16

Lots and lots of characters in the Harry Potter books have alliterative names (Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, Godric Gryffindor, Stan Shunpike, to name but a few).

Is there a complete list of such characters?

OK, this is a list question, but it has a finite scope: I want a list of all characters in the 10 books - the main series, Fantastic Beasts, Quidditch Through the Ages, and Tales of Beedle (not counting films, fanfics, or whatever else is out there) - whose first and last names begin with the same letter (to make clear what definition of 'alliterative' I'm using).

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3 Answers3

21

A complete list (from everything excluding films, fanfics, and the like) would be:

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Dudley Dursley
Minerva McGonagall
Poppy Pomfrey (full name in book 3)
Piers Polkiss
Marlene McKinnon (full name in Book 5)
Bathilda Bagshot
Vindictus Viridian
Quirinus Quirrell (full name from pottermore)
Dedalus Diggle
William Arthur (Bill) Weasley (full name in book 7)
Gellert Grindelwald (full name in book 7)
Bertie Bott
Gregory Goyle
Morag MacDougal
Pansy Parkinson
Padma Patil
Parvati Patil
Severus Snape
Filius Flitwick (Full name in book 6)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Martin Miggs
Colin Creevey
Gladys Gudgeon
Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore
Godric Gryffindor
Helga Hufflepuff
Rowena Ravenclaw
Salazar Slytherin

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Stan Shunpike
Florean Fortescue
Peter Pettigrew
Cho Chang

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Archie Aymslowe (full name from Pottermore)
Broderick Bode
Joey Jenkins
Bellatrix Black (full name from book 5)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Luna Lovegood
Inigo Imago
Dilys Derwent
Willy Widdershins

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Ted Tonks
Wendell Wilkins
Arkie Alderton
Mary MacDonald
Betty Braithwaite

Quidditch through the Ages
Magnus “Dent Head” Macdonald
Barberus Bragge
Glynnis Griffiths
Meaghan McCormack

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Tilly Toke
Wilhelm Wigworthy

The Tales of Beedle the Bard
Beatrix Bloxam (first appeared on famous wizard card)

Daily Prophet Newsletters
Willy Wagstaff
Phoebus Penrose
Galvin Gudgeon
Barnabus Blenkinsop Brevis Birch
Hilliard Hobday
Elveira Elkins

Famous Wizard Cards
Balfour Blane
Daisy Dodderidge
Archibald Alderton
Thaddeus Thurkell
Crispin Cronk
Blodwyn Bludd

old jkrowling.com
Tilden Toots

Black Family Tree
Belvina Black

Pottermore
Perseus Parkinson
Archie Aymslowe
Malcolm Mcgonagall
Hankerton Humble
Lars Lundekvam
Niko Nenad
Wladyslaw Wolfke
Willi Wenzel
Bruno Bruunhart
Carlos Clodoaldo
Quintia Qarase
Alejandra Alonso Bartholomew Barebone

Bonus

Characters with other alliterations
Justin Finch-Fletchley
Babbitty Rabbitty
Lilly Luna Potter
Egmont Elvert Hobday
Hope Howell Lupin
Jean-Baptiste Bloncourt

Characters with alliterative titles
Madam Malkin
Fat Friar
Nearly-Headless Nick
Bloody Baron
Emeric the Evil
Uric the Oddball
Elfric the Eager
Whomping Willow
Bandon Banshee
Moaning Myrtle
Wailing Widow
Wagga Wagga Werewolf
Wendelin the Weird
Madam Marsh
Gunhilda of Gorsemoor
Mad-Eye Moody
Urg the Unclean
Lachlan the Lanky
Wilfred the Wistful
Barnabus the Barmy
Beedle the Bard
Egbert the Egregious
Dodgy Dirk
Fingal the Fearless
Ingolfr the Iambic
Eargit the Ugly
Alguff the Awful
Ug the Unreliable
Bran the Bloodthirsty
Lisette de Lapin
Hodrod the Horny-Handed
Brodrig the Boss-Eyed
Ethelred the Ever-Ready
Merwyn the Malicious
Fulbert the Fearful

