Why was vanadium named after the Scandinavian goddess Vanadis?
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The Swedish chemist Nils Gabriel Sefström rediscovered vanadium in 1830 and named it after Vanadis, a Scandinavian goddess of beauty and youth. He chose this name because of the beautiful, varied colors exhibited by the element's compounds when in solution.1
The name is a latinization of the Swedish Vanadin, which is derived from the Old Norse Vanadís, an epithet for the goddess Freya.2