# NOT the Periodic Table **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942 "2016-02-02T13:06:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/1 "2016-02-02T13:06:59Z")
I’ve noticed that very often someone will name a fictional character or place after an element, even though there’s no connection there, Evidently they just like the _sound_ of it. I grew up reading about Superman’s home world being _Krypton_, so that didn’t bother me. But when I read Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Martian stories, it kept wrenching me out of the story to read about the city of _Helium_. So I started collecting examples. I doubt if we can fill in all the names (did anyone ever name anything after _Francium_?), bujt let’s see how many elements we can show were used as names or at least words unrelated to the original element Helium – City on ERB’s Mars Krypton – Superman’s home planet Argon – God in Jim Theis’ notoriously bad _The vEye of Argon_ Xenon – Pinball game Chlorine – Native American “Spirit guide” of 19th century medium Leonora Piper Radon – Transliteration of the original Japanese name of the Kaiju better known as _Rodan_. The name is apparently a contraction of _pte_RA_no_DON. Iodine – “Little Iodine” was a character in two long-running comic strips by Jimmy Hatlo. You may not have heard of her, but she was around for fifty years ( [Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Little Iodine](http://www.toonopedia.com/iodine.htm) ) Not quite unconnected with the element: Mercury – Lots of associations with the Roman God and the Planet, named before the element, but still, the element was clearly named by associatioon with the swift god, and the planet shares the connection Bromide – meaning an acerbic axiom. The word was coined by MIT grad turned cartoonist and poet Frank Gelett Burgess (who wrote “The Purple Cow”, among other things). His coming up with this term is clearly his MIT Chemistry training coming through. Terms related to long-known metals – Nickel, Gold, Silver, etc. – sem to be tied to the properties of that metal, somehow, so they don’t seem to fit my initial requirement of no relation. Similarly “Neon” gets used for bright stuff because of discharge tubes filled with neon gas, so that’s out as well. Any others? Is any character named **Boron** or \*_Tungsten_ or **Antimony**? Did someone like the name **Radium** so much that he used it for a character or a city? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/2 "2016-02-02T13:21:18Z")
Oxygen: a cable tv station among other things. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/3 "2016-02-02T13:35:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Oxygen: a cable tv station among other things. True _Oxygene_ was an album by synthesizer musician Jean-Michel Jarre, son of film score composer Maurice Jarre. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/4 "2016-02-02T13:45:46Z")
Palladium is the name of numerous concert halls and theaters. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/5 "2016-02-02T14:01:07Z")
The X series of space sims have Argon, Boron and Xenon as races. The Argons are presumably named after a character, Nathan R. Gunne, and the Boron and Xenon might have been named “B(oron)” and “X(enon)” to follow that convention. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/6 "2016-02-02T14:08:59Z")
“Hi yo, Silver!” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/7 "2016-02-02T14:14:17Z")
Nirvana had a song titled “Lithium”. Neon was a compact car manufactured by Chrysler. It was also the name of a DC heroine, one of the Legion of Super-Heroes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/8 "2016-02-02T14:58:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Similarly “Neon” gets used for bright stuff because of discharge tubes filled with neon gas, so that’s out as well. I don’t know… Actual neon lights are characteristically a very clear, bright red color, so it seems to me that calling something “neon green” is nearly completely unrelated to the element. Iridium for the communication satellites has a connection to the element, but only a tenuous one. Someone thought that the fleet of many satellites orbiting the Earth resembled an atom with many electrons, and at the time there were 77 such satellites, so iridium it was. And antimony has a song from _Mary Poppins_: “Antimony, antimony, anTIMoneee, a sweeper’s an artist…” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/9 "2016-02-02T16:20:45Z")
