What's In a Name?Book List

The Philosopher's Stone...

Previously, these book lists covered all elements of the story, but the files became too large and they became a pain to update. Now, they will only contain details significant to each book. After you've finished the series, come back and read the full list.

Albus Dumbledore - see "Dumbledore, Albus"

Alchemy - science devoted to turning substances (especially lead) into pure gold. Nicholas Flamel's forte.

A medieval chemical philosophy concerned primarily with the transmutation of base metals into gold.
Argus Filch - see "Filch, Argus"

Bane - one of the three centaurs Harry encounters in the Forbidden Forest

"Bane" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "bana", which means "murderer". Hence ratsbane, henbane, etc, which are deadly poisons. It can also mean "to poison" or "to harm". (Thanks to Amanda on HP4GU) However, Simon suggests another definition. A bane can be a prelude of a play, which fits in a little better with his stargazing, divinatory nature.
Bludger - Quidditch ball that tries to knock people off their brooms.
"Bludger" is a word from Australian slang, meaning a goldbricker (that's an old US Army term) - someone who hangs around and appears to be working but is not pulling his/her weight - a do-nothing. It was one of the "Aussie words of the day" in the Olympics. Thanks to Brooks from HP4GU! Also, "bludgeon" means "to hit, usually with a large, blunt object, like a club". That's what bludgers do!
Centaur - stargazing creatures that are half-man, half-horse.
A race of monsters believed to have inhabited the mountain regions of Thessaly and Arcadia. They were represented as human down to the waist, with the lower torso and legs of a horse. The were the followers of the wine god Dionysus and are well known for drunkenness and carrying off helpless young maidens. Picture.

Thanks to Steve Bates on HP4GU for connecting the centaurs to Roonwit, a wise centaur and advisor to King Tirian in the seventh Narnia book, The Last Battle. The centaurs from this series also are stargazers and fortune tellers.

Chocolate Frog - wizard candy that comes with a famous wizard card
Probably borrowed from the Monty Python "Crunchy Frog" sketch.
Diagon Alley - Home to many wizarding shops.
Just as Knockturn Alley becomes "Nocturnally" (Knockturnally) when you put the two words together, Diagon alley becomes "Diagonally". According to Gretchen, "Diagon Alley" is actually "diagonal ley." A ley line is a line connecting ancient sites of Britain and was thought to have magical powers.

Re: Ley Lines: "Briefly, the idea, first propounded by Alfred Watkins, a Herefordshire amateur archaeologist in the early 1920's, holds that the early inhabitants of Britain deliberately placed mounds, camps and standing stones across the landscape in straight lines. As time went by later structures were added to these sites. Some Roman roads followed the leys, Christian churches were built on what had been ley markers in order to take advantage of the age and sanctity already attached to them, and the keeps of mediaeval castles were sited on mounds that had marked leys millennia before. As a result it is still possible to trace these alignments on maps." --Sister Mary Lunatic of HP4GU

Draco Malfoy - See "Malfoy, Draco"

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus - on the Hogwarts crest. (on title page in UK edition)

Translates to "Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon" in Latin. Jo said that she wanted a very solid, practical motto for Hogwarts as opposed to the strict "onwards and upwards" mottoes of the schools she attended.
Dudley Dursley - See "Dursley, Dudley"

Dumbledore, Albus - Headmaster at Hogwarts.

"Albus" means "white" in Latin. I assume this is so because he's sort-of the leader of the "light" side. Go figure.
"Dumbledore" is an English word for "bumblebee". J.K. Rowling says that it "seemed to suit the headmaster, because one of his passions is music and I imagined him walking around humming to himself."
Dursley, Dudley - Harry's bullying cousin
According to Encyclopedia Potterica, "Dudley" is a play on "dud", which is British slang for "a boring person". Dursley is a small town in Britan.
Filch, Argus - Bad-tempered squib caretaker at Hogwarts.
"Argus" is a hundred-eyed giant (also called Panoptes, Greek for "the all-seeing") employed by Hera to guard Io, one of Zeus' lovers turned into a cow. He was lulled to sleep, then killed by Hermes (Greek mythology).

"Filch" is a verb that means "to steal". Ex: With cunning thou hast filched my daughter's heart. --Egeus, Midsummer Night's Dream

Firenze - centaur that rescued Harry in the Forbidden Forest
Firenze is the Italian name for Florence, Italy. Thanks to Jenna for making the connection to Galileo Galilei, who was buried in Firenze, and arguably the greatest astronomer who ever lived. This seems fairly appropriate for a stargazing centaur.
Flamel, Nicholas - alchemist and friend to Dumbledore.
"Flamel was a famous character of his time, an official of the university reputed to be an alchemist. People thought he had got the gold to buy this mansion from finding the philosopher's stone-but really he married a rich widow." [from guidebook Cadogan Paris] (thanks to the Encyclopedia Potterica).

From The Encyclopedia of Occult Sciences:
"The Matter of the Great-Work, mixed with a liquid, liquefied, constituted the Elixir, the celebrated Elixir of long life which was to produce marvellous results. This is mentioned in all the pamphlets of the time; it aroused as much interest as the Philosopher's Stone itself; and legend relates that Nicholas Flamel and his wife Pernella, having drunk it, went to live for ever on an enchanted isle."

From Amanda on HP4GU (based on info from Alchemy Lab. Nicholas Flamel was (is?) a famous Alchemist. He and his wife Perrenelle supposedly worked out how to create the Philosopher's Stone from a book he came into possession of. What is known with certainty is that despite having a mundane job as a bookseller, he suddenly became very rich, giving away lots of gold to found orphanages (many of which still exist today) and help the poor and needy. Legend says that he and is wife faked their deaths, and remain forever young to this day.

