Is "Remus Lupin" His Real Name?

[ftah3]

No: HPFGUIDX 32653

cindysphynx wrote:
> Several people have mentioned how odd it is that Lupin's parents 
> would have given their baby a name that means 
> essentially "werewolf."  It is totally illogical -- akin to having 
> the parents of newborn Ted Bundy name him "Serial Killer" or some 
> such.  Lupin's name is especially peculiar considering that wizards 
> don't like werewolves, and Lupin's parents were probably not 
> werewolves themselves (judging by the fact that they were worried 
he 
> couldn't come to Hogwarts and tried everything to cure him).  So if 
> Lupin's parents didn't give him his name, where might he have 
gotten 
> it?
> 
> Here's a theory.  <snip very good theory>

By the way, your Ted Bundy example is very peculiar.  It almost 
implies that the name precludes fate.  But in terms of irony after 
the fact, wouldn't Bundy's folks more likely have named him "Occisor" 
('murderer' in Latin) or "Occidio" ('massacre' in Latin), or some 
derivative of 'Cruor' ('murder' in Latin)?

But those aren't actual names.  Soooo...maybe they call him Adolf 
Hitler Bundy.  That would lend to irony....[/tangent]

Anyhow, to humor the argument, I knew a kid named Andy Anderson.  And 
I've met people with reeeeeally awful names, the kind that 
inspire "how *could* that parent do that??"  My sister, if she and 
her husband had been even a fraction more bohemian than their actual 
yuppie selves, might have named their first child Amadeus, because 
they really liked the name.  (They didn't.)

Sooo...Mr. and Mrs. Lupin, having lived with their surname for 
however long and either not knowing or not caring as to it's root 
meaning, have a baby boy.  "I've always loved the name 'Remus!'" says 
Mr. Lupin.  Or alternatively, "Let's name him Remus after my father!" 
says Mrs. Lupin.  And "Remus J. Lupin" goes down on paper.

(I'm having a Sherlockian moment.  The easiest solution being the 
most likely, as it were.)

But honestly, I can't help but see it as simply an authorial naming 
convention.  I mean, what a great name for a werewolf!  A name that 
essentially means 'werewolf' but has a nice ring to boot!

Mahoney
not in the least helpful, no doubt