[ 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 |
|---|---|
| Abscessas ¹ | "Abscess", infected cavity + "ass", buttocks. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Biologus Putrifier | New Latin biologus, "biologist" + "putrefy", decompose or become gangrenous. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Blightbringer | See: Noxious Blightbringer. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Blight-hauler | See: Myphitic Blight-hauler. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard Vehicle] |
| Blightlord Terminator | "Blight", cause of spoiling + "lord", master of a household + Terminator. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Blightspawn | See: Foul Blightspawn. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Bloab Rotspawned | Blend of "bloat" (distend) and "blob" (shapeless mass) + "rot", decay, + "spawned", given birth to. [WHFB AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Bloat-drone | See: Foetid Bloat-drone. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard Vehicle] |
| Blothar ¹ | "Bloat", distend. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Calas Typhon | Calas from "callous", heartless. See also: Typhon, Typhus. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Daemonspew | See: Orghotts Daemonspew. [WHFB AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Death Guard ¹ | The Death Guard (1939), a novel by Philip George Chadwick. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine Chapter] |
| Deathshroud | "Death", the cessation of life + "shroud", a sheet for dressing the dead. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Dhripit the Grand Ulseer ¹ | "Drippy", having liquid exusing from + a blend of "ulcer" (open sore) and "seer" (one who divines the future). [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Epidemius | "Epidemic", widespread disease. [WHFB AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Herald] |
| Feculent Gnarlmaw | "Feculent", dirty with faeces + "gnarl", a knot in wood + "maw", the upper digestive tract. [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle] |
| Felthius | "Filthy", very dirty. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Festus the Leechlord | Latin festus, "joyful" (but also referencing "infected") + leech + "lord", master of a household. [WHFB Human AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Foetid Bloat-drone | "Foetid", foul-smelling + "bloat", distend + "drone", worker insect. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard Vehicle] |
| Foul Blightspawn | "Foul", disgusting + "blight", cause of spoiling + "spawn", offspring. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| G'aap ¹ | See: Papa G'aap. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon DaemonLord] |
| Ghrubex ¹ | "Grubby", dirty. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Gnarlmaw | See: Feculent Gnarlmaw. [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle] |
| Gutrot Spume | "Gut", intestines + "rot", decay + "spume", sea foam. [WHFB Human Norscan AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Horticulous Slimux | "Horticulture", the science of gardening + "slime", mucus-like substance + "muck", mud, slop. [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Herald] |
| Lurgon ¹ | "Lurgy", from lurgi, a fictional disease in The Goon Show (first appearing in "Lurgi Strikes Britain", 1954). [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Malignant Plaguecaster | "Malignant", malevolent + "plague", a pestilential epidemic + "caster", one who performs magic. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Mamon ¹ | Mammon, a term from the Bible's New Testament associated with material wealth. In the Middle Ages, personified as a prince of Hell. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon DaemonPrince] |
| Marotter | Blend of marotte and "rotter". [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Weapon] |
| Miasmic Malignifier | "Miasma", a noxious atmosphere + "malign", evil. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Morbidex Twiceborn | "Morbid", relating to disease + "twice born", having come into being two times. [WHFB AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Mortarion ¹ | Latin mors, mortis, "death". But note Latin mortario (dative/ablative of mortarium, "mortar"). [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Primarch DeathGuard] |
| Mortius ¹ | Blend of Latin mortis, "of death", and mortuus, "having died". [BloodBowl Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Myphitic Blight-hauler | "Mephitic", foul-smelling + "blight", cause of spoiling + "hauler", one that transports by pulling. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard Vehicle] |
| Nauseous Rotbone | "Nauseous", causing vomiting + "rot", decay + "bone", component of a skeleton. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Necare | Ancient Greek νεκρά, "dead". [WH40k Chaos Nurgle] |
| Noxious Blightbringer | "Noxious", harmful + "blight", cause of spoiling + "bringer", one who supplies. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Nurgle ¹ | Nergal, a god of war and plague in Mesopotamian mythology. [WHFB AoS BloodBowl WH40k Chaos Nurgle God] |
| Nurgling | Nurgle + "-ling", small. [WHFB AoS BloodBowl WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon LesserDaemon] |
| Orghotts Daemonspew | Perhaps a blend of "organ" and "guts" + Daemon + "spew", vomit. [WHFB AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Papa G'aap ¹ | "Papa", father + Gaap, a demon described in Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1577) and later occult works. See also: Scabeiathrax the Bloated. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon DaemonLord] |
| Paz'uz | Pazuzu, a demon in Mesopotamian mythology. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon] |
| Pestigor | Latin pestis, "plague" + Gor. [WHFB BloodBowl AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Beastman] |
| Plaguebearer | "Plague", a pestilential epidemic + "bearer", one who carries. [WHFB AoS BloodBowl WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon LesserDaemon] |
| Plagueburst Crawler | "Plague", a pestilential epidemic + "burst", missile explosion + "crawler", one who creeps along the ground. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard Vehicle] |
| Plaguecaster | See: Malignant Plaguecaster. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Poxbringer | "Pox", a skin disease + "bringer", one who supplies. [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Herald] |
| Poxwalker | "Pox", disease + "walker", zombie. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle DeathGuard] |
| Pusgoyle Blightlord | Blend of "pus" and gargoyle (a monster in French mythology) + "blight", cause of spoiling + "lord", master of a household. [AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Putrifier | See: Biologus Putrifier. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Rotbone | See: Nauseous Rotbone. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Rotigus | "Rot" (decay) possibly via the German Rotguss, "gunmetal". [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Rotspawned | See: Bloab Rotspawned. [WHFB AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Scabeiathrax the Bloated ¹ | Scabies + anthrax, two diseases. From Latin scabies, "itch", and Ancient Greek ἄνθραξ, "abscess". See also: Papa G'aap. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon DaemonLord] |
| Scribbus Wretch | Latin scribo, "I write" + "wretch", one who is miserable. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Septicus ¹ | Blend of "septic" (causing putrefaction) and Latin septimus ("seventh"). [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Slimux | See: Horticulous Slimux. [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Herald] |
| Sloppity Bilepiper | "Sloppy", messy + "bile", a liver secretion + "piper", one who plays a pipe. [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Herald] |
| Spoilpox Scrivener | "Spoil", ruin + "pox", disease + "scrivener", one who writes. [AoS WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Herald] |
| Spume | See: Gutrot Spume. [WHFB Human Norscan AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Terminus Est | "Terminus Est" is the name of a sword in The Book of the New Sun (first published 1980), a series of novels by Gene Wolfe (which include a character called Typhon). [WH40k Chaos Nurgle DeathGuard Starship] |
| Twiceborn | See: Morbidex Twiceborn. [WHFB AoS Chaos Nurgle] |
| Typhon | Typhon, a divine monster in Greek mythology. See also: Calas Typhon, Terminus Est. [WH40k Imperial SpaceMarine Vehicle Chaos Nurgle DeathGuard] |
| Typhus ¹ | Typhus, a disease. From Ancient Greek τῦφος, "fever". [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| Vileblight ¹ | "Vile", disgusting + "blight", cause of spoiling. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon GreaterDaemon] |
| Wretch | See: Scribbus Wretch. [WH40k Chaos Nurgle SpaceMarine DeathGuard] |
| 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 Bringer of Despair