fez
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ibid
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    All links are to The Harry Potter Lexicon's secret new site. – ibid Feb 23 '16 at 22:18
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    Martin Miggs might count double, since even his epithet, the Mad Muggle, is alliterative. So he could go in the last section as well. Could you explain how Uric the Oddball is alliterative, though? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Apr 17 '16 at 03:08
  • @JanusBahsJacquet - My goal with the latter section was to include characters who otherwise wouldn't make the list. (Same reason that Dudley isn't mentioned under all seven books) – ibid Apr 17 '16 at 03:10
  • True—but in Martin's case, it's really two different 'names' that just happen to be both alliterative. Just saying you could argue for having him twice. (Also, I edited my last comment while you were typing, I think.) – Janus Bahs Jacquet Apr 17 '16 at 03:12
  • @JanusBahsJacquet - Yeah, but their the same character. Uric the Oddball is alliterative for the same reason that Clark Kent is. – ibid Apr 17 '16 at 03:14
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    How so? Uric the Oddball begins with two different letters, pronounced in two different ways? Neither sound nor writing matches (and the question specifies that we're talking only letters here, not sounds—in the most common definition of alliteration, Clark Kent is alliterative, but Stan Shunpike isn't, but that's not relevant here). – Janus Bahs Jacquet Apr 17 '16 at 03:30
  • @JanusBahsJacquet - Aren't all variables alliterative? Either-way I included it in the clearly marked non-answer extra part of my answer. – ibid Apr 17 '16 at 03:32
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    @ibid - I agree with JanusBahsJacquet. Uric seems a stretch too far, as does Eargit the Ugly. They don't even sound similar. – Valorum Apr 17 '16 at 08:27
  • @Richard - That whole section was for names that I thought a stretch to far – ibid Apr 17 '16 at 11:42
11

A complete list (from the ten eleven novels) would be

Archibald (Arkie) Alderton
Bathsheda Babbling
Bathilda Bagshot
Balfour Blane
Beatrix Bloxam
Bellatrix Black
Blodwyn Bludd
Broderick Bode
Bertie Bott
Barberus Bragge
Cho Chang
Colin Creevy
Crispin Cronk
Dilys Derwent
Dedalus Diggle
Delphini 'Diggory' (warning, here be spoilers for Cursed Child)
Daisy Dodderidge
Dudley Dursley
Filius Flitwick
Florean Fortescue
Gregory (Jr and Sr) Goyle
Glynnis Griffiths
Gelert Grindelwald
Godric Gryffindor
Galvin Gudgeon
Gladys Gudgeon
Helga Hufflepuff
Inigo Imago
Joey Jenkins
Luna Lovegood
Magnus Macdonald
Meghan McCormack
Minerva McGonagall
Marlene McKinnon
Morag MacDougal
Pansy Parkinson
Padma Patil
Parvati Patil
Peter Pettigrew
Piers Polkiss
Poppy Pomfrey
Quirinus Quirell
Rowena Ravenclaw
Salazar Slytherin
Severus Snape
Stan Shunpike
Thaddeus Thurkell
Tilly Tokes
Ted Tonks
Tilde Toots
Vindictus Viridian
William Weasley
Willy Widdershins
Wilhelm Wigworthy

If you would like to know more about any of these characters, they're all found here and here along with a brief listing about their achievements in-universe.

