Why is the term rare gas misleading for noble gases?

The term "rare gas" is misleading because it incorrectly suggests that these elements are scarce. While early researchers believed noble gases were exceedingly rare, it is now known that several of these chemical elements are actually quite abundant on Earth and throughout the universe.1

For example, helium is the most plentiful element in the universe after hydrogen. Furthermore, most of the noble gases are present in Earth's atmosphere, from which they are commercially extracted. The label "rare" was originally applied alongside the term "inert" when these elements were first discovered and thought to be both scarce and incapable of forming chemical compounds, both of which have since been proven inaccurate.1