[ Models | Lore | Sources | Inspiration ]
With a rich background stretching back decades in time, the various Warhammer games contain a vast array of names (of people, places, items, and so on). Many of these names are original, but some happen to have a meaning in the real world, as obscure terms, foreign words, or cultural references. This page lists some of these underlying etymologies for your edification. Note that some of these are best guesses (speculative fan theory) rather than confirmed derivations.
Where a name is followed by the symbol ¹, if you hover over or click on that symbol you will see when that name was first mentioned in a publication.
| Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Astorath | Ashtoreth, another name for Astarte, goddess of war in Canaanite and Phoenician mythology. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Baal | Baʿal, "lord", an honorific applied to deities in Levantine mythology. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System BloodAngels] |
| Corbulo | Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo (7-67), a Roman general who faithfully committed suicide on Emperor Nero's order. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Dante | Dante Alighieri (c. 1265-1321), a poet whose work includes the Divine Comedy. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Furioso | Italian furioso, "furious". [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels Vehicle] |
| Inferno Pistol ¹ | Originally the Inferno Pistol was available only to Commander Dante of the Blood Angels. This makes Dante's Inferno Pistol a reference to Dante's Inferno, part of the epic poem Divine Comedy (14th century). [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels Weapon] |
| Mephiston | Mephisto, a demon in German mythology. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Ofanim Court | Ophanim, a class of angels in Judaic mythology + "court", a royal or legal collective. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Sanguinius | Latin sanguineus, "bloody", "bloodthirsty". [WH40k Imperial Primarch BloodAngels] |
| Sanguinor | Latin sanguino, "I bleed", "I am bloodthirsty". [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Tolmeron | Ancient Greek τολμηρός, "daring". [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Tycho | Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), an astronomer after whom the Tycho crater on the Moon is named. This crater was the location of the monolith in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine BloodAngels] |
| Inspiration | |
| Warhammer Setting | The Dark Tongue; Daemonic Names; Lexicon; Short Stories; Cut-ups; Cool Stuff |
| Art | Golden Demon; Nurglesque Music |
| Speculation | Chaos God Correspondence; Dark Heresy Backgrounds; Sevenfold Path; Sevenrot; Seven Deadly Sins |
| Real World References | Nergal in Mesopotamian History; Symbolism of Three Circles; Symbolism of Seven |
dedicated to the Chaos God of Decay