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The name Sauron is spelled like, and sounds very similar to the Greek word σαῦρος, or the corresponding Latin word saurus, which means lizard.

Is this just a coincidence, or is there a (known or speculated) reason behind Tolkien's choice of this name?

Enlico
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Interestingly this exact situation is covered in a draft letter Tolkien wrote dated August 1967. Tolkien notes that there is no connection merely "chance" or as suggested, a coincidence.

It is [..] idle to compare chance-similarities between names made from 'Elvish tongues' and words in exterior 'real' languages, especially if this is supposed to have any bearing on the meaning or ideas in my story. To take a frequent case: there is no linguistic connexion, and therefore no connexion in significance, between Sauron a contemporary form of an older *θaurond- derivative of an adjectival *θaurā (from a base √THAW) 'detestable', and the Greek σαύρα 'a lizard'.
The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 297 Drafts for a Letter to 'Mr Rang', Aug 1967

Other etymologies for the name are given in other posthumously published works, including The Lost Road and The Silmarillion. The first, from the Lost Road suggests the root for 'foul' being it's origin.

THUS- (related to THŪ?) *thausā: Q saura foul, evil-smelling, putrid. N thaw corrupt, rotten; thû stench, as proper name Thû chief servant of Morgoth, also called Mor-thu, Q Sauro or Sauron or Súro = Thû.
The Lost Road and Other Writings, Part Three: The Etymologies

In The Silmarillion, the name is suggested to derive from the element thaur:

thaur   ‘abominable, abhorrent’ in Sauron (from Thauron).
The Silmarillion, Appendix

Edlothiad
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    Can't really argue with that! – tardigrade Oct 11 '20 at 20:54
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    Though interesting to note that both roots happen to echo IE words for beasts and monsters: sauros (lizard) and PIE dheus- > Gaulish dusios, monster, incubus. I don't doubt his claim, though I'd be surprised if there were no deep subconscious aesthesis-sound-symbolism thing going on. Also PrimGmc deuz > PIE dhewsóm. – elemtilas Oct 11 '20 at 22:35
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    Tolkien often used cross-language humor. Taking examples just from the family trees in Appendix C of The Lord of the Rings, there are the Sackville-Baggins (joking on sack = bag, but also on fictional Sackville-Baggins and real Sackville-West); Dora, Drogo, and Dudo Baggins; Bungo, Belba, Longo, Linda, and Bingo Baggins. And then there is his elaborate explanation of how the Hobbits derived Brandywine from older Baranduin. You can tell he had a lot of fun with this. – Invisible Trihedron Oct 12 '20 at 00:20
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    You Braldagamba, you! :) – Aaron left Stack Overflow Oct 12 '20 at 19:02
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    @InvisibleTrihedron It's not something I've really explored, but do we "know", for instance, that Tolkien deliberately alluded to Sackville-West, or have people just assumed there was an allusion? As far as I can see, Sackville-West isn't mentioned in either LotR's appendices or the letters of Tolkien. – TripeHound Oct 13 '20 at 16:47
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    @TripeHound I appreciate your diligence, but Vita Sackville-West was so well-known in her day that the shoe is on the other foot. In any case, it's hard to avoid the sack = bag wordplay. -- Tolkien sometimes went to elaborate lengths to justify using a particular word that he liked. What about the flower elanor, introduced in Lorien presumably so that Frodo could suggest it as a flower-based name for Sam Gamgee's child much later in LOTR? Surely Tolkien would be aware of the English name Eleanor, and that readers' eyes would roll at this. – Invisible Trihedron Oct 13 '20 at 20:46
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    @InvisibleTrihedron Elanor, from Êl = "star" and anor = "sun", means "Sun-star" in Sindarin. Now while one could argue that the word for sun and star were specifically chosen so that they would form a derivative of the name Eleanor, I find that highly unlikely. The use of the words for star and sun go much further back into the histories of the Legendarium than the flower. I think it would be up to you to provide evidence that it was inspired by the name Eleanor or Eléonore/Aliénor as opposed to an invention from Sindarin. I think you have found what Tolkien deemed "a chance-similarity". – Edlothiad Oct 14 '20 at 07:15
  • @InvisibleTrihedron Also from Letters, Tolkien calls it one of his greatest "inventions" in terms of flower names "Are you still inventing names for the nameless flowers you meet? If so, remember that the old names are not always descriptive, but often mysterious! My best inventions (in elvish of the Gnomish dialect) were elanor and nifredil" – Edlothiad Oct 14 '20 at 07:16
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    @Edlothiad Tolkien spent decades developing his fantasy world. Of course he was capable of back-engineering words to suit himself -- or of forward engineering. How about his explanation of how he worked up English Brandywine from Hobbit Brandanin/Bralda-him "heady ale", based on an "original" Elvish Baranduin (LOTR appendix F)? I give Tolkien credit for inventive wordplay embedded in a scholarly etymology. As someone who started out in linguistics before shifting to geology, I find it deeply humorous. I don't think he intended everyone to enjoy it in the same way. – Invisible Trihedron Oct 14 '20 at 14:15
  • Edlothiad’s Answer should be enough and tardigrade should be right: Can’t argue… Still didn’t Tolkien have a strong Catholic upbringing and speak at least 18 languages fluently, including ancient and modern Greek, though most Germanic or Romance? How could such a one be sure Greek or Latin lizard wasn’t an influence? The more so as “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit” just popped into his mind… (I don’t recall his exact words.) Bar the rest of “… Letter to Rang’” greatly changing the emphasis, to me it seems the only reason he wouldn’t have acknowledged that is that he didn’t see it. – Robbie Goodwin Oct 15 '20 at 21:28