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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 |
|---|---|
| Alpharius | Ancient Greek ἄλφα, "alpha", the first letter of the Greek Alphabet. See also: Omegon. [WH40k Chaos Primarch AlphaLegion] |
| Angron | Contraction of "angry one". [WH40k Chaos Khorne Daemon Primarch WorldEaters] |
| Corax | See: Corvus Corax. [WH40k Imperial Primarch RavenGuard] |
| Corvus Corax | Corvus corax is the scientific name for the common raven. [WH40k Imperial Primarch RavenGuard] |
| Crimson King | In the Court of the Crimson King (1960), an album by King Crimson. See also: Magnus the Red. [WH40k Chaos Tzeentch Daemon Primarch ThousandSons] |
| Curze | See: Konrad Curze. [WH40k Chaos Primarch NightLords] |
| Dorn | See: Rogal Dorn. [WH40k Imperial Primarch ImperialFists] |
| El'Jonson | See: Lion El'Jonson. [WH40k Imperial Primarch DarkAngels] |
| Ferrus Manus | Latin ferrum, "iron" + manus, "hand". Correct Latin for "iron hand" would be manus ferrea, and for "iron hands" would be manus ferreae. [WH40k Imperial Primarch IronHands] |
| Fulgrim | Danish ful, "ugly" + grim, "ugly". [WH40k Chaos Slaanesh Daemon Primarch EmperorsChildren] |
| Guilliman | See: Roboute Guilliman. [WH40k Imperial Primarch Ultramarines] |
| Horus | Horus, a god of kingship and the sky in Egyptian mythology. See also: Lupercal. [WH40k Chaos Primarch SonsofHorus] |
| Jaghatai Khan | Chagatai Khan (1183-1242), a ruler and son of Genghis Khan. [WH40k Imperial Primarch WhiteScars] |
| Khan | See: Jaghatai Khan, Kor'sarro Khan. [WH40k Imperial Primarch SpaceMarine WhiteScars] |
| Konrad Curze | Joseph Conrad (1857-1924), a novelist whose work includes Heart of Darkness + Kurtz, a character from Heart of Darkness. [WH40k Chaos Primarch NightLords] |
| Leman Russ ¹ | Leman, a name (might possibly reference Russian composer Albert Leman (1915-1998)) + the Rus' people whose name persists in "Russia" et al. [WH40k Imperial Primarch SpaceWolves ImperialGuard Vehicle] |
| Lion El'Jonson ¹ | Lionel Johnson (1867-1902), a poet whose work includes The Dark Angel. [WH40k Imperial Primarch DarkAngels] |
| Lorgar Aurelian | Aurelian, a Roman emperor whose acts included concentrating Roman worship onto a single sun god, Sol Invictus. See also: Urizen. [WH40k Chaos Primarch WordBearers] |
| Lupercal | Lupercal, the cave in which Romulus and Remus were found by a wolf. This is in reference to the original name of the Sons of Horus: the Luna Wolves. See also: Horus. [WH40k Chaos Primarch SonsofHorus] |
| Magnus the Red | Latin magnus, "great". See also: Crimson King. [WH40k Chaos Tzeentch Daemon Primarch ThousandSons] |
| Manus | See: Ferrus Manus. [WH40k Imperial Primarch IronHands] |
| Mortarion ¹ | Latin mors, mortis, "death". But note Latin mortario (dative/ablative of mortarium, "mortar"). [WH40k Chaos Nurgle Daemon Primarch DeathGuard] |
| Omegon | Ancient Greek ὦ μέγα, the last letter of the Greek alphabet. See also: Alpharius. [WH40k Chaos Primarch AlphaLegion] |
| Perturabo | Frater Perdurabo, a name used by Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), an occultist claiming to be a prophet that would guide humanity into the "Æon of Horus". [WH40k Chaos Daemon Primarch IronWarriors] |
| Roboute Guilliman | Robert Cham Gilman was a pen-name used by pulp science fiction author Alfred Coppel (1921-2004) for his series of four Rhada novels (released from 1968 to 1985). [WH40k Imperial Primarch Ultramarines] |
| Rogal Dorn | Irish ríoga, "royal" + dorn, "fist". [WH40k Imperial Primarch ImperialFists] |
| Russ | See: Leman Russ. [WH40k Imperial Primarch SpaceWolves] |
| Sanguinius | Latin sanguineus, "bloody", "bloodthirsty". [WH40k Imperial Primarch BloodAngels] |
| Urizen | Urizen, the embodiment of wisdom and law in William Blake's mythology, first mentioned in A Song of Liberty (1793). See also: Lorgar Aurelian. [WH40k Chaos Primarch WordBearers] |
| Vulkan | Vulcan, god of fire and metalworking in Roman mythology. [WH40k Imperial Primarch Salamanders] |
| 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 Master of Plague