Carbon Copy Kid from Sky High WCW Nitro, Johnny Nitro, Nitro from Marvel Comics (close enough to nitrogen) “Neon” Deon Sanders Silicon Valerie Colonel Sulphur from DC Comics Chorine from Marvel Comics The Calcium Kid Titanium Man from Marvel Comics The Chromium Man Iron Man, Iron Monger, Iron Giant, the man with the iron hands, Iron Mike Sharpe, Iron from DC Comics Cobalt, Astro Boy’s brother, Cobalt Man from Marvel Comics, Cobalt Blue from DC Comics Nickelback Copper from The Fox and the Hound, Copper Kid from Silver Hawks DJ Zinc Arsenic Lullaby Silver Surfer, Silver Samurai and Silver Fox from Marvel Comics, Silver Hawks, Long John Silver, the Lone Ranger’s horse Silver, Colonel Silver from Dragon Ball Cadmium from Marvel Comics The Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz, Tin Tin, Rin Tin Tin, Tin from DC Comics Little Iodine Barium from Marvel Comics Tungsten from Marvel Comics Pokémon Platinum, Platinum from DC Comics Gold Power Ranger, Ari Gold, Booster Gold, Golden Glider and Gold from DC Comics, Gold Lion from The Man with the Iron Fists, Goldie from Sin City, Gold Leader from Star Wars, Gold Team from X-Men, Gold Dust Trio, Golddust Freddie Mercury, Joey Mercury, Mercury from Marvel Comics, Mercury from DC Comics, Sailor Mercury from Sailor Moon, Mercury Man Lead from DC Comics Professor Radium from DC Comics ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/10 "2016-02-02T16:48:58Z")
@Abner: A lot of those don’t count. The thread’s about elemental names that have nothing to do with the element - a “liquid metal” shapeshifter named after a liquid metal does not qualify, for example. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/11 "2016-02-02T16:50:12Z")
The [Radon-Nikodym theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon%E2%80%93Nikodym_theorem), an important result in the branch of mathematics known as measure theory, was named after the mathematicians who proved it, the relevant one here being [Johann Radon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Radon). ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/12 "2016-02-02T17:17:54Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > @Abner: A lot of those don’t count. The thread’s about elemental names that have nothing to do with the element - a “liquid metal” shapeshifter named after a liquid metal does not qualify, for example. How ironic. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/13 "2016-02-02T17:20:25Z")
One of the main characters from the online comic Gunerkrigg Court is named Antimony. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/14 "2016-02-02T19:44:52Z")
Annie is fire-elemental, which is an ironic connection to the element (which is used as a flame retardant). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/15 "2016-02-02T19:54:04Z")
Not fictional, but there’s the famous NYC jazz club Iridium. No idea why they chose the name, though. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/16 "2016-02-02T20:03:14Z")
Lead Belly – blues singer Chevy Cobalt Wolfram Alpha ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/17 "2016-02-02T20:04:54Z")
CalMeacham: > [@](#): > > Is any character named Boron? Sort of, in [this Dilbert strip](http://dilbert.com/strip/1994-07-03). As for others, maybe Polonium, by Ralph Lauren? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/18 "2016-02-02T21:16:05Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Not fictional, but there’s the famous NYC jazz club Iridium. No idea why they chose the name, though. Doesn’t have to be fictional. I’ll accept it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/19 "2016-02-02T21:18:36Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > The [Radon-Nikodym theorem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon%E2%80%93Nikodym_theorem), an important result in the branch of mathematics known as measure theory, was named after the mathematicians who proved it, the relevant one here being [Johann Radon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Radon). Actually, a better use of the term would be the **Radon Transform** , which is used in turning that series of x-rays into a 3-D image in CAT scans. (And for turning MRI scans into 3-D images, as well) > **[Radon transform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon_transform)** > > In mathematics, the Radon transform is the integral transform which takes a function f defined on the plane to a function Rf defined on the (two-dimensional) space of lines in the plane, whose value at a particular line is equal to the line integral of the function over that line. The transform was introduced in 1917 by Johann Radon, who also provided a formula for the inverse transform. Radon further included formulas for the transform in three dimensions, in which the integral is taken over If... ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942/20 "2016-02-03T00:36:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Not quite unconnected with the element: > Bromide – meaning an acerbic axiom. The word was coined by MIT grad turned cartoonist and poet Frank Gelett Burgess (who wrote “The Purple Cow”, among other things). His coming up with this term is clearly his MIT Chemistry training coming through. A “bromide”, meaning an elixer, a treatment for epilepsy, a mild tranquilizer or sedative, something you get from a druggist/ pharmacy/ soda fountain, named from the element (eg: “bromide of strontium”), but a common / medical term, not from his MIT Chemistry training. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-the-periodic-table/744942.md?page=2)