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I know their true name is their great weakness, but what would exactly happen if you'd say it in front of them? Are they just weakened, paralyzed? Can they do anything about it? Can they still talk? I've never read any description in a story where a daemon undergoes this, anyone has?

You essentially own that daemon as far as I am aware. I believe that Eisenhorn does this in one of his novels.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Gregor_Eisenhorn

Pretty sure a true name goes beyond just daemons - I recall Bjorn the Fell Handed being threatened by a Daemon with knowledge of his true name only to get off the hook when the Daemon mistranslated it.

The Grimoire of True Names used to paralyse them, but that only had fragments of true names, because daemons tend to have very long True Names and can include literal manifestations of concepts¹ in them.
If you ever did manage to get the whole thing and say it before the owner gutted you, though, then you would be able to order it around and it would be forced to obey if it can. At least until the beast's True Name changes or you slip up and accidentally give it leave to kill you as part of your order.




¹ like if part of the target's True Name is "a moment of silence" you have to pronounce silence itself, which is quite difficult on an active battlefield….

 Mr_Rose wrote:
The Grimoire of True Names used to paralyse them, but that only had fragments of true names, because daemons tend to have very long True Names and can include literal manifestations of concepts¹ in them.
If you ever did manage to get the whole thing and say it before the owner gutted you, though, then you would be able to order it around and it would be forced to obey if it can. At least until the beast's True Name changes or you slip up and accidentally give it leave to kill you as part of your order.




¹ like if part of the target's True Name is "a moment of silence" you have to pronounce silence itself, which is quite difficult on an active battlefield….

Also the language might be unpronounceable, actively harmful or nearly impossible for human mind to process.
Its not gonna be bob jones.

Or is it? If you're a Daemon, who would ever believe Bob Jones is actually your true name? Surely they'd just think 'nah', and not even bother trying?

One of the Ben Counter Grey Knight books has this as the climax, a massive daemon shows up and starts wrecking stuff, and it turns out the gobbledygook that one of the insane characters was spouting is the Daemon's entire true name. The main character realizes this, says it, and after repeating the full name the manifestation dies and begins to decompose.

Consult Tenacious D Beelzeboss.

Well, Rumpelstilzchen tore himself in two.
Let's hope he wasn't a Tzeentch-Daemon resulting in two blue Horrors...

The name might depend on the origins of the daemon in question. One of Khorne''s most powerful servants is believed to be Ghenghis Khan from Earth ancient history. His true name in this case is Temujin but 40k yrs in the future only the Emporer would have a chance of knowing this.

A lot of them get really embarassed, like when I found out Murry's real name is Mortimer.

The names not as important as getting the number!

 Mr_Rose wrote:
At least until the beast's True Name changes

They can change their true name? Are you sure because doesn't that goes against the whole purpose of keeping one's true name secret? Is there a source that explains how and why this is possible?

 BobNT wrote:

 Mr_Rose wrote:
At least until the beast's True Name changes

They can change their true name? Are you sure because doesn't that goes against the whole purpose of keeping one's true name secret? Is there a source that explains how and why this is possible?

It also devalues all the ainciant grey knight tomes of names, information etc if that changes.
In the heavily guarded Liberies of Titan.

I don't think its so much as the Demon filling out some paperwork so it can legally change its name on its driver's license, but more that the True Name of a Demon evolves as to reflect the evolving nature of the Demon itself.

For example, a Brimstone Horror's True Name might be 'Johnny Flame', but as it evolves into a Blue Horror, then a Pink Horror, then a Herald, then a Lord of Change it's name might end up as 'Johnny Flame, The Blue Fire with the Hot Pink T-Shirt, Ninth Scourge of Torphalla, <the incomprehensible concept of string always tangling no matter how carefully you pack it away>, Lord of Mystery and Cheese (but only Gouda Cheese for it is the Cheese of Fate), that guy that owns that sweet Burning Chariot".

Uttering the true name in their presence "undoes" them. Unfortunately, most exorcists stop the utterance when the daemon's material form is destroyed instead of their spirit form as well.

True names can change after significant events. If a demon is upgraded or downgraded in power, syllables may be added or removed from its name; a daemon's true name is an ultimate descriptor of the entirety of its existence.

The tomes the Grey Knights keep have to be periodically updated with a given daemon's activities; if a daemon's status changes, and can (and have) been rendered obsolete if a daemon undertakes some action that drastically changes its true name. Most often, their acts simply lengthen the name - the equivalent of gaining another title, and must be added to.

Ace From Outer Space wrote:
The names not as important as getting the number!

I have a few numbers of daemonettes on my phone, good times