Away from home I can not check things in textbooks.
But in my mind the concept of "magnetic field" is
linked with "magnetic charges". They were first used
(by Gauss ?) to describe magnetic forces between bar
magnets, etc.
Magnetism due to electricity needed a separate symbol.
Later the simple model based on "poles" (= magnetic
charges of opposite signs) was eliminated but the H
versu B duality was retained. B is now defined in
terms of forces (experienced by moving charges), H
is defined in terms of currents.
When I was in high school the same unit (oerstead)
was used for both H and B. The SI approach totally
eliminated that old unit. By the way, some scientists
are more lucky than others when units of physical
quantities are named after them. For example, Tesla
was more lucky than Gauss. Is it fair?
Ludwik Kowalski