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

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 12062

Ebony wrote:

"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"."
***
Ebony, I take your points about cycling names and cultural influences.
You're right, we're not talking about mutually exclusive groups of names
here.  If you like, what we have is a Venn diagram of names for the Muggle
and Magical communities that cycle differently, but which have overlapped
rather more in recent generations than in the past.

You made a good point about naming cycles in your own community and I think
we can use this to illustrate the concept of wizard naming, if we use the
black American community as an analogy for the wizarding community.  I
suggest that there are some names that you would *only* find in the black
community at any point in history, such as Keisha and Siwatu (let's say cf.
Olympe and Rosmerta), whereas names such as Hazel or Ruby (let's say cf.
Ginny and Penelope) are less culturally-identified.  If communities are
quite insular when it comes to naming children the chance of a common pool
of names in the Venn diagram is considerably lessened.  If we'd run a
comparison between the Muggle and Wizard names in, say, 1300, the names
which were common to both communities would surely have been totally
different than those in more recent times.  The naming 'orbits' are
different, but there will have been occasional alignments.

Ebony again:

"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 thing about the Wizarding world is that it has very strong associations
with the Muggle world.  I see it as an extension of the medieval Muggle
world as it would have evolved had magic been nurtured rather than treated
as the Devils' work.  It's a parallel universe and a sister-set of the
Muggle coummunity.  IIRC, LOTR is a world based completely in fantasy, with
no connections to the real world, so the more unusual names therein are,
IMO, understandable.

Ebony also said:

"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."
<snipped list of Weasley names>
***
Shortened names are used here and I'd agree with the list you posted.
Charlie = Charles (perhaps that's what you meant to type) and I'd say Ginny
= Virginia (Ginger seems an insulting name to give a red-haired child).

You also mentioned that you know a few Cedrics, and that's an interesting
point.  To me, Cedric has an obscure, medieval feel and I think JKR would
have regarded it as being an outmoded name, but, thinking about it, it's
probably relatively common in the black community here as well; again,
indicating a difference in cultural perspective.

Neil
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