[ 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 |
|---|---|
| Baal | Baʿal, "lord", an honorific applied to deities in Levantine mythology. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System BloodAngels] |
| Catachan | Possibly from catechin, a chemical derived from an Asian tree that is used in herbal remedies and found in tea and other foods. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System ImperialGuard] |
| Chemos | "Chemo-", relating to chemicals, from Ancient Greek χυμεία, "alchemy". [WH40k SegmentumUltima AquitaneSector System EmperorsChildren] |
| Chogoris | Chogori, another name for the mountain K2. [WH40k SegmentumUltima YasanSector System WhiteScars] |
| Gorkamorka | See: Gork and Mork. [AoS Destruction Orruk God WH40k SegmentumUltima Ork] |
| Isstvan ¹ | Isstvan, a character from Another Fine Myth (1978), a novel by Robert Asprin. The name is a corruption of the Hungarian name István, ultimately from the Ancient Greek στέφανος, "crown". [WH40k SegmentumUltima System] |
| Mortrex ¹ | Latin mortis rex, "king of death". [WH40k SegmentumUltima System] |
| Mount Kan'ji | Kanji, Chinese characters used in Japanese writing. [WH40k SegmentumUltima DalythSystem Tau] |
| Nocturne | "Nocturne", a work of art pertaining to the night. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System Salamanders] |
| Nostramo | Nostromo (1904), a novel by Joseph Conrad. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System NightLords] |
| Prospero | Prospero, a character from The Tempest (1611), a play by William Shakespeare. He is a learned sorceror. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System] |
| Ultramar | Back-named from the Ultramarines. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System Ultramarines] |
| Valhalla | Valhalla, the halls of the dead in Norse mythology. [WH40k SegmentumUltima System ImperialGuard] |
| 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 Father of Disease