The term vitamin is used to describe a group of organic micronutrients, present in minute quantities in natural foodstuffs, that are essential to normal and healthy metabolism.
There are a large number of vitamins and it’s no wonder people get confused as there are often two or more names for the same compound or different forms of a vitamin all exhibiting some activity.
This comprehensive list has been devised to act as a reference for the different names for each vitamin. The list is merely information for nomenclature, so if you are looking for information on sources and functions of vitamins please do an internet search. However, it does provide information on organic compounds which exhibit activity of that vitamin.
Acceptable and commonly used names are listed in bold.
| Denomination | Acceptable Names | Other Names | Other Organic Compounds with Activity | |
| Vitamin A | Retinol | Vitamin A1 | β carotene | |
| Retinaldehyde; retinal | Retinene | α carotene | ||
| Retinoic acid | Vitamin A1 acid | γ carotene | ||
| 3-Dehydroretinol | Vitamin A2 | |||
| Vitamin D | Ergocalciferol; ercalciol | Vitamin D2; calciferol | ||
| Cholecalciferol; calciol | Vitamin D3 | |||
| Vitamin E | α tocopherol | tocotrienols | ||
| β tocopherol | ||||
| γ tocopherol | ||||
| Vitamin K | Quinones | |||
| Phylloquinone | Vitamin K1 | |||
| Menaquinone-n (MK-n) | Vitamin K2 | |||
| Menadione | Vitamin K3; menaquinone; menaphthone | |||
| Vitamin B1 | Thiamin | Thiamine; aneurin(e) | ||
| Vitamin B2 | Riboflavin | Riboflavine; vitamin G; lactoflavin | ||
| Vitamin B3 | Niacin | Pyridine 3-carboxylic acid | ||
| Nicotinamide | Niacinamide; vitamin PP | |||
| Nicotinic acid | Niacinic acid | |||
| Vitamin B4 | Choline | |||
| Vitamin B5 | Pantothenic acid | |||
| Vitamin B6 | Pyridoxine | Pyridoxol | ||
| Pyridoxal | ||||
| Pyridoxamine | ||||
| Vitamin B7 | Biotin | Vitamin H | ||
| Vitamin B8 | Inositol | |||
| Myo-inositol | Meso-inositol | |||
| Vitamin B9 | Folic acid | Folacin; Vitamin M; Vitamin BC | ||
| Folate | ||||
| Pteroly(mono)glutamic acid | ||||
| Vitamin B12 | Cobalamin | Extrinsic Factor (EF) | ||
| Cyanocobalamin | Vitamin B12a or B12b | |||
| Hydroxocobalamin | ||||
| Aquocobalamin | ||||
| Methylcobalamin | ||||
| Adenosylcobalamin | ||||
| Vitamin C | Ascorbic acid | |||
| Dehydroascorbic acid | ||||
