoveries of elements 107 jointly by the Darmstadt and Dubna laboratories), and of 108 and 109 (by the Darmstadt laboratories) are also uncontested. The discoverers wished to call these nielsbohrium, hassium, and meitnerium, respectively, and the Commission accepted the last two. However, the proposal for 107 was the subject of vigorous debate. The name nielsbohrium is long and includes the first name of Niels Bohr as well as his family name. Such an element name is without precedent. Finally it was decided to refer the matter to the Danish NAO [= National Adhering Organization]. Its preference for bohrium rather than nielsbohrium was ultimately accepted.
The discoveries of elements 104 and 105 are contested by Dubna and Berkeley. Both laboratories appear to have made significant contributions, but what has clearly emerged from the submissions, including those from Berkeley and from Darmstadt, is that the Dubna laboratory has played a key role in developing the experimental strategies used in synthesizing several transfermium elements. The Commission recommended that element 105 should be named dubnium in its honour. The Berkeley laboratory has already been similarly recognized on more than one occasion. Finally, the Commission accepted the name rutherfordium for element 104, to honour the New Zealand nuclear physicist, Ernest Rutherford." (note)

Names of the transfermium elements
No.	syst. IUPAC (5)	IUPAC 1997/IUPAP 1999	proposals
101	Unu Unnilunium	Md Mendelevium (2, 5)
102	Unb Unnilbium	No Nobelium (2, 5)
103	Unt Unniltrium	Lr Lawrencium (2, 5)
104	Unq Unnilquadium	Rf Rutherfordium (2)	Ku Kurchatovium (3) Db Dubnium (1)
105	Unp Unnilpentium	Db Dubnium	Ha Hahnium (2) Jo Joliotium (1) Ns Nielsbohrium (3)
106	Unh Unnilhexium	Sg Seaborgium (2)	Rf Rutherfordium (1)
107	Uns Unnilseptium	Bh Bohrium (1)	Ns Nielsbohrium (2, 4)
108	Uno Unniloctium	Hs Hassium (2, 4)	Ha Hahnium (1)
109	Une Unnilenium	Mt Meitnerium (2, 4)

(1) IUPAC 1994 recommendations (on-line PDF).
(2) American Chemical Society 1994 Proposal.
(3) Proposal by the Объединенный Институт Ядерных Исследований (ОИЯИ) - Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) at Дубна (Dubna), Russia.
(4) Proposal (1992) by Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany.
(5) Commission on the Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry, Recommendations for the Naming of Elements of Atomic Numbers Greater than 100 (Rules Approved 1978). (on-line)

This compromise selection of names was ratified by the IUPAC Council meeting in Geneva during August 1997. The identical list of names was recommended by IUPAP's C2 Commission on Symbols, Units, Nomenclature, Atomic Masses and Constants (SUNAMCO) in its report to the 1999 General Assembly for 1996-99 (note). A joint IUPAP/IUPAC Committee has been set up to consider the discovery of elements 110-112.

Elementymology & Elements Multidict

IUPAC systematic nomenclature of superheavy elements