History of Sodium

The word sodium derives from the Arabic word suda, meaning headache because sodium compounds were used in early periods for its headache relieving properties. Its headache-alleviating remedies were also utilized in medieval Europe, known by the Latin name sodanum. Its significance in history can be identified through the wafers of salt called salarium given to Roman soldiers during early classical civilizations. 

Sodium's chemical abbreviation Na is a contraction of the element's Latin name natrium, derived from the Egyptian natron, a natural mineral salt. This abbreviation was first published by Jons Jakob Berzelius in his system of atomic symbols. By 1807, Sir Humphry Davy first used electrolysis of caustic soda to isolate pure sodium from its compound in London.