HOW ANCIENT AND MODERN CULTURES INFLUENCED THE WRITING OF THE NOVEL NAMES

The success of the films and the popularity among readers caused the emergence of different products. The brand name Harry Potter is now estimated over 15 billions of dollars and Joe became one of the richest women in Great Britain.

When the last novel about Harry Potter (The Deathly Hallows) was launched into the market, 2.5 millions copies of the book were sold in Great Britain in just one day; over 8 millions – in the USA. The average speed of selling was 7000 copies a minute. No other edition of any book had ever disappeared from the book shelves so quickly.

The books about Harry Potter become the second bestselling book after the Bible; over 450 millions copies were sold on the whole. The novel has been translated into 67 languages (including Latin and Ancient Greek). Thus, an ordinary French teacher, poor at one time, has written the most successful bestseller in the history of world literature!

“Thinking about my book, I realize: it is the best that I can offer to the world” said Joanne.

It should be noted that Joanne Rowling is a very educated and smart woman. That is why we can see lots of reference to history, historical figures, different languages and cultures in the books. Talking about the ways that were used to make up names used in the novel, 3 main categories can be followed there:
a) words deriving from different languages:
e.g. Accio - summoning spell. "Accio" is Latin for "to call to, to summon";
b) words taken from history and legends:
e.g. Rosmerta, Madam - Owner of The Three Broomsticks. "Rosmerta" is a Gaullish goddess of fire, warmth, and abundance. This Celtic name means 'Abundant Provider', which is pretty accurate for the hostess of a restaurant;
c) onomatopoeia or anagram:
e.g. Knockturn Alley – one of wizarding streets full of shops, always dark and dangerous. This is a play on words: “knockturn + alley” means “nocturnally”.

Not everything can be proved as only Joanne knows exactly where a word was found and she cannot tell us all the secrets but we can make assumptions basing on historical facts, folklore or different languages. And because of the difficulties of origin of some words and names, terms were classified in the order of what they are. Only characters’ names and spells can be found in the main part of this paper, but you can see the origin of magical creatures’ names, names of places, magical objects and so on in the appendix.

Bagman, Ludo (a former Quidditch player) – In Latin the name means "I play". It also fits Ludo Bagman as he likes to "play his luck" by betting on sports and he is the former head of the Department of Games and Sports.
"Bag man" is rather suitable description of this person because he always tries to make dubious deals.

Binns, Cuthbert (History of Magic professor) – A "bin" is what the British call "a garbage can". Many students consider Professor Binns' information to be rubbish. Also, In Northern England "Binns" is a slang term for "binoculars". Notice that Professor Binns wears very thick glasses.

Black, Sirius (Harry’s godfather) – Named after the star, Sirius, also known as the Dog Star or Great Dog. Remember that Sirius Black is animagus and transforms into a big dog (by the way, black is the color of the dog). Sirius is the brightest star in the sky which can already say that he is a positive character. Also, it is often called "scorching" which quite suits Sirius' personality. According to "The Magical Worlds of Harry Potter: A Treasury of Myths, Legends, and Fascinating Facts" by David Colbert, in Egyptian mythology, the star Sirius is where it was believed the souls of humans traveled after death. This is very interesting considering the manner which Sirius died in.
Black, Regulus (Sirius' brother) – During the First Punic War (264-242 B.C.) the Roman general Regulus was captured by the Carthaginians. He travelled to Rome with a party of Carthaginian ambassadors to help secure terms of peace, agreeing to return to Carthage to face death if he failed in order to gain acceptance of the Carthaginian terms. Once in Rome, however, Regulus urged the Senate to reject those terms; he returned to Carthage where he was tortured and executed. Regulus Black suffered a similar fate after trying to back out of being a Death Eater.

Regulus is also the name of the brightest star in the Alpha Leo (lion) constellation. Although this might seem odd at first, considering he was not a Gryffindor - lions in mythology are often used to symbolize fierceness or purity of a heart. Regulus means "prince" and "heart of the lion". This might be a reference to his bravery to deprecate Voldemort.

Black, Orion (Sirius' father) – Orion the Hunter is a constellation who rules the heavens from late fall to early spring with his hunting dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor) at his feet. This is quite suitable for Sirius and Regulus’ father.

Black, Walburga (Sirius' mother) – "Walburga" means "rule of the fortress" in German ("wald" means "rule" and "burg" means "fortress"). Walburga Black is a real hostess of her house: even after she had died she kept commanding from her portrait, screaming and saying lots of rude words. Also, there is Walpurgis Night (May 1st) when the night witches revel.

Carrow, Alecto (a Death Eater) – In Greek mythology, Alecto was one of the Furies. Her name is derived from the Greek "alektos" meaning "unceasing in anger". Death Eaters are known not to be very kind and polite.
Carrow, Amycus (a Death Eater) – In Greek mythology, Amycus was the son of Poseidon and the nymph Melia. He was a king of the Bebryces, a mythical people in Bithynia, and was very skilled in boxing. Amycus may come from the Latin "amicus", meaning "friend" (however, this is ironic, because any Death Eater is obviously not a "friend").

Chang, Cho (a Ravenclaw, girlfriend to Cedric Diggory) – "Cho" is Japanese for "butterfly" and in Chinese it means "autumn". "Chang" is Chinese for "free" or "unhindered". In Chinese, "chou chang" means "melancholy". This all suits Cho very much.

On the other hand, "Cho" is Japanese for "very, extremely". "Chang ", when used as a first name, can signify a quick thinking person. Therefore, Cho Chang is "very quick thinking", which is quite appropriate for a Ravenclaw as this house is famous for its smart and intelligent students.

Crabbe, Vincent and Goyle, Gregory (Draco Malfoy's goons) – If you switch the first letters of Crabbe and Goyle, you will get "grab" and "coil" which is what a snake does to its prey. These are suitable for two Slytherin students as the symbol of this house is a snake.

Harry Potter is not simply a children’s tale – there is an attempt to find the answers to the eternal questions behind the magical plot. The work on the paper helped me realize that the things are much more complicated than they may seem, that everything in the novel is symbolic.