Granger, Hermione - Bookish friend of Harry and Ron
There are several notable women named Hermione, but J.K. named her after a character in the Shakespearean tragedy "The Winter's Tale", probably written in 1611. The first three acts deal with the jealousy of King Leontes and his persecution of his queen, Hermione. His passion brings about her supposed death and the abandonment of her infant daughter. The fourth act, set 16 years later, relates the courtship of this daughter, Perdita, by Prince Florizel of Bohemia, and the flight of the young couple to the kingdom of Leontes. There, in the last act, Perdita is recognized as Leontes's lost child. To make his happiness complete, a statue of his queen comes to life, and Hermione herself forgives him and embraces Perdita.

In Farenhiet 451, there is a man named Granger, who has a photographic memory that he uses only for memorizing books. Candice informs me that "Granger" is the first name of a character in a book called "Frindle". Miss Granger is a prim and proper person, who always forces people to obey the rules and play by them.

On a complete tangent, Trina on HP4GU informs me that one of Santa's elves in "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" is named "Hermie", who wants to be a dentist rather than help the Jolly Old Elf make toys...(And Hermione's folks are both dentists).

Hedwig - Harry's pet owl
A 12th century German saint. She was very pious, noble, virtuous, good to the poor (to whom she gave most of her money), served the lepers, who lived a life of austerity even after she married the ruler of Silesia and Poland (Henry the Bearded). She entered a convent one she had founded at Trebnitz) after the death of her husband. A cathedral was built to Saint Hedwig in Germany in the mid-1700's. Thanks to Kelly on the Amazon.com HP message boards for the more in-depth info!
Hermione Granger - See "Granger, Hermione"

Hogwarts - British wizarding school

"Hogwart" is a type of lily. It's also "warthogs" switched around.
Locomotor Mortis - leg-locker curse
Locomotion is the act of moving from place to place ("Locus" is Latin for "movement"), and "mors" is Latin for "death".
Malfoy, Draco - Slytherin rival of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"Draco" means "dragon" in Latin. Also, Draco was the name of a cruel Athenian lawmaker. His harsh legal code punished both trivial and serious crimes with death. From this we get our expression "draconian laws", meaning unnecessarily harsh laws.
"Mal foi" means "bad faith" in French.
McGonagall, Minerva - strict leader of Gryffindor house and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts.
Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom, medicine, the arts, dyeing, science and trade, and war. As Minerva Medica she is the patroness of physicians. Minerva is believed to be the inventor of numbers and musical instruments. She was equated with the Greek Athena. (From Encyclopedia Mythica). Picture.
"McGonagall" is named after William Topaz McGonagall, widely held as the worst poet in the English language.
Mirror of Erised - Mirror that shows what you want most.
Its inscription is "I show not your face but your hearts desire" backwards.
Nearly-Headless Nick (Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington) - resident ghost of Gryffindor tower, who died from near-beheading.
The "Nick" part of his name is probably in reference to his botched beheading. A "nick" is a shallow cut. Mimsy is a word coined by Lewis Carrol in "Through the Looking-Glass" for the poem "Jabberwocky". It's a combination of "miserable" and "flimsy".
Nicholas Flamel - See "Flamel, Nicholas"

Nimbus 2000 - Harry's broomstick

Nimbus \Nim"bus\, n.; pl. L. Nimbi, E. Nimbuses. [L., a rain storm, a rain cloud, the cloudshaped which enveloped the gods when they appeared on earth.]
  1. (Fine Arts) A circle, or disk, or any indication of radiant light around the heads of divinities, saints, and sovereigns, upon medals, pictures, etc.; a halo. See Aureola, and Glory, n., 5.

    Note: "The nimbus is of pagan origin." "As an atribute of power, the nimbus is often seen attached to the heads of evil spirits." --Fairholl.

  2. (Meteor.) A rain cloud; one of the four principal varieties of clouds. See Cloud. (Submitted by Rob Landley)

The Nimbus "halo" in painting was developed in Christian art in the 400's. According to Greek myths, a radiant numbus surrounded the heads of gods and goddesses when they came to earth.

Philosopher's Stone - a substance which turns any metal into gold and produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
The name for the substance that could turn other metals into gold. The earliest alchemy works were bythe English monk Roger Bacon and the German philosopher Albertus Magnus. Roger Bacon believed that gold dissolved in aqua regia was the elixir of life.
Quidditch - popular wizard sport played on broomsticks
Elvira points out that "Quidditch" is a combination of the three balls used in the game. (Qu)affle + Blu(d)ger + Sn(itch).
Quirrel (Professor) - DADA teacher and servant to Lord Voldemort
"Quirrel" is just one letter away from being "squirrel", and both share a twitchy and nervous sort of persona. Also, a "quarrel" is an possible connection.
Ronan - one of the centaurs mentioned in "Philosopher's Stone"
The name "Ronan" could have been derived from the Norse word for "secret, hidden knowledge".
Severus Snape - See "Snape, Severus"

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington - See "Nearly-Headless Nick"

Snape, Severus - Potions teacher and head of Slytherin house.

"Severus" is Latin for "stern" or "harsh". There was a Roman emperor named Lucius Severus. Supposedly, Jo made the Potions master the "enemy" because she didn't like a Chemistry teacher she once had.
"Snape" is a small town Jo once visited.


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Copyright 2000-1 Priscilla Spencer