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Valorum
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    Even though it's nickname, shouldn't Moaning Myrtle make the list? – Zikato Aug 10 '15 at 05:57
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    @zikato - you'd be hard-pressed to argue that "Moaning" is her first name. – Valorum Aug 10 '15 at 07:18
  • @Richard - I'm ashamed to admit that I don't recall her first name without looking up. Next question - is JKR an avid fan of Kirby and early Superman? – DVK-on-Ahch-To Jan 01 '16 at 01:57
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    @DVK - Inspired by Stan Lee, perhaps? – Valorum Jan 01 '16 at 02:09
  • @Richard - whichever one of them flooded the Superman universe with alliterations. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Jan 01 '16 at 02:13
  • For what it's worth, Ted Tonks' full first name was actually Edward. (Source: Pottermore) – Joe White Jan 01 '16 at 06:01
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    Is there any evidence for or against Bill Weasley's name being short for William? – Comic Sans Seraphim Feb 21 '16 at 13:23
  • @studoku - While it's certainly possible that Molly, Fred and Perry aren't actually Margaret, Frederick and Percival, we do know that Ron is Ronald and Ginny is Ginevra, strongly implying a tradition of diminutive names within the family. – Valorum Feb 21 '16 at 13:52
  • @Richard Moaning Myrtle's first name was the first WoG statement that JKR posted on Twitter IIRC. – ibid Feb 21 '16 at 17:16
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    Am I missing something in the comments here? DVK doesn’t recall Moaning Myrtle’s first name, and @ibid says it was the first WoG statement JKR posted on Twitter… but Moaning Myrtle’s first name is surely *Myrtle*, isn’t it? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Feb 21 '16 at 18:05
  • @ibid - He means surname. Myrtle Warren – Valorum Feb 21 '16 at 18:32
  • FWIW Quirrel's first name only appears in the Trading Card Game and Pottermore. – ibid Feb 22 '16 at 23:32
  • @ibid - That may be true, but the character exists within the books. Similarly, Bellatrix is never named as a 'Black' but a canon source confirms that that's what she was... – Valorum Feb 23 '16 at 00:39
  • @Richard - Bellatrix is a 'Black' in Book 5, Chapter 6: He pointed to another small round burn mark between two names, Bellatrix and Narcissa. “Andromeda’s sisters are still here* because they made lovely, respectable pure-blood marriages, but Andromeda married a Muggleborn, Ted Tonks, so —” Sirius mimed blasting the tapestry with a wand and laughed sourly. Harry, however, did not laugh; he was too busy staring at the names to the right of Andromeda’s burn mark. A double line of gold embroidery linked Narcissa Black with Lucius Malfoy*. – ibid Feb 23 '16 at 01:24
  • @ibid - Well there you go then. It looks like I was right to steal Karen's answer :-) – Valorum Feb 23 '16 at 01:26
  • @Richard - Blodwyn Bludd, Daisy Dodderidge, and Thaddeus Thurkell can only be found on Famous Wizard Cards. Galvin Gudgeon can only be found in the Daily Prophet Newsletters. – ibid Feb 23 '16 at 01:49
  • Well, I updated my answer to include the ten books as well (and I sorted them by book). Maybe @randal'thor will like it better. – ibid Feb 23 '16 at 21:43
  • @ibid Definitely worth a +1. I'll have to think about the acceptance :-) – Rand al'Thor Feb 23 '16 at 22:10
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    @ibid - Definitely worthy of the acceptance in my opinion now that you've added in the books. – Valorum Feb 24 '16 at 07:19
  • @randal'thor - Have you thought any further about acceptance yet? – ibid Mar 11 '16 at 22:35
  • @ibid Sure. I was on the fence about transferring the acceptance, but since Richard's answer has more upvotes (and he has more than enough rep!), I may as well compensate a bit. Richard: I trust there will be no hard feelings, given your last comment above :-) – Rand al'Thor Mar 11 '16 at 22:54
  • @randal'thor - Nah, it's the better answer, even if vast tranches of it are unsolicited extras. – Valorum Mar 11 '16 at 22:56
  • @Richard - I find it difficult to answer HP questions without quoting from the more obscure parts of the canon. :) – ibid Mar 13 '16 at 00:43
  • Should that not be Delphini 'Diggory'? – Adamant Aug 03 '16 at 19:35
  • @Adamant - I've amended accordingly and popped a spoiler warning on. – Valorum Aug 03 '16 at 19:40
  • Considering that my answer only has names of characters from Rowling's works, that will be one name yours has which mine doesn't. – ibid Aug 03 '16 at 20:18
  • @ibid - She said it was canon and contributed heavily to the production. Her name is on the poster. That's good enough for me. – Valorum Aug 03 '16 at 20:25
7

Bellatrix Lestrange was originally Bellatrix Black, as stated in the HP Lexicon and seen in the Black family tree that Sirius shows to Harry.

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