Have You Ever Wondered Where JK Rowling Got All Those Crazy Names From???

***Contains Spoilers***

***The definitions are not necessarily correct***

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(In alphabetical order)

Aragog:

The scientific name for a spider is ARAneae, which happens to be the first three letters of Aragog's name. Since Aragog is a spider, that makes perfect sense!

Azkaban:

This is really doesn't explain the meaning of Azkaban, but it's pretty interesting. Someone (Mitchell) told me that Azkaban and Alacatraz are both similar because they're both prisons on islands, and they're both 3-syllable words that sound the same. Alcatraz is a famous prison off the California coast that used to jail members of the Mob, but is now closed. Today, you can tour it though, that is if you're crazy enough to. :)

Beauxbaton:

"Beaux-Baton"="Beautiful Stick" in French!

Black, Sirius:

Sirius, also called the Dog Star, is the brightest star in the sky!

Delacour, Fleur:

Fleur Delacour is a girl from Beauxbatons. Fleur-de-la-Cour, it means "Flower of the court" in French!

Dumbledore, Albus:

Dumbledore=bumblebee in Old English! 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." Albus also means "white" in latin. Maybe because he has a white beard? Or maybe "white" means that he's a white wizard, in other words, a good wizard.

Fawkes:

I looked this up the dictionary myself, and it actually had it in there...kinda. It had "Guy Fawkes" in the dictionary, and he was an English conspirator who was executed for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot (1605), which was an attempt to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament with shells and fireworks. Since Fawkes is a phoenix, which according to mythology bursts into flames every hundred years or so, and then rises from its ashes to take the form of the phoenix once again. See the connection? Gunpowder, shells, fireworks and ashes, fire, flames???? Maybe JK Rowling named Fawkes after Guy Fawkes?

Filch, Argus:

Argus is a creature from Greek Mythology who has a hundred eyes and is very watchful. (Wow! So is our Argus, never misses a thing that happens at Hogwarts.) To filch is to steal (usually something small). That makes sense, Filch likes to take things from students who get in trouble, i.e. The Marauder Map.

Granger, Hermione:

J.K. Rowling says that she wanted Hermione (Her-my-uh-nee) to have an odd name so that real-life little girls who share the name Hermione wouldn`t be teased because they were know-it-alls.

Hagrid, Rubeus:

If you were "Hagrid" in old English, it means that you're having a bad night. Since Hagrid is a big drinker, he must have had tons bad nights.

Hedwig:

In a recent interview, Mrs. Rowling said that Hedwig is the name of a medieval saint. Someone e-mailed me this very helpful site that has very good info on St. Hedwig. (Thanx!) St. Hedwig had seven children and was married several times. She cared for the sick and supported the poor. There's a school named for her, this school provides education for abandoned and orphaned children. Do you see a connection here? Hedwig, the owl, cares for Harry who is orphaned, and this school named after St. Hedwig cares for the orphaned.

Hermes:

Percy`s owl, Hermes is also the name of the Greek messenger God to the Gods!

Knockturn Alley:

Knockturn Alley=nocturnally. Well, to be nocturnal is to be active during the night, so since many of the Dark Arts are performed during the night, it seems reasonble that JK Rowling named it Knockturn Alley. This is so cool! I discovered the definition of this myself!

Lockhart, Gilderoy:

Lockhart is an Australian town near Wagga Wagga, remember, Lockhart defeated a werewolf? "Composed a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf"

Lupin, Remus:

Stories said that there was a boy named Remus who was abandoned when he was just a baby, (aww) but was found by wolves who nursed him and raised him. Also Lupin means wolf-like in Latin.

Malfoy, Draco:

1.)In ancient Greek days, Draco was a cruel Athenian lawmaker. That's how we get the expression "draconian laws", meaning unnecessarily harsh laws. Also, 'Mal foi' means 'bad faith' in French.
2.)Draco in Latin means "Snake" or "Dragon" both of which are very devious creatures - A Dragon (in mythology) lulls you with it's voice so you'll tell it any thing and it will usually extract important secrets from you. Snakes - A serpent is the Slytherin mascot and snakes were evil and cunning creatures - A basilisk is a snake and it's very deadly.

