What does Dumbledore’s full name mean?!

lucky_lakshmi thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#1

Dumbledore's full name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, as he states during the fifth instalment in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The name "Dumbledore" is an old Devon word for "bumblebee" and was picked by Rowling because she imagines him wandering around the castle humming to himself.

The name Albus is the Latin word for 'white', a frequently used symbol for good, which marks the character out as an enemy of the 'Dark Lord'.[8]

Percival is a name from old French, meaning "pierce the veil".[9] It was the name of one of King Arthur's knights. While Galahad was the only knight pure enough to be permitted to hold the Grail, Percival was permitted to see it. The oldest recorded version of Percival's story is Chrtien de Troyes' Conte du Graal, from the 12th century. In Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Holy Grail", one of the Idylls of the King,

Percival is both hero and narrator of the tale, as is the case for Dumbledore in parts of the Harry Potter books.[10] And as revealed in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, this is also his father's name.

The name Wulfric means "wolf-power" and is reminiscent of the legendary hero Beowulf ("bee-wolf"; a kenning for "bear"), who, in his early years, slew the monster Grendel (a name oddly similar to Grindelwald, a Dark Wizard whom Dumbledore defeated).

The name Brian is of Celtic origin and its meaning may be "hill" or "strong, noble, and high". Brian means a matter strength, dignity, and honor. Another meaning for this name is "majestic and powerful in Irish rule." It could also come from the ancient British word for "king" (*brigantinos, Brythonic *brijanin, Welsh brenin). Also, Brian is the only of his otherwise unusual names which is still used fairly commonly today- this shows a somewhat comical and eccentric edge even to his name, which certainly fits Dumbledore's personality.

It has also been noted that the name 'Albus' bears a resemblance to the name of a 19th-20th century stage magician, 'The Great Albini', who was a friend and rival of the less proficient magician Horace Goldin (who is described as similar in appearance and nature to Horace Slughorn).

In short, Dumbledore name suggests his personality.

Edited by lucky_lakshmi - 18 years ago

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Eloquent thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#2
thanx for the info! From where did u get it?

Bumblebee's such a cute name for DD! 😳 😆
lucky_lakshmi thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#3
^^^COURTESY: Wikepedia

yeah Bumblebee...Chooo ccuteeee!!!! 😆 😳 😳
tukz_REmix thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#4
gud thng u pstd it.....i was confusased abt dis too...but bumblebee 😆 so chweet
271043 thumbnail
Posted: 18 years ago
#5

Originally posted by: xMarauderx

thanx for the info! From where did u get it?

Bumblebee's such a cute name for DD! 😳 😆

Thanks for sharing! Yes, Bumblebee is a good/cute name for Dumbledore!

sweet freedom thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#6
it cant hv all been a coincidence, imagine how much research jk did just to decide on her characters names 😳
Lady Black thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#7
What a lovely and creative(not to mention fitting) name! I love how J.K. uses Latin and other words for her character names, mainly because she can name them for exactly what they are. Dumbledore is truely a sweet little Bumblebee, and I'm sure he loved having that for a last name. Since it made up for his very heroic and knight-like names, Dumbldore/Bumblebee always like sweet and cute things over all that knight stuff. Thank you for the informing and interesting post^^




~Lady Black~
lucky_lakshmi thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#8

Originally posted by: sweet freedom

it cant hv all been a coincidence, imagine how much research jk did just to decide on her characters names 😳

yeah same here..Man she has researched much it seems..N if so..God it wud have taken her loooooooooooooooooong to finalise of Dumbledore's name!😉

daniel_4ever thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#9

Originally posted by: lucky_lakshmi

yeah same here..Man she has researched much it seems..N if so..God it wud have taken her loooooooooooooooooong to finalise of Dumbledore's name!😉



ya..i don't even do so much of research for my school projects.. which we get marks for.. i didn't know the meaning of dumbledore's name.. i just thought ' OMG ! who has such a huge never ending name' and forgot bout it lolz 😆
lucky_lakshmi thumbnail
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Posted: 18 years ago
#10
Lol..I never can yaarr..He is my favourite character in Hp book...everything is different abt him...so why should his name not be different??say never ending as u said...lol 😉 😆

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