Picking up some of my slack here!

About the name "Germanic", all I know is that it comes from the Latin, as opposed to "Teuton" that comes from the Gothic "thiuda", the people, or an even earlier word. Interestingly, modern Germans still call themselves "Deutsch" (or something... I *still* can't speak German - blush). Many peoples (think also of North-American tribes) have called themselves just "The People" or "The Men". Which reminds me, there's a brilliant post by Lescher Welf about the Alamanni at the The Wanderings of the Tribes, which says that the name "Germania" comes exactly from the name of that tribe.

As for the Heruli, they are still a bit of a mystery for me, which is not good since I'm researching Theodoric and his war with Odoacer. I've read that they were a branch of the Ostrogoths and that they were something else entirely, and even the significance of their name is dubious. But this is just my ignorance, once again. I might research and write an article to clear my notions.

Rob Burgundian, I can't answer your question, but have you checked out the posts at The Wanderings of the Tribes or Theudokuntho? Maybe there's some hint, or some expert you could gram.