Mineral Names, What Do The Mean?

Minerals have been getting names since way back in the day. At first, they were named after places or the properties of the minerals, whether real or made up. A lot of these old names have super long histories and we're not even sure where they came from. As mineralogy got more advanced, especially after Georgius Agricola (1494-1555), more and more names started popping up in mineralogical writings.

 

Before 1800, there were less than 100 known mineral species, even though there were a bunch of names being used as synonyms. But as time went on, more and more new minerals were being discovered. From 1800 to now, the number of new minerals being named each year has been going up. Mandarino looked at the number of new species introduced every twenty years starting from 1800. Between 1800 and 1819, there were 87 new minerals. Then, from 1820 to 1919, there were about 185 new minerals introduced every twenty years.

 

In more recent times, the number of new minerals being discovered has shot up. From 1920 to 1939, there were 256 new minerals described. Then, from 1940 to 1959, there were 342 new ones. And from 1960 to 1973, there were a whopping 575 new minerals discovered. As new minerals are being found, old names are being looked at again to see if they're still valid. Some names end up being thrown out when it's found that they're either the same as other minerals or just slight variations of ones that are already well-known.

 

Once a mineral name becomes outdated, it's basically retired - never to be used again. Out of the 15,000 mineral names from back in the day, only about 2,000 are still considered legit species. Some others are kept around as varietal names, like agate, amethyst, carnelian, chalcedony, and citrine for different types of quartz.

 

Compared to the endless possibilities of synthetic inorganic substances, the number of mineral species is actually pretty small. In 1971, there were 1,916 mineral species that were well-established. But there were also 148 minerals that were kind of up in the air - not fully examined or still in question about their species status. However, it's likely that about half of those will turn out to be the real deal after more research.

 

Mineralogy, being an old science, is all about sticking to tradition and customs. This has definitely slowed down any progress in coming up with better mineral names. There are two main ways mineral names are chosen - the rational way, which gives you info about the mineral, and the irrational way, which... well, doesn't really make sense.

 

Although they are not as common, there are many mineral names out there that are based on things like chemical compositions, crystal forms, colors, and other properties. These names make sense and help us understand more about the minerals.

 

On the flip side, there are also names that don't really tell us much about the mineral itself. This all started back in the late 1700s with a guy named Abraham G. Werner. He started naming minerals after people, which didn't really help us understand the minerals any better.

Some names do give us a little more info, like when they're based on where the mineral was found. For example, the name franklinite tells us it's from Franklin, New Jersey, while brazilianite just tells us it's from Brazil.

So basically, some mineral names make sense and some don't. It all depends on how they were named and what info they give us.

Names from Persons☝

European Mineralogists and Other Scientists American Mineralogists☝

Obsolete Names Derived from Mineralogists Names Mineral Collectors Explorers Other Professions☝

Women's Names in Mineral Names☝

Personal Names Hidden in Mineral Names☝

Minerals Honoring a Family Name or a Person More Than Once☝

Mineral Names Honoring More Than One Person☝

Names from Places☝

Names after Physiographic Features Names after Political Divisions☝

Names after Mines and Mineral Deposits Some Unusual Examples of

Names Use of Obsolete Geographical Names☝

Impersonal Names☝

Names Derived from Other Mineral Names:☝

 Names Derived from Botanical Terms☝

 Names from Institutions and Expeditions☝

 Names from Companies☝

 Names from American Indian Tribes☝

 Names from Mythological Characters☝

 Names from Chemical Composition☝

Names from Chemical Element☝

Names: Chemical Prefixes in Mineral☝

Names Chemical Portmanteau Words☝

Names Derived from Chemical Symbols Proposed Use of Chemical☝

Names References☝

Names from Greek Terms Primarily Incorporating Physical and Chemical Properties – Crystallographic Names☝

 Names Based on Crystal Twinning☝

Names Based on Mineral Cleavage☝

Names Derived from Mineral Colors☝

 Names Derived from Mineral Lusters☝

 Names Referring to Other Physical Properties and Associations☝

Names Relating to Chemical Behavior Ancient Greek Mineral Names☝

 Names from Latin Terms Names Related to Physical Properties Chemical Names from Latin☝

Names Formed from a Combination of Latin and Greek Terms☝

Names from Various Languages☝

English German Russian and Other Languages of the Soviet Union Romance Languages Arabic☝

Sanskrit and Other Languages of India Miscellaneous Languages☝

Prefixes Used in Mineral Names Prefixes Relating to Physical Properties Miscellaneous Prefixes Chemical Prefixes☝

Suffixes Used in Mineral Names☝

Common Suffixes Less Common Suffixes Names Without Suffixes.☝

The Use of Symbols with Mineral Names Polymorphism Polytypism Chemical Differences☝

Rules Regarding the Formulation of Mineral Names☝

Old Names New Names Translation of Names into English ☝