List of scientific units named after people

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This is a list of scientific units named after people. For other lists of eponyms (names derived from people) see eponym. Note that by convention, the name of the unit is properly written in all-lowercase whereas its abbreviation is capitalized, but when a unit name contains a person's name as an adjective, the name is capitalized, for example degree Celsius and Mach number.

SI base units

ampere (A), electric current – André-Marie Ampère
kelvin (K), thermodynamic temperature – Lord Kelvin

SI derived unit

becquerel (Bq), radioactivity – Henri Becquerel
degree Celsius (°C), temperature – Anders Celsius
coulomb (C), electric charge – Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
farad (F), capacitance – Michael Faraday
gray (Gy), absorbed dose of radiation – Louis Harold Gray
henry (H), inductance – Joseph Henry
hertz (Hz), frequency – Heinrich Rudolf Hertz
joule (J), energy, work, heat – James Prescott Joule
newton (N), force – Isaac Newton
ohm (Ω), electrical resistance – Georg Ohm
pascal (Pa), pressure – Blaise Pascal
siemens (S), electrical conductance – Werner von Siemens
sievert (Sv), radiation dose equivalent – Rolf Sievert
tesla (T), magnetic flux density – Nikola Tesla
volt (V), electric potential, electromotive force – Alessandro Volta
watt (W), power, radiant flux – James Watt
weber (Wb), magnetic flux – Wilhelm Eduard Weber

Centimetre–gram–second system of units

biot (Bi), electric current – Jean-Baptiste Biot
buckingham (B), electric quadrupole moment – A. David Buckingham
debye (D), electric dipole moment – Peter Debye
eotvos (E), gravitational gradient – Loránd Eötvös
galileo (Gal), acceleration – Galileo Galilei
gauss (G or Gs), magnetic flux density – Carl Friedrich Gauss
gilbert (Gb), magnetomotive force – William Gilbert
goeppert-mayer (GM), two-photon absorption cross section – Maria Goeppert-Mayer
kayser (kayser), wavenumber – Heinrich Kayser
maxwell (Mx), magnetic flux – James Clerk Maxwell
oersted (Oe), magnetic field strength – Hans Christian Ørsted
poise (P), dynamic viscosity – Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille
Rayl or Rayleigh (Rayl), acoustic impedance – John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
rayleigh (R), photon flux – Robert John Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh
stokes (S or St), kinematic viscosity – George Gabriel Stokes

No longer in use

franklin (Fr), electric charge – Benjamin Franklin
clausius (Cl), entropy – Rudolf Clausius

Others

ångström (Å), distance – Anders Jonas Ångström
baud (Bd), symbol rate – Emile Baudot
Bark scale, psychoacoustical scale – Heinrich Barkhausen
brewster (B), stress optic coefficient – David Brewster
centimorgan (cM), recombination frequency – Thomas Hunt Morgan
curie (Ci), radioactivity – Marie and Pierre Curie
dalton (Da), atomic mass – John Dalton
darcy (D), permeability, – Henry Darcy
decibel (dB) dimensionless proportions and ratios, e.g. relative power levels – Alexander Graham Bell
degree Fahrenheit (°F), temperature – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit
degree Rankine (°R), temperature – William John Macquorn Rankine
Dobson unit (DU), atmospheric ozone – Gordon Dobson
erlang (E), dimensionless volume of telecommunications traffic – Agner Krarup Erlang
fermi (fm), distance – Enrico Fermi
hartley (Hart), information – Ralph Hartley
Hounsfield scale, radiodensity – Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield
jansky (Jy), electromagnetic flux – Karl Jansky
langley (ly), solar radiation – Samuel Pierpont Langley
langmuir (L), gas exposure dose – Irving Langmuir
Mach number (Ma), relative speed – Ernst Mach
neper (Np), relative power level – John Napier
degree Öchsle (°Oe), density – Ferdinand Öchsle
Rockwell scale (HR), indentation hardness – Stanley Rockwell
röntgen (R), dosage of X-rays or gamma radiation – Wilhelm Röntgen
Richter magnitude, earthquake power – Charles Francis Richter
Scoville units, capsaicin content of chili peppers – Wilbur Scoville
shannon (Sh), information – Claude Shannon^[1]
siegbahn (xu), distance – Manne Siegbahn
svedberg (S or Sv), sedimentation rate – Theodor Svedberg
sverdrup (Sv), volume transport rate – Harald Sverdrup
torr (Torr), pressure – Evangelista Torricelli
troland (Td), luminance (human eye) – Leonard Troland