Neville Longbottom

Hmm…

What can we get from the name “Neville Longbottom”? I thought there’d be more, but no. There’s not much out there.

The name “Neville” comes from a surname, and of course can be used as a forename. It means “New Town” in Norman French. “Longbottom” is from Middle English and can be broken down. Either “long valley” or “valley bottom”.

“New Town Long Valley”, “New Town Valley Bottom” or “New Town Long Valley Bottom”.

Hmm…again.

What kind of analysis can we get out of this? Well, with “Longbottom”, since they’re a pureblood family and have a long history in the Wizarding world you can say that “Long Valley” can refer to their long history. Am I stretching? Well, then, so be it.

Now, “new” make me think of a new moon. New moons are the opposite of full moons. You don’t see any light reflecting off of the moon as you would normally. So, you just see a dark moon. The next day you see a sliver of reflected light, etc, etc.

“…born as the seventh month dies…”

In reality, the new moon was in the middle of the month in July 1980, not the end. But, anyway, I see it as a rebirth of the next generation that will fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

Let’s stretch some more. Well, “new” also makes me thing of “Neo”. Which, of course means “new”. Which is why I thought of it. Anyway…so, I looked up “Neo” and guess what I found? In Tswana it means “gift”.

Neville is a gift. His name could mean “gift to his family”, which he is. I’m going to stretch a little further and say he is a “gift to the Wizarding world”, which also goes back to the rebirth of the next generation. He showed such bravery, and never backed down when things became rough. He was never just an awkward, forgetful kid. He’s the one that stood up to his friends and the one that lead the charge at Hogwarts when the trio were on the hunt. He’s the one that killed Nagini. So, yeah. Neville is a “gift”.

Thanks to Behind the Name: the Etymology and History of First Names, Ancestry.co.uk, and Babynamesworld.com for all the great info this week!