Chemical element Chemical symbols
Chemical elements are also given a unique 'chemical symbol'. Chemical symbols are used all over the world. This means that, no matter which language is spoken, there is no confusion about what the symbol means. Chemical symbols of elements come from their English or Latin names. For example, carbon has the chemical symbol 'C', and sodium has chemical symbol 'Na', after the Latin 'natrium'. Au' is the symbol for gold and it comes from the Latin word for gold, 'aurum'. Another symbol which comes from Latin is 'Ag'.