Malfoy, Narcissa:

(She's the mother of Draco Malfoy) Her name is pretty similar to the term narcissism which means "self-love" or people who think that they are more important and superior than other people. So could this be a description of her character?

McGonagall, Minerva:

Minerva is the name of the Roman goddess of Wisdom. Can that mean that our strict transfiguration teacher is also wise???

Mirror of Erised:

"erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" if you read the inscription backwards it's "I show not your face but your heart's desire" Neat huh?

Peeves:

To peeve is to irritate or annoy. (Doesn't that sound like our Peeves, he sure does get on everyone's nerves!)

Riddle, Marvolo Tom:

If you rearrange all the words in "Tom Marvolo Riddle", you get...what else?? "I am Lord Voldemort"!!

Snape, Severus:

Severus, maybe he's so severe to his students, (especially Harry) that J.K. Rowling named him Severus.

Sprout:

This is kinda obvious, she's the Herbology professor who teaches about plants, which "sprout".

Veritaserum:

In the fourth book, it was the potion that Snape threatened to use on Harry and Dumbledore also gave the potion to Mr. Crouch's son at the end. Well, I did some research, I found that "Verity" means truth and "serum" means fluid. So Veritaserum is a fluid that makes people tell the truth. You get it?

Voldemort:

There are many rumors saying that the name Voldemort came from an evil wizard named Voldermortist, which means "Lord of Evil" or "Dark Lord". They even went far on to say that Voldemort once tried to kill Merlin, but was caught and fed to a monster with many heads. -OR- Lord Voldemort may be taken from Edgar Allan Poe's character M. Valdemar, who died under hypnosis and came back as a squishy mass of rotting flesh, which is what Voldermort was like, until he regained his human form in the 4th book.
NOTE: "Vol de mort" means "Flight of Death" in French. But.......J.K. Rowling said that she made the name up!

Weasley, Arthur :

Maybe J.K Rowling named him after King Arthur of Camelot???

Weasley, Ron :

Ron Weasley, in another language, is called "Running Weasel." Running Weasel was a warlord in the 6th Dynasty. He was a stratigist, and never lost a game of chess!! (That sounds just like Ron!) Unfortunately, he died when a rat that had been dyed yellow (Scabbers!!) by his soldiers for fun, knocked over a lamp in his palace, burning it to the ground, and killing Running Weasel.

Charms

Accio:

Comes from the Latin word 'accipio' which means 'receive'. Used to force an object to come to you.

Avada Kedavra:

Arabic for 'let the things be destroyed', led to the saying of Abra Kadabra. It's one of the deadiliest curse known, causes the instant death of a living thing. It was the curse used by Voldemort to kill Harry's parents. Here's another explanation, Avada-could be a change from "Verde", which is Green in Spanish. This would explain the green flash of light. Kedavra could be releated to the English word "Cedaverm" which is a dead body. Which would explain why they die when it's cast.

Expecto Patronum:

It comes from the Latin word, "expecto", which means to throw out, and "patronus" in Latin means guardian. So it literally means "throw out a guardian!", hehe.

Expelliarmus (disarming charm):

'expel' means to force out, and 'armus' means arms or weapons. This curse forces the wand out of someone else's hands.

Fidelius Charm:

Comes from the Latin word, "fidelus", which means faithful and trustworthy. This spell is used to place a secret in another trusted person.

Lumos:

'light' in Latin. Used to ignite fire at the tip of one's wand to provide light. Counter-charm of Nox.

Nox:

'night' in Latin. Used to extinguish fire at the tip of one's wand. Counter-charm of Lumos.

Prior Incantatem:

'prior' means prior or previous in Latin, and 'incantatem' means spell in Latin, that makes sense because it's used to reveal the previous spell casted by a wand.

Sonorus:

To have a sonorous voice is to have a voice that is powerful, impressive, full, and rich in quality. Although sonorus and sonorous are spelt differently, they mean the same thing. The 'Sonorus' charm is used to amplify one's voice.

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Note: All names and/or insignias on this page are found in the Harry Potter book series, which is copyrighted to J.K. Rowling. I do not claim credit for these names.