Which metal was named after the planet Uranus?

Uranium was named after the planet Uranus.

German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth discovered uranium in 1789 and named it after Uranus, which had been identified as a planet a few years earlier. Uranium has the chemical symbol U and atomic number 92, making it the heaviest naturally occurring element found in significant amounts in Earth’s crust.

Uranium is radioactive, and its isotopes have important scientific and industrial uses. Uranium-235 can sustain a nuclear chain reaction, so enriched uranium has been used as fuel in nuclear reactors. Most natural uranium, however, is uranium-238, with only a small fraction being uranium-235.

Uranium is sometimes confused with neptunium and plutonium, which were named after Neptune and Pluto. Those elements are heavier and are produced mainly through nuclear reactions rather than mined as abundant natural metals.