Face it. Naming your own space marine chapter can be a daunting prospect. After all, it often seems like all the cool names are taken. In naming a
SM chapter, you have to find the perfect intersection of coolness, the "flavor" or "feel" of your army, as well as finding something that suits you personally and doesn't come off as cliche to either you or your opponent. Because while you might decide that your chapter name is the most bad-ass in the galaxy, it's unlikely that something like "The Rivulets of Blood" are going to strike fear into the heart of your opponent, much less something that sounds like it was cobbled together Frankenstein-like from a thesaurus. This should not, however, be taken as a definitive guide to anything, on the contrary. The number of potential Space Marine chapter names is more or less limitless. So, without further ado, let's see what we can come up with in terms of naming conventions.
First, let's start with established
SM chapters. Some of the classics, of course, are:
The Dark Angels
The Blood Angels
The Space Wolves
The Imperial Fists
What do these chapter names all have in common? If you pointed out that 50% of them have the word "angel" in the title, then you are also 50% correct. Congratulations, you get a C-
No, what these chapters all have in common is that they follow certain naming conventions. Specifically, they are THE [adjective] [noun]s. What does that mean? Well, without going into some boring grammar lesion straight out of elementary school, the basics are simple.
A
noun is a person, place, or thing. A rock is a noun, as is a tree, a wolf, an angel, or even a concept, such as fate, courage, or freedom (in the proper context).
An adjective is a word whose primary use is to modify or otherwise specify the meaning of a noun.
So, if you want to start naming your space marine chapter, the easiest way is to start by picking a noun. Any noun will do, but obviously some are more appropriate to the
40k universe than others. Thus while you can certainly choose to name your
SM chapter after pieces of women’s lingerie, these are most likely inappropriate for our uses (unless of course you’re a follower of Slaanesh. More on that later).
Some good places to look for nouns are the following: beasts, people, weapons, military formations, weather patterns, or basic groupings. You can certainly do your own research, but here are a few good ones.
Beasts: Wolves, Tigers, Dragons, Dogs, Hounds, Steeds, Griffons, Manticores, Basilisks, Chimeras, Panthers, Serpents, Snakes, etc.
People: Gods, Lords, Kings, Sires, Jacks, Knights, Marshals, Magnates, Enforcers, Rulers, etc.
Weapons/Armour: Swords, Axes, Spears, Pikes, Lances, Maces, Claws, Arrows, Helms, Gauntlets, Voiders, etc.
Weather: Clouds, Storms, Tempests, Tsunamis, Tornados, Winds, Rains, Quakes, etc.
Formations/Groupings: Host, Horde, Phalanx, Legion, Army, Circle, Conclave, Body, Coterie, League, Band, etc.
So, as you can see, the noun part of your
SM chapter can be virtually anything. Now let’s move on to the
adjective portion on the scenario. As we mentioned before, adjectives are words that are used to describe or modify a noun. For example, ever tried to point out a particular car to a friend while driving along? Your friend says “which car?” You reply “the [adjective] one.” The adjective is what you will use to describe your chapter in greater detail. While like nouns, these adjectives can be virtually anything, a few good places to start are colors, attitudes,actions, and the like.
Colors: Blue, Green, Red, you get the idea. Furs, however, also work well. Sable, for example, is a dark black. Tawny is an orange. There are also other colors out there that are more descriptive: Ruddy, Rose, Sapphire, Emerald, Ruby, Gold, Silver, Brass, Indigo, etc.
Attitudes/Actions: Brazen, Raging, Rampaging, Roaring, Howling, Screaming, Laughing, Merry, Gloomy, Resolute, Storming, Thundering, etc.
So, your basic
SM chapter naming convention is as follows: The [adjective] [noun]s
A secondary naming convention can be found highlighted in the following examples:
The Defilers
The Reavers
The Rampagers
All of these Space Marine chapters are named after a
verb. For those of you who recall middle school English, verbs are action words. A verb is what you do. However, simply using a verb tends to clutter the field and make your chapter less personal,
IMHO. While “The Bloody Blades” tends to have a certain feel to it, “The Killers” sounds like a chapter based out of the Las Vegas system, and is commanded by a Primarch named Flowers (that’s a music joke, for the rest of you). You can certainly do this. After all, your imagination is the limit. But it’s something to be aware of.
Now obviously, these represent some of the more easy and common naming conventions used by
SM chapters. This should not, however, prevent you from experimenting with your arrangement. Although Noun-Adjective or Noun-Verb combinations are the most common, there is no real reason you could not reverse the order. For example:
The Brass Lances could just as easily be called The Lances of Brass. The Soul Drinkers could just as easily have been The Drinkers of Souls. However, be careful. While the Angels Encarmine sounds and looks good on paper, you don’t want to overdo it lest you end up sounding like an exchange-student Yoda. Thus, Swords of Green, The Tsunami Purples, and Tearers of Throats are right out.
As for Chaos Space Marines, well the same rules apply. World Eaters, Night Lords, Alpha Legion, and the like. All of these fall under the same basic conventions. Just this time, instead of using imagery which promotes nobility, purity, and righteous cleansing fire, focus on darker imagery and images which invoke fear and dread. Like, I dunno. Spiders. Rot. Skulls. Glaives. Pustules. Pus. Gore. Dentists. You get the idea.
Feel free to add your own custom Space Marine chapter name, or any ideas of your own!
.
2500 
1250
9000 
1000
1500
5500
planned 
