We all know that JKR (may her shadow never grow stouter!) took the name for Harry's owl from a book of saints but I found a couple of others.
A 1926 Nuttall's dictionary in my possession lists pigwidgeon as "a fairy; a cant word for anything very small".
I came across this one earlier today in "Jackspeak. A guide to British Naval Slang and Usage". Under 'M' I found:-
"Mundungus- a word used in the Navy to refer to any useless or unwanted material (like gubbins, or wiffin) It is in fact, the correct name for the dust of unprocessed tobacco leaves."

Anybody found any others?
Apologies if I'm on the wrong forum or repeating old news, but it struck me and I felt like sharing.
Cheers, BaF

Crookshanks is descriptive, but it's also an old Scottish clan:

Scottish
Spelling variations include: Cruickshank, Cruikshank, Crookshank, Crookshanks and many more.

First found in Kincardineshire where they held a family seat from very ancient times.

Motto: Vis Fortibus Armas
Motto Translated: Strength is arms to the brave.

QUOTE (Bring and Fly @ Oct 23 2004, 01:36 PM)

Under 'M' I found:- "Mundungus- a word used in the Navy to refer to any useless or unwanted material (like gubbins, or wiffin) It is in fact, the correct name for the dust of unprocessed tobacco leaves."

Way cool. I love learning about those types of things. Thanks for sharing.

J

I only know what most people are probably aware of:

Minerva: Roman Goddess of Wisdom

McGonnagall: One of the most abysmal poets of the English language was a Scot named William McGonnagall

Argus: Watchman with a hundred eyes. Servant of Hera. Some sources say he had eyes all over his body. He was sung to sleep by Hermes

Remus: Romulus and Remus were twin brothers, thrown into the Tiber. They were rescued by a she-wolf, who reared them. Later the brothers built a settlement. Remus mocked Romulus over the height of the walls, so Romulus killed him and named the settlement Rome, after himself.

Lupin: The French for wolf is 'loup'. Lupin comes from the Latin, meaning wolf. Lupus is a constellation called the wolf.

Sirius: (all together now) the Dog Star

Regulus: interestingly enough, Regulus means Prince or Heart of the Lion, and is the name of a star

Bellatrix: another star. Means warrioress, and is part of Orion, the hunter

Narcissa: Female version of Narcissus, the youth who was so vain that he fell in love with his own reflection

Draco: Serpent. Also a constellation called the dragon.

Rabastan: star meaning head of the snake. Found in the constellation Draco.

Andromeda: star constellation. She was a princess who was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster, and who was rescued by Perseus.

Dumbledore: Famously the old word for a Bumblebee

Hermione: a Queen in Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale', who turns into a statue. Hermione is also the name of Helen (of Trojan fame)'s child.

Severus - Roman Emperor full name Lucius Septimius Severus he is credited with restoring stability to Rome following the rule of Commodus. Oh, and... I've seen his arch at the Roman Forum

Nymphadora comes from a combination of forms of the Greek words for bride and gift.

Most have heard that Albus Dumbledore = white bumblebee, but Wulfric (Anglo-Saxon) can mean wolf-ruler in some contexts.

A Sibyl was a prophetess in Greek and Roman times, and Cassandra was the daughter of Priam whose prophetic warnings about Troy's destruction went unheeded.

MM

marauder means prowling vengabond

pretty fitting, huh?

There was also a saint named Nymphadora who died for her beliefs.

som might have already been mentioned but anyway...

Severus- strict, serious, severe, somber, grave, stern... (sounds about right, huh?)

Accio-send for, summon, fetch...

crucio- torture, agonise,torment, cause grief... (sounds about right,too)

expecto patronum-desire/ long for a defender/ protector...

minerva-goddess of wisdom, art, sense...

arabella-sanctuary, refuge, shelter...

reducto-reduce, set backwards...

p.s. and are cute

JKR once stated in an interview that her heroine is a woman named Jessica Mitford. Out of curiosity, I did some research and learned that Mitford was a political activist and muckraker, and a member of the Communist party during the McCarthy Era (she actually had to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities).

Anyway, to get to my point, out of curiosity I checked out a book written by Mitford called A Fine Old Conflict. At one point, while Mitford was talking about working for the Communist Party in California, she talked about an older man who was a long-time member of the party; he was very gruff, with no sense of humor, and was extremely paranoid. And his last name was - you guessed it - Moody. I got a kick out of that. I'm certainly not going to say that this is, without a doubt, where JKR got the inspiration and the name for Mad-Eye, but it does seem very likely. After all, if Mitford is indeed her heroine, Jo probably read that book.

"Pomfrey cakes" are an old-fashioned kind of licorice cough drop.

QUOTE

JKR once stated in an interview that her heroine is a woman named Jessica Mitford.

Jessica Mitford was the sister of the author Nancy Mitford, who wrote 'Love in a Cold Climate' which is agreat book. It is loosely based on her family; one of the characters runs off with a communist. Their sister married Oswald Mosely, who was the lead of the fascist party in Britain at the time of the second world war.

Sorry, this has little to do with names, but I thought it was interesting. The Mitford sisters' lives were...well, like something from a story.

QUOTE (Antonia East @ Nov 9 2004, 09:48 AM)

I only know what most people are probably aware of: Sirius: (all together now) the Dog Star

Sirius Black could turn into a black dog.

The black dog could be mistaken for a demon canine known as Padfoot (hence Mr. Padfoot.)

Another name for Padfoot is The Grim.

English synonyms for "grim" include (but are not limited to)...

Serious and Black.