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All elements get their symbols from their names. The only real rules are that the symbol should be no more than two letters and should be unique; other than that, just about any abbreviation for the name can be used.

In a few cases, the name the symbol is derived from is in a language other than English... usually Latin. This is the reason for symbols like Na, K, Fe, Cu, Ag, Sn, Pb, and others where the letters in the abbreviation may not even appear in the English name of the element.

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