Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
      [ home ]  [ affiliates ]  [ forums ]  [ web rings ]  [ site map ]
 

     wizard's dictionary
     pronunciation guide
     quidditch guide

     crystal ball
     character quiz
     quidditch practice
     sorting hat
     degnome the garden
     online quidditch

     old news
     rumors
     movie news

     errors
     future book rumors
     word origins
     all about j.k. rowling
     book 1
     book 2
     book 3
     book 4

     review
     mistakes
     movie pics

     fan art
     fan fiction
     illustrations

How did JK Rowling come up with her character's weird names? Here are some of their hidden meanings:

1. Argus (Argus Filch)-The hundred-eyed servant of Zeus' wife, Hera, who watched over a girl to make sure Zeus never saw her again.

2. Sybil (Sybil Trelawney)- One who can predict the future.

3. Lupin (Remus Lupin)- Wolflike Also, Remus was the twin of Romulus, founder of Rome, according to legend. In that legend, they were both nursed by a wolf.

4.Minerva (Minerva McGonagall)- Is a roman name but when translated to greek, it becomes athene which means: the goddess of wisdom. Athene is the virgin goddess of intellect and invention. She is one of only three who can resist the charms and spells of Aphrodite, goddess of love.

5.Hippogriff- .The "griff" comes from griffin, and the "hippo" comes from hippo. Hippos are nothing but river horses. So they are half bird (griffin) and half horse (hippo).

6. Basilisk- A basilisk is a mythical serpent with a chickens head that can kill with one glance.

7.Pheonix- A mythical bird that burns itself and is reborn from the ashes.

8. Sirius( Sirius Black)- Sirius is the brightest star in I think the night sky This star is in a constallation. Guess what what animal that constallation is? Canis major,. a dog.

9. Voldemort- Meaning "Dark Lord" in another language. Also meaning "flight of Death" In french.

10. Hagrid- Means "giant" in a different language.

11.Mrs. Norris- This name was taken from Jane Austin's, "Mansfield Park." She is a nosy preachers wife.

12. Dumbledore- In Old England, dumbledore meant "bumblebee."

13. The Mirror of Erised- Erised backwards is "desire."
The whole inscription on the Mirror os Erised is, "I show not your face but your hearts desire" backwards.

14. Bagman (Ludo Bagman)- a bagman is a person who collects money for loan sharks and illegal gambling businesses. Also, Ludo means "to play" in Latin.

15. Fleur Delacour- Fleur is flower, so her whole name is something like "flower of the court" (fleur de la cour).

This just in from Leisha! weird that i'm sending you an e-mail huh.. well, i was just at your site, and reading through the bit on word origins, and the 'fleur delacour' bit should be 'flower of courtship' coz she was flirting with everyone, and cour means courtship as well as court. just thought i'd point that out to you.. but, i looked up 'fleur' in my lil dictionary thing, and i'll quote "fleur- flower, bloom, blossom, heyday; fine-flower, pick." so basically, it implies that she's a good 'pick' in courtship.. if ya get me.. in otherwords, she's pretty damn fit. *laughs* hey, i'm good at this french thing.. *shudders* me? good at something? now there's a first!!

16.Olympe Maxime- "Olympe" is like the mountain Olympus, the largest mountain in mythology where the Greek gods were thought to live. Maxime is becomes maximum, or biggest.

17. Crabbe and Goyle- If you switch the first consonants, it's what a snake does to their prey; grab (grabbe) and coyle.

18. Rita Skeeter- Rita is a beetle, or a bug. A mosquito, also a bug is sometimes referred to as a "skeeter".

19. Draco Malfoy- Draco is the latin word for dragon. Also, Mal means bad, and foy can be seen as an old spelling for "foi", which is "faith". So if he's of bad faith, that means he can't be trusted. (Thanks to "Chipie" for this info)

20. Lucius Malfoy- As said above, malfoy would mean bad faith, and Lucius refers to Lucifer, the fallen angel, or, the devil.

21. Lockharte(Gilderoy Lockharte)- In the story, Gilderoy Lockharte wrote very popular biographies of himself like "Magical Me." There was a man named R.Lockhart, who lived in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who wrote a seven-volume biography of his father, and this biography is one of the more popular in the English language.

22. Hermione(Hermione Granger)- Hermione was a mythological woman in ancient Greece. She was the daughter of Helen of Troy and Menelaus, King of Sparta. She was engaged to a man named Oristheus, but married somebody else instead. That somebody else (I forget his name) was murdered by Oristheus, and after Oristheus killed her first husband, Hermione decided to remarry. Her second husband was none other than Oristheus, who murdered her first husband.

    23. Books- The authors of many of the wizarding books have to do with the subject of the book. Here are some examples:

  • Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges... by Vindictus Viridian (vindict means to get revenge)
  • One Thousand Magical Herbs and Funji by Phyllida Spore (phyllo means leaf in greek and spores are a type of seed)
  • Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger (arsenic refers to a chemical used to form poisonous compound and one definition of jig is to prepare something)
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander (a newt is a type of amphibian)

24. Draco Dormiens Nuquam Titilandus- The Hogwarts Motto means "Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon" in Latin.

25.Viktor Krum- I think Viktor would mean victory. Krumm is a German adjective used in phrases such as 'dont slouch' and 'sit up straight'.

26. Floo Powder- Floo is a play on words, as it could be "They flew with Floo from flue to flue".


     sign | view





rated: pg-13 ... promotes slash

This site is NOT affiliated with J.K. Rowling, Mary Grand Pre, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, or any other Official Harry Potter company. It is purely a fan site.

This page is hosted and maintained at angelfire for no charge
webmaster | awards