Energy‐loss measurements have been made for 2.0‐MeV4He ions in 20 targets. The energy‐loss cross sections were determined by analysis of thick‐target backscattering yields. Eight of the targets have been previously measured and support the accuracy of the present measurement. Twelve new heavy‐metal targets are evaluated: Pb, Au, Pt, Ir, W, Ta, Hf, Gd, Te, Sb, Mo, and Ge. By using the Lindhard‐Winther formalism with Hartree‐Fock‐Slater atomic charge distributions, the stopping cross sections for these metals are predicted down to 1.4 MeV.