Phineas Nigellus

[Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)]

No: HPFGUIDX 106835

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "eeyore5497" <eeyore5497 at y...>
wrote:
> Has anybody noticed in OoP p. 826, 828 that Phineas Nigellus which is
> Sirius' Great Great Grandfather, first of all has a different last
> name (not Black, how can that be?) 

Now that I'm caught up on list (I've read 1800 posts this weekend), I
want to join with the people who said that the dear old Headmaster's
name was Phineas Nigellus Black, and he was known by his two given
names, as some people are. Back then, I looked the names, and Phineas 
is King James Bible spelling of Pinhas (also spelled Pinehas) which is
a Hebrew named that drived from the Ancient Egyptian name Pa-Nehasi,
which means Nubian (as we might name a kid Dane or Scott). And
Nigellus is a Latinization of the (Irish IIRC) name Neil, but it has a
history of people thinking it was derived from Latin word 'niger'
which means 'black'. So his name was Black Black Black, close enough
for a JKR joke.

There are enough people who think "Phineas" is Hebrew for "snake head"
that JKR probably also intended that as a reference.