What Jo says about...
Names and Naming

Please note: unless you see quotemarks, these are summaries, and not JKR's words themselves. Please see the linked article for the actual text.

• JKR: "Potter was the name of a brother and sister who I played with when I was very young. We were part of the same gang and I always liked that surname." [Read the exact quote from Barnes & Noble chat #1, 1999]
• Voldemort, Malfoy, Quidditch are all invented names. [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• The name 'Mrs. Norris' [Filch’s cat] comes from Jane Austen. [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• Dumbledore "old English word meaning bumblebee. Because Albus Dumbledore is very fond of music, I always imagined him as sort of humming to himself a lot." [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• Hagrid is "a dialect word - you'd had a bad night. Hagrid is a big drinker - he has a lot of bad nights." [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• McGonagall was a "very, very, very bad Scottish poet." [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• Hermione is a name from Shakespeare chosen because Hermione needed an unusual name. [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• JKR collects names; some characters had 8 or 9 names before she found the right one. Naming is "crucial" to her. [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• Malfoy means 'bad faith.' [Read the exact quote from WBUR interview, 1999]
• Hermione’s name is from Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, but "my Hermione bears very little relation to *that* Hermione, but it just seemed the sort of name that a pair of professional dentists, who liked to prove how clever they were ... do you know what I mean ... gave their daughter a nice, unusual name that no-one could pronounce!" Hermione needed an unusual name because she was so swotty and annoying. [Read the exact quote from National Press Club, 1999]
• The driver and the conductor of the Knight Bus ('Ernie' and 'Stanley') were named for Rowling's grandfathers. Conversations with JK Rowling, p.12
• Graveyards "are a great source for names." Conversations with JK Rowling, p.15
• Nearly Headless Nick’s last name is De Mimsy-Porpington [Read the exact quote from Scholastic chat #1, 2000]
• ‘Hedwig’ was a saint [Read the exact quote from the eToys interview, 2000]
• ‘Dumbledore’ was an old English word for Bumblebee [Read the exact quote from the eToys interview, 2000]
• ‘Snape’ is an English village [Read the exact quote from the eToys interview, 2000]
• Lily Potter’s maiden name was Evans, and she was in Gryffindor (naturally). [Read the exact quote from the Scholastic chat #2, 2000]
• Harry’s middle name is 'James,' after his Dad. [Read the exact quote from the Scholastic chat #2, 2000]
• Fleur Delacour’s name means "flower of the court." [Read the exact quote from the AOL chat, 2000]
• Natalie McDonald is the only real person to be mentioned by name in the novels. (She is sorted into Gryffindor in GoF). The real Natalie was a young girl who suffered from Leukaemia and whose mother wrote, e-mailed and faxed JK’s publishers. The letter was sent to JKR, who got it after coming back from a holiday. She replied, but unfortunately the e-mails were received a day after Natalie passed away. Natalie’s mum and JK have since struck up a friendship. [Read the exact quote from Maclean's, 2000]
• She named the 'Dementors' by experimenting with Latin words. [Read the exact quote from "Harry Potter and Me," 2001]
• The name ‘Gilderoy’ came from Brewers’ Dictionary of Phase and Fable – he was a handsome Scottish highwayman. Lockhart came from a First World War memorial. [Read the exact quote from The Scotsman, 2002]
• When JKR chooses names she goes by sound. She knows what sounds she is after. [View the exact quote from Sixty Minutes, 2002 (audio only)]
• Mosag (Aragog's wife) is a Gaelic epithet meaning "dirty female or filthy." [View the exact quote from Sixty Minutes, 2002 (audio only)]
• ‘Mundungus’ means ‘Tobacco.’ [Read the exact quote from Royal Albert Hall, 2003]
• SF: I don't know how many boys and girls are aware that a lot of names have very particular meanings Albus Dumbledore is on the side of light and his name means white.
  JKR: Yes, white and wisdom as well
  SF: And wisdom from "Alb." And in Britain, Albion was an old name for a Briton. [Read the exact quote from Royal Albert Hall, 2003]
• Parselmouth is an old word for someone who has a problem with their mouth like a hair lip. [Read the exact quote from Royal Albert Hall, 2003]
• She came up with the word 'muggle' because she wanted a word that "suggested both foolishness and loveability." [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Remus’s middle name is John. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Trelawney’s middle name is Patricia. [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Ginny’s middle name is Molly, Hermione’s is Jane, and Ron’s is Bilius! [Read the exact quote from World Book Day, 2004]
• Mark Evans is a nobody — the fact that his surname is the same as Lily's maiden name is a coincidence. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• There were several discarded opening chapters for PS/SS, one of which had a character called "Pyrites", whose name means "fools gold" meeting Sirius in front of the Potter's house. Pyrites was a servant of Voldemort. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Where do you get your names? JKR:"War memorials, telephone directories, shop fronts, saints, villains, baby-naming books – you name it, I’ve got names from it! I also make up names" [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Hermione's original surname was "Puckle", but it didn't suit her. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Mrs Weasley's maiden name is Prewett, and she lost close family members to Voldemort. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Ginny Weasley, whose full name is Ginevra, is the first girl to be born into the Weasley family for several generations. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• The Irish Quidditch players are named after people JKR has known. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• The name Wormtail is based on her sister's loathing of rats, but especially their tails. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• There is a McClaggan [a name she recently found] in book six because she likes the name. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Gilderoy Lockhart was based on someone from her past that she endured for two years. This person was a shocking liar and far worse than Lockhart. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Rita Skeeter was orginally named Bridget. [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Avada kedavra "is an ancient spell in Aramaic, and it is the original of abracadabra, which means "let the thing be destroyed." Originally, it was used to cure illness and the "thing" was the illness, but I decided to make it the "thing" as in the person standing in front of me." [Read the exact quote from Edinburgh Book Festival, 2004]
• Hedwig's name was taken from St. Hedwig, which JKR found in a book of medieval saints years ago. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Removed a character named "Mopsy the dog-lover" from Book 4; this character lived near Hogsmeade and took Sirius in. In the final version, Sirius stays in a cave. [Read exact quote from Jo's website]
• Nicolas Flamel is an historical character from the 14th century who supposedly found out how to make a philosopher’s stone. [Read the exact quote from Jo's website]
• Hagrid’s “Keeper of the Keys” title simply means that he will let you in and out of Hogwarts. [Read the entire quote from the Leaky Cauldron, 2005]
• "I love freakish names and I have always been interested in folk lore and I think it was a logical thing for me to end up writing even though it came so suddenly." [Read the whole quote from ITV, 2005]
• The name 'Gringotts,' came from the word ingot (a bar of gold). Putting 'gr' in front made it sound "intimidating." [Read the exact quote from ITV, 2005]