Do Aberforth and Ariana have as long names as Albus?

Question

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is a bit of a mouthful. Aberforth and Ariana are rather easier to say.

But it seems kind of odd to have one child with a really long name and two others with short. (Tikki-tikki-tembo-no-sarembo-chari-bari-ruchi-pip-perry-pembo, anyone?)

Did Aberforth and Ariana have long names? If so, were they revealed anywhere? If not, why does Albus have such a long name compared to them?

Answer 1

Not as far as we know.

No middle names have ever been revealed for either Aberforth or Ariana (although who knows, if someone asks JK Rowling on Twitter, she might make some up for you).

According to his Pottermore fact file - though I'm not sure if this particular part of Pottermore is counted as canon - Aberforth's full name is Aberforth Dumbledore, so he has no middle names. I'm not aware of any information at any level of canonicity on Ariana's middle name(s) or lack thereof.

As for why Albus had so many names: again, there's no canon statement to address this, but I can think of a few possible explanations.

• He was the oldest. When he was born, his parents might have been over the moon and given him lots of names, not knowing whether they'd ever have another baby to name. By the time his brother and sister were born, maybe they'd decided that such long-winded names were a bit silly. Note that "Percival" is named after his father, a common practice among parents at the time.
• He gave himself all those middle names. It's possible in Muggle society to give yourself a middle name that you didn't have as a child, so why not in wizard society too? It would fit Albus's character - "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" - to tack a few extra names onto his own, and it also fits with the relative grandeur of his career. Aberforth, content to remain in the shadows of the Hog's Head, doesn't seem like the type to bother giving himself extra names; and of course Ariana didn't survive into adulthood.