RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY
Hermes: Percy Weasley's owl. Hermes was the messenger of the Greek gods.

Lupin, Remus (a werewolf): Lupus is Latin for "wolf."
 The legendary founders of Rome,
 who as children were suckled by a wolf, were named Romulus and Remus.

Patil, Parvati: Parvati is a Hindu goddess.

SAINTS
Hedwig: A saint who lived in Germany in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
An order of nuns established under her patronage chose
as its work the education of orphaned children--like Harry.

Ronan (centaur): An Irish saint. (As some readers have pointed out,
 Ronan the centaur has red hair!)

MISCELLANEOUS
Jigger, Arsenius (author of Magiral Drafts and Potions):
 Arsenic is a poison used in many magical concoctions.
 A jigger is a liquid measurement, a bit more than an ounce.

Skeeter, Rita: Fitting for an annoying (and blood-sucking)
bug one wants to swat!

Spore, Phyllida (author of One Thousand Magical Herbs):
 From the "spores" plants use as seeds,
and the Creek phylum, meaning "leaves."

Diagon Alley: Typical of everything in the wizard world,
 this street doesn't run straight; it runs "diagonally."

Knockturn Alley: This unsavory street, where shops like
 Borgin & Burkes cater to those who pursue the Dark Arts,
 is a place you wouldn't want to visit "nocturnally."

The Potters were named after one of J. K. Rowling’s neighbors.

J. K. Rowling says she found the name for Hedwig,
Harry’s owl, in a book of saints.

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FOREIGN WORDS
Beauxbatons: French for "beautiful wands."

Delacour, Fleur:
 French for "flower of the court," as in a noblewoman.

Mosag: Gaelic for nasty, dirty woman.

LITERATURE
Diggory, Cedric:
 Digory Kirke is a hero of some of J. K. Rowling's favorite books,
 The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.
Notice that Cedric not far from a rearrangement of Kirke.

Flint, Marcus (captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team).
Possibly named for Captain John Flint
from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
 (Rudolf Hein, creator of a website devoted to Harry Potter names,
 made this clever connection.)

Lockhart, Gilderoy: The first name of this phony refers to his being gilded
(covered in a thin gold foil) to make him seem intelligent and attractive.
The last name fits his role as a writer of wizard lore.
A man named J. G. Lockhart was the son-in-law and biographer of Sir Waiter Scott,
 the Scottish author whose skills earned him the nickname "Wizard of the North."

HISTORY
Elfric the Eager (an evil wizard):
Elfric (also Aelfric) was a common name in Angle- Saxon England.
One Elfric was a notorious traitor,
 an army commander who feigned sickness on the eve of battle
 and warned the enemy army so it could escape.

Grey, Lady: Lady Jane Grey was the queen of England for nine days in 1553,
before being deposed.
She was only fourteen years old at the time.
She was beheaded the next year.

Slytherin, Salazar: Ant6nio de Oliveira Salazar was dictator of Portugal--
where J.K. Rowling once lived--from 1932 to 1968.
He was known for very harsh policies.
 (Another smart connection made by Rudolf Hein.)

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Where do those names come from?!

Does any writer create names with more care or a greater sense of humor puns,
and anagrams; makes references to history and myth;
 and often takes names from maps. Occasionally she makes them up out of thin air,
 in the case of Quidditch.
One clever fan noticed that the letters in the game's name relate to the names of its balls
: Quaffle, bludger, bludger, and snitch.
Even if Rowling didn't use the sanie reasoning, one can see why the name felt right to her.

She not only invents words,
she invents fun histories for them.
 In Quidditch Through The Ages,
written long after she introduced the game,
she artfully answers the many queries of her fans by revealing that in
 Harry's world the game got its name from the place it was first played,
Queerditch Marsh.

Often the names reveal something about the character's personality.
Sometimes the references are so obscure one has to
 imagine Rowling is just enjoying a private joke.
One thing is certain: Every name is worth a little digging for hidden meaning.
 Here are a few of them, with the references revealed.

ACRONYMS
O.W.L.s: Ordinary Wizarding Levels.
To pass this test would prove one wise.

N.E.W.Ts: Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests:
Newts are familiar from the brew mixed by the three
witches at the beginning of Shakespeare's Macbeth:
 "Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog."

GEOGRAPHY
Bagshot, Bathilda (the author of A History of Magic):
Bagshot is a town near London.

Dursley: A town near J. K. Rowling's birthplace.

Firenze: Italian name for the city of Florence.

Flitwick, Professor (Charms teacher): Flitwick is a town in England.

Snape, Severus: Snape is the name of another English village.