Star draco and pureblood naming conventions

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 116887


Hannah:
> > I always thought Draco was named that because of it's 
> > meaning 'dragon.'  <snip>  I personally suspect JKR chose the name
> because she it and thought it fit the character, but who knows. JKR
may not even have realised that there was a star called Draco
> 
Aura:
> Considering the carefulness with which JKR picks her names and draws
her characters, I have no doubt she knew it was a star. Out of all the
star names, JKR picked the one that sounds like a spoiled little dragon. 
> 

Carol notes:
With the exception of Narcissa, named after a flower (or maybe she
enjoys looking at her reflection, like the mythical Narcissus!), all
the Black family members of Sirius's generation are named after stars
or constellations: 

Bellatrix (star) (the name means "woman warrior" or Amazon)
Sirius (star)
Regulus (star)
Andromeda (constellation)

In naming Draco after a constellation, Narcissa is following the
family tradition that was for some reason set aside when she received
her own name. Evidently Lucius had no objection, possibly because it
emphasized the Malfoys' connection to another pureblood family, the
Blacks. (Ironic that Narcissa would be named after a flower just like
the Muggleborn Lily!)

Someone mentioned that Rabastan Lestrange is also apparently named
after a star, Rastaban, though the spelling has been rearranged. Maybe
he's closely related to the Blacks or his family sometimes follows a
similar tradition (though they didn't for Rodolphus). The Lestranges
are definitely purebloods as Bellatrix's name would have been burned
off the chart when she married Rodolphus. Other purebloods appear to
have Roman or anglicized Greek first names: Lucius Malfoy, Theodore
Nott, possibly Severus Snape, etc.--part of their view of themselves
as wizarding aristocracy, I suppose. The Weasleys, in contrast, give
their children ordinary Muggle names (with the exception of Bilius,
Ron's bilious middle name)--possibly in conscious rebellion against
pureblood tradition but more likely because of Arthur's fascination
with Muggles. (His own name, Arthur, might be common in wizarding
families because of the Merlin connection. Molly, OTOH, seems
Muggleish, if somewhat old-fashioned.)

At any rate, it's no accident that Draco was named after a
constellation, or that the constellation represents a dragon. "Caput
draconis" (dragon's head) and "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus"
(never tickle a sleeping Draco, erm, dragon) probably tie in
somewhere. Or maybe JKR is just tantalizing us.

There are threads on the significance of the star/constellation names
from about a year ago if you want to look for them.

Carol