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

[Ebony Elizabeth Thomas]

No: HPFGUIDX 12060

Neil wrote:

"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."

I'm not sure that I agree that there *is* a such thing as a wizard name or a 
Muggle name.  I think that various names cycle in and out of popularity 
amongst wizards and Muggles.  Names also depend heavily upon ethnicity, 
locality, and nationality.  I think this holds true for Muggles and 
"magicals".

For instance, in the 70s, there was a wave of ethnic naming in my community, 
but there was also a HUGE wave of old-fashioned, turn-of-the-century names.  
(I gather most of these were family names.)  So I went to school with plenty 
Keishas and Siwatus (and of course there were *always* several girls named 
Ebony), but I also know several black and Hispanic women in their early to 
mid 20s named Priscilla, Hazel, Ruby, Pearl, Jewel, Lily, Rose, Turquoise, 
and even a Hermione.  All of those could be considered witch names.

Roman names were and are also very popular for boys here.  Romulus and Remus 
(twins I knew), Aurelius, Demetrius, any name ending in -us was popular.  
Goddess and Egyptian queen names were extremely popular in the 70s for 
girls.  I've known several girls named Isis, Venus, Nefertiti, Cleopatra, 
etc.  Finally, you had the girls whose parents were into old movies--in high 
school, there were four Ingrids and six to seven Carmens.

I recently looked at the 100 top baby names for 2000.  I thought of all the 
kids in my classes.  While the coined-ethnic naming trend is very much over, 
I still didn't see a lot of names on that list that are popular.  The two 
most popular girls' names at my school are Jessica and Brittany, with many 
Ashleys sprinkled in for good measure.  The boys vary a lot more.

So I don't know... perhaps my generation may have been a fluke.  But none of 
the HP names seem nearly as strange as those I've read in other books (LOTR, 
for instance).  In fact, they struck me as being extraordinarily regular.

>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.
>

A couple of chats ago, I asked if perhaps the Weasley kids were nicknamed.  
The chatters verdict was "Probably".  I'm not sure if nicknaming is popular 
in England, though.

These were the lengthened names we came up with.

Bill--William
Charlie--Charlie
Percy--Percival (one problem:  the meaning of the name changes!)
Fred--Frederick
George--George
Ron--Ronald
Ginny--Virginia, Ginger, or something else with a "Gin" root (my handy-dandy 
baby name book states that Ginny is a nickname for those two)

I remember thinking Hermione was the ugliest name I'd ever seen or heard, 
and actually made a face at JKR when I first cracked open CoS.  Of course, 
there's a difference between "Hermy-own" (the way the girl I know pronounces 
it) and "Her-my-own-knee".  The latter sounds nicer IMO.  Even then I didn't 
see it as a witch name.  I saw it as an Insufferable Know It All name in 
fiction and real life, and chuckled over the coincidence.  Then I read PoA 
and GoF, and the corrected pronunciation along with Hermione's character 
development made me like her and her name a lot better.

One of my major pet peeves in fanfiction is that I *hate* when writers 
misspell canon names.  I will NOT read fanfics by or starring "Hermoine".  I 
also grit my teeth when writers misspell "Weasley", "McGonagall", and other 
names they could have easily checked canon for.  And if they didn't, why 
their beta-readers did not is a mystery to me.

>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.

Or the poor kids I'll be teaching in 10-15-20 years named Hermione... an 
entire generation of women will most likely try to convince their husbands 
that "Hermione" is the best name for their girl.

I also fear that the number of teen girls screaming for Draco in leather 
will lead to a few Dracos sprinkled here and there in the next generation.

>I guess the same thinking would apply to the hapless Neville, the prim and 
>proper Percy or the ill-fated Cedric.

I don't know any Nevilles or Percys.  But Cedric is a popular boy's name 
here... I've got three Ceds in my gradebook now, and a colleague I grew up 
with is Ced too.

Did I mention I *love* names and naming?

--Ebony
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Ebony AKA AngieJ
(H/H Special Agent, First Class)

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