Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe. Most stars (including our sun) are predominantly composed of hydrogen. It is the lightest (in mass terms) of all the elements and Earth's gravity is too weak to retain very much "free" hydrogen. It does occur on earth in combination with other elements though, notably in combination with oxygen, forming water; carbon - forming hydrocarbons (like methane, acetylene, butane; carbion and oxygen - forming carbohydrates like sugar and cellulose. It also exists in many minerals. Coal gas, used in many countries before natural gas became available, was predominantly hydrogen.
I know of no other common name for hydrogen.
