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In the New 52 continuity, Alfred Pennyworth's father is named Jarvis Pennyworth.
However, there was already a very well-known comic book butler named Jarvis; Edwin Jarvis, the butler of Tony Stark and the other Avengers, who first appeared in the 1960's.
Has anyone connected to DC ever commented on why this name was chosen? Was it an intentional reference to the Marvel character?
The Jarvis Pennyworth of the New 52/Prime Earth continuity likely 'inherited' his first name (out of universe) from Jarvis Beagle, the father of Batman's butler in the Golden Age/Earth-Two continuity, Alfred Beagle.
I couldn't tell you why Jarvis Beagle was given the first name 'Jarvis,' but that's not what you asked, and we can safely rule out the notion that the name was inspired by the Marvel character, Edwin Jarvis, since Jarvis Beagle was first mentioned in Batman Vol. 1 #16 in 1943, 21 years before Edwin Jarvis was introduced.
ALFRED BEAGLE: You may remember my father, Jarvis, who was your father's butler for many years! The poor old gentleman was heartbroken when I forsook the family calling to be an actor in the music halls!
Batman Vol. 1 #16 (May, 1943)
Alfred was introduced in Batman number 16, 1943. In this issue he gives his father’s name as Jarvis.
The out-of-universe reason is that Alfred’s father’s name already existed for over 20 years before Tony Stark’s butler Jarvis.
“Was it an intentional reference to the Marvel character?” - No. Because the character’s name was already established. Now if Marvel was intentionally referencing DC, that’s another question and I don’t know. Why was the name Jarvis chosen? I don’t know.
Jarvis, as a name, is sometimes tied to the idea of service (albeit primarily with "spear").
In Celtic Baby Names the meaning of the name Jarvis is: Servant spear. This name is derived from combining an Old German name meaning spear, and the Celtic word for servant.
It would, therefore, be a likely name for a butler, as someone who serves. I have no evidence for whether that was the reason that the name was chosen for two different comics butlers.
Considering that Alfred Pennyworth and the references to his father, Jarvis Pennyworth, were introduced 20 years before Edwin Jarvis(Iron Mans Butler) was invented, I’d say it’s more likely that the marvel employee read the DC comic, and thought Jarvis was a good butler name.
