[HPforGrownups] Re: Weird names (back on topic)

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 12049

Amy Z "ululated":

"I've been wondering why the latest wizarding generation has such
boring Muggle names.  Earlier generations seem to be a mix--you've
got your Mollys and Arthurs and Jameses, sure, but also your Siriuses
 and Minervas and Severuses."

John "chirped":

" Of course, "unusual" names would include Hermione, Neville and
Lavender. The first two are "old people names", not widely used in today's
UK"

Amy also enunciated:

"Well, that's a relief.  You know, in a country where one in three men
 is named Nigel you just never know.  (j/k!!)"

To that, I retort:

Neil is a contraction of Nigel... hmmmm, should I take offence at your j/k
remark?

Amy then propounded:

"<snip> But I'll plunge ahead with some gross stereotypes.  Ron, Fred,
Ginny, Harry--those are Muggle names.  Albus, Aberforth, Sirius,
 Rubeus--aah, now those are proper wizard names!  I just wondered if
 there was some deep reason why most wizards have taken to giving their
 kids Muggle names, whether plain as plain ("George") or on the unusual
 or old-fashioned side ("Neville")."

...and I muse:

Two things spring to mind:  Firstly, the fact that the wizarding world was
forced to interbreed with the Muggle world in order to survive.  This led to
animosity toward 'mudbloods' from some pureblood families, but it must also
have meant a much greater interaction between the two worlds in recent
generations than in the past.  This greater exposure to Muggle culture, even
to the point of studying Muggles at Hogwarts, would surely have led to a
filtering in of Muggle names.

The second point is that some families are completely buried in wizard
tradition, whereas others are more open to new things.  We already know that
Arthur Weasley has a fascination with Muggle artifacts, so it's no surprise
to me that he and Molly would give their children acceptable Muggle names.
Percy is the exception, of course - see my next point.

I recall that JKR said she gave Hermione an unusual name because she thought
that any girl with the same name as the character would get picked on as a
"know-it-all".  She could hardly have imagined the endless queue of girls of
all ages wishing to "be" Hermione Granger.   I guess the same thinking would
apply to the hapless Neville, the prim and proper Percy or the ill-fated
Cedric.

OT: I used to work with someone, of my age, called Archibald Conkie.  I'm
sure now that he was a creation of JK Rowling, who entered my uiniverse a
little ahead of time...

Neil

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