The word "chrome" had been used to describe window components long before Chrome the browser showed up. So it isn't an accidental collision, it is a shortened name of the upstream Chromium project (named after the element). I've never been a big fan of the crazy names Silicon Valley comes up with, but hijacking existing words is much worse. I can't wait to see how Microsoft's use of the word "hologram" causes similar confusion.
Actually, Chrome is named for the interface. It's meant to be ironic because the point of Chrome is reducing the browsers chrome making more room for the Web page.
The name Chromium was playing on the fact that it's the metal used in chrome plating. (Just as the Chromium Project is used in making the browser Chrome.)
