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More AI names for the Germans


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17 hours ago, manowar said:

Thanks @Genava55 how about this list ?

- Arminius - Cheruscan leader who defeated Varus in the Teutoburg Forest; mentioned by Cassius Dio and Tacitus.
- Maroboduus - King of the Marcomanni who ruled a powerful kingdom beyond the Roman frontier; mentioned by Tacitus.
- Veleda - Bructerian seeress with major political influence during the Batavian Revolt; mentioned by Tacitus.
- Vannius - Quadian ruler installed over a Suebi-related frontier kingdom; mentioned by Tacitus.
- Ariovistus - Suebian leader who crossed the Rhine into Gaul and fought Julius Caesar; mentioned by Caesar in Commentarii de Bello Gallico.
- Catualda - Marcomannic noble who overthrew Maroboduus before being driven into exile; mentioned by Tacitus in the Annals.
- Ballomar - King or leading war chief of the Marcomanni during the Marcomannic Wars; mentioned by Cassius Dio.
- Gannascus - Chieftain of the Canninefates/Chauci associated with raids on the Rhine frontier; mentioned by Tacitus in the Annals.

 

When I search for these names, I get these german wikipedia pages, with some more information about the names and variants (not on all):

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminius
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbod
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veleda

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vannius_(Quaden)
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariovist
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catualda
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballomar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannascus

 

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Most of them lived after AD 1, which I'm not a fan of, but fine. The only one who's definitely too late is Ballomar, since he lived in the second century AD, so I wouldn't include him.

@manowar If you make those changes to the PR, I'll merge it.

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Thanks Vantha I removed Ballomar leaving the list below. The PR is here if you approve. 

        "Ariovistus",
        "Arminius",
        "Catualda",
        "Claodicus",
        "Gannascus",
        "Maroboduus",
        "Vannius",
        "Veleda"

 

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  • 3 months later...
On 18/02/2026 at 10:30 AM, Vantha said:

@Genava55 Though, it would be nice to add proper Proto-Germanic names to the heroes; Teutobod, Lugius, and Boiorix.

On 18/02/2026 at 11:00 AM, Genava55 said:

Boiorix and Lugius are probably Celtic but we can Germanize their names. 

So it would be Þeudōbudô, Lugijaz and Bajārīks. 

See the new PR #9157 (+ grammar correction of Catafalque name)

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 16/02/2026 at 7:43 PM, Genava55 said:

A first draft, some names are quite difficult to interpret in Proto-Germanic (PGmc)

Historical names Etymology Meaning PGmc reconstruction
Claodicus *hlūd- + *īk- "Powerful through his fame" *Hlūdagīkaz
Caesorix *gaizaz + *rīks "King of the spear" *Gaizarīks
Teutagonus *theudō + *gunthiz "People's battle" *Theudagunthaz
Cotto *kath- / *kott- "The fighter (diminutive)" *Kottō
Deldo *dal- / *del- "The shining one or the sharer" *Deldō
Atès / Atas *attō "Father (honorific title)" *Attō
Nasua *nas- "The one who has a (large) nose" *Nasuō
Cimberius *kimbra- + *-jaz "The one of the Cimbri" *Kimbarjaz

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347859019_Cimbri_and_Teutoni

this article proposes an interesting etymology for the name of those tribes.

Quote

The well-known names Cimbri and Teutoni / Teutones are traditionally said to denominate two different Germanic tribes. Here a new idea is proposed, namely that they originally formed a syntagm consisting of both words, PGmc. *þeu̯đanōz kumƀrii̯ōn ‘chieftains of tribes’, which later got split up into two tribal names in ancient sources: Teutoni Cimbrique, or Τευτόνοι καὶ Κίμβροι. While PGmc. *kumƀr- must be reconstructed, there are different ways in which the name is rendered in the Latin and Greek sources, where we find a variation u/y – i in the root vowel. This may be due to the fact that there is a certain fluctuation between u and i in inherited words in Latin on the one hand and a fluctuation between all these vowels in loaned words and names in both languages. The original form of the name of the Cimbri, PGmc. *kumƀrii̯a, may continue an obscured compound of the roots PIE *gem- ‘press, squeeze, grab’ and *bher- ‘carry’. Pgmc. *þeu̯đanōz is the regular plural to *þeu̯đanaz ‘tribal chieftain’, later ‘king’. Its origin from PGmc. *þeu̯đō ‘tribe’ is generally accepted. Among various etymological attempts to analyze ‘West Indo-European’ *teu̯tā we prefer the idea of de Vries deriving the word from the Celto-Germanic isogloss to *teu̯to- ‘good, friendly’. The Hittite cognates imply the existence of the root *teu̯- ‘to be kind, friendly’.

I'm not sure it's really a composite word (Sometimes the source mention just Cimbri or just Teutones); but the kumƀrii̯a etymology might be plausible

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