Rowling Gave Meaningful Names to All Harry Potter Characters, Except for One

Plenty of Harry Potter names have subtle hints about the characters they belong to. For instance, Sirius Black is named after the Dog Star, referring to his Animagus form. His fellow Marauder Remus Lupin never stood a chance either – his parents basically decided that Wolfy McWerewolf was the perfect name for their kid.

Their classmate and enemy Severus Snape is believed to have a speaking name as well. According to the Wizarding World website, “Severus” is of Latin origin and means “stern” or “harsh,” which seems to be a not-so-subtle reference to the character’s nature.

“Snape”, in turn, comes from Old Norse – “sneypa” translates to “dishonor” or “disgrace,” which can be a hint at the Potions Master’s betrayal and switch to Voldemort’s side.

However, back in 2020, J.K. Rowling herself revealed on X (fka Twitter) that Snape’s first name had nothing to do with its Latin meaning. In fact, it was a total coincidence that it fit him so well in the first place!

Turns out, when the writer was still creating the first Harry Potter book, she was still living in Clapham, London. She passed a sign that read “Severus Road” every day on her way to work and didn’t realize until after the book was already published that this was where she had drawn the inspiration for the name of one of the most important characters in the saga.

One day, she came back to the neighborhood where she once lived and came across this sign again, suddenly understanding how Snape ended up with his first name.

We have got to admit: Severus is the only way Snape could ever be called, as we can’t even imagine the Potions Master with any other name. The story of how he got it makes the Harry Potter character just all the more unique.

Source: Wizarding World