20 Things You Didn't Know About Blade Runner
18. The Title Comes From An Entirely Different Work
It's common knowledge that the title of Philip K. Dick's original novel on which Blade Runner is based is actually Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? However, what may be of interest is that the term "Blade Runner" has a totally separate origin.
In the original novel, Deckard is simply referred to as a bounty hunter, rather than a Blade Runner. That term comes from the 1974 sci-fi novel The Bladerunner, which concerns the use of illegal smuggling of medical equipment in a future where eugenics is both legal and state-sponsored. Co-writer Hampton Fancher, unhappy with working titles Android and Dangerous Days, liked the term so much he opted to use it as the in-universe name for Deckard's profession.