Godine 1787. Carl Axel Arrhenius pronašao je novi mineral blizu Ytterbyja u Švedskoj i imenovao ga <i>iterbit</i>, po tom selu.<br><br>Johan Gadolin je otkrio itrijev oksid u Arrheniusovom uzorku 1789., i Anders Gustaf Ekeberg nazvao je novi oksid <i>yttria</i>.<br><br>Elementarni itrij prvi je izolirao Friedrich Wöhler 1828.
In 1787, Carl Axel Arrhenius found a new mineral near Ytterby in Sweden and named it ytterbite, after the village.<br><br>Johan Gadolin discovered yttrium's oxide in Arrhenius' sample in 1789, and Anders Gustaf Ekeberg named the new oxide yttria.<br><br>Elemental yttrium was first isolated in 1828 by Friedrich Wöhler.