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If you transpose an “e” to an “o”, Dumbledore's name is an anagram of Mudblooder.

Is this significant, or merely coincidental?

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    Entirely coincidental, it would seem. (For the accio-quote sites, just search for the term "Dumbledore".)
    – Edlothiad
    Apr 4, 2018 at 5:12
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    However, "Dumbledore" is an anagram of "bold demure," which is an oxymoron. Apr 4, 2018 at 6:05
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    And "TheAsh" is an anagram of "sheath". It doesn't mean anything, but if you look long enough, you will find patterns in anything.
    – Mr Lister
    Apr 4, 2018 at 7:04
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    Even weirder, if you transpose an A for an I, Snape is an anagram for... well, I'll let you do the work yourself. Apr 4, 2018 at 13:24

1 Answer 1

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No - it’s simply a coincidence.

J.K. Rowling explains how she chose Dumbledore’s name in an interview. It’s an old English word meaning “bumblebee”, because she pictured him humming to himself and bumblebees hum.

Lydon: What about names themselves? Muggles, to begin, but the whole catalogue of - er - wizards: Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort - er - Hagrid.

JKR: I'm big on names - I like names, generally. You have to be really careful giving me your name if it's an unusual one, because you will turn up in book six. Erm - I - I collect - some of them are invented; Voldemort is an invented name, Malfoy is an invented name, Quidditch is invented, erm - but I also collect them, from all kinds of places: maps, street names, people I meet, old books, old saints, erm - Mrs Norris, people will have recognised, comes from Jane Austen. Erm - Dumbledore is an old English word meaning bumblebee. Because Albus Dumbledore is very fond of music, I always imagined him as sort of humming to himself a lot.
- J.K. Rowling interview with “The Connection” (October 12th, 1999)

She repeats the reason for her choice later in the interview as well, and explains a bit more about why she liked it.

Billy: Er - I don't know. I like 'Quidditch' and I like 'Dumbledore'.

JKR: yeah, Dumbledore, as I said, was a - is an old English word meaning bumblebee. I like 'Dumbledore' - it sounds endearing and strangely impressive at the same time.
- J.K. Rowling interview with “The Connection” (October 12th, 1999)

In addition, “Mudblooder” is not a word with any meaning in the Harry Potter series, and Dumbledore isn’t a direct anagram of it. That Dumbledore’s name is an indirect anagram of a word that contains a word used in Harry Potter but isn’t itself a meaningful word seems to be likely a coincidence. Any possible meaning it can be interpreted to have is also only tangentially connected to Dumbledore - yes, he was considered a champion of Mudbloods, but “Mudblood” isn’t a verb, and adding “er” to the end wouldn’t really describe someone who protects them.

There are actually quite a few different direct anagrams of “Dumbledore”, some that can even be tied to the Harry Potter series - but all are very likely coincidence, since the connection between them doesn’t “mean” enough to be presumed intentional.

For example, it’s an anagram of “Duel Mr Bode”. There is indeed a Broderick Bode (who had worked in the Department of Mysteries), and Dumbledore has dueled, and he even won a very famous duel with Grindelwald. However, Dumbledore never did to our knowledge duel Mr Bode, so this is likely a coincidence.

Dumbledore is also an anagram of “Robe Muddle”. Dumbledore did wear robes, but it’s still unlikely that his name is intended to spell this. It’s also an anagram of “Rube Molded”, which could be considered a description of how he molded Harry to walk to his own death, and “Bold Rued Me” which could describe how the Dark Lord feared Dumbledore despite his own arrogance.

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    The word "dumbledore" is not actually that old. According to the OED, it was still in use when Dumbledore himself was born. (But I guess you're just quoting JKR there.)
    – Laurel
    Apr 7, 2018 at 1:52
  • @Laurel Yes, I’m just quoting what she gave as her reason. Whether or not it’s accurate, it’s what she believed to be true when she chose the name.
    – Obsidia
    Apr 7, 2018 at 5:34

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