There are 2 answers to this:

Within the show - Dalek is an anagram of Kaled which was the race of people who were mutated into the Dalek creature. This was due to the experiments of Davros, a Kaled scientist. He believed that due to the radiation from the protracted war on Skaro (the Kaled's home planet), the Kaled people would not survive in their current form. - For more information see Genesis of the Daleks.

In real life - Terry Nation was the main creator of the Daleks. According to the book "Terry Nation The Man Who Invented the Daleks" by Alwyn W. Turner, Nation just made up the name. There was an earlier story that it came from the spine an encyclopaedia that was nearby when he was trying to dream up a name. It was apparently marked Dal to Lek but he later stated this was a made up story.

If you are interested in the creation of the Daleks and Davros there is an excellent series of 4 audiobooks by Big Finish called I, Davros.

@Thekingisnotdead said:

Does anyone know?

It was supposed to mean "a far and distant thing" in Serbo-Croat.

@OwnLittleWorld said:

@Thekingisnotdead said:

Does anyone know?

It was supposed to mean "a far and distant thing" in Serbo-Croat.

Which would be "daleko". The "da" pronounce "dah" not "day". It would seem to be a general Eastern European or Baltic word although I'm not sure of the entomological origin you find it in Russian Polish Czech Slovak etc with their particular pronunciation. I speak a bit of serbo-croat myself so that's how I know.

Aside from all that it's still a funny odd looking sounding word to English ears. The other important question to ask is how they ended up looking like giant pepper shakers !

From "The Diaries of Davros" (rough translation, revised edition, 2021): 👩 👨

"I was alone and dying. One night I saw a falling star, followed by a devastating explosion. I hastened towards the fire and found a female child among the debris. She was clothed only in a red and blue blanket and had an S-shaped emerald coloured locket around her neck. It was inscribed with strange symbols, which I later decyphered: Dale Ek-A."

@znexyish said:

@OwnLittleWorld said:

@Thekingisnotdead said:

Does anyone know?

It was supposed to mean "a far and distant thing" in Serbo-Croat.

Which would be "daleko". The "da" pronounce "dah" not "day". It would seem to be a general Eastern European or Baltic word although I'm not sure of the entomological origin you find it in Russian Polish Czech Slovak etc with their particular pronunciation. I speak a bit of serbo-croat myself so that's how I know.

Aside from all that it's still a funny odd looking sounding word to English ears. The other important question to ask is how they ended up looking like giant pepper shakers !

Well that's a far more detailed explanation than we got in More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS!

I know that Terry Nation got the gliding idea from the Georgian State Dancers, as their skirts were obviously so long you couldn't see their feet moving. Ray Cusick designed them but I can't remember any details about where the "pepper pot" look came from.

@OwnLittleWorld said:

@znexyish said:

@OwnLittleWorld said:

@Thekingisnotdead said:

Does anyone know?

It was supposed to mean "a far and distant thing" in Serbo-Croat.

Which would be "daleko". The "da" pronounce "dah" not "day". It would seem to be a general Eastern European or Baltic word although I'm not sure of the entomological origin you find it in Russian Polish Czech Slovak etc with their particular pronunciation. I speak a bit of serbo-croat myself so that's how I know.

Aside from all that it's still a funny odd looking sounding word to English ears. The other important question to ask is how they ended up looking like giant pepper shakers !

Well that's a far more detailed explanation than we got in More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS!

I know that Terry Nation got the gliding idea from the Georgian State Dancers, as their skirts were obviously so long you couldn't see their feet moving. Ray Cusick designed them but I can't remember any details about where the "pepper pot" look came from.

The pepper pot look doesn't look anything like any robot, mechanical man, or alien, previously designed so maybe that was part of it also they remind me of miniature tanks. They're alien but also weapons and can rotate like a tank turret.