Why was plutonium named after Pluto?

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A color-coded periodic table of the elements displays each element's symbol and atomic number, with categories such as alkali metals, noble gases, halogens, transition metals, and actinoid elements distinguished by different background colors. — transuranium element Modern version of the periodic table of the elements (printable).

Plutonium was named after the planet Pluto.1

Following the discovery of uranium (named after Uranus) and neptunium (named after Neptune), scientists continued the tradition of naming transuranium elements after the planets in the solar system in order of their distance from the Sun. As element 94, plutonium follows neptunium (element 93) in the periodic table, mirroring the orbital sequence of the planets Pluto and Neptune.21