What's in a Name?. Meaningful Names of Key Families in The Running Grave. Part I: Beware the Crowthers.

 Ever since Remus Lupin turned out to be a werewolf and Sirius Black a disguised big black dog. we've been trained to look for cratylic names (or sometimes, ironically anti-cratylic, like Fluffy for the savage dog and Fang for the gentle one)in the works of JKR/RG. The Running Grave was no exception.  I have been making notes on names as I blogged my way through the initial read, but I wanted to compile a new list, now that we've finished the book. There are an unusually high number of family groups in The Running Grave, so I'm going to start with the major families in the story.  Spoilers ho!

I'm going to start with the place names:  Forgeman Farm, the location of Strike's horrific childhood commune,whose name was changed to Chapman Farm when Jonathan Wace started the UHC.  Forgeman, which means blacksmith or metal worker, could indicate the initial evil that was forged there. Chapman means peddler, which is appropriate considering that Papa J stepped into the power vacuum when the pedophilia ring was broken up, and repackaged the philosophy to sell as a religion to the gullible. Chapman Farm apparently used to sell vegetables to local markets, but the UHC now makes its fortune in the black-market sale of its surplus babies. It is interesting that a few other surnames associated with the cult: Draper (cloth-maker or seller), Brewster (beer-maker); and Glover (glove-maker or -seller) have names associated with selling. 

The Crowthers also have name befitting their nastiness, as the surname means fiddler, a term that is slang for child molester.  Malcolm, means devotee of St. Columba,  but the name is commonly shortened to Mal, which simply means bad. This seems to fit him better. A name meaning bad child-molester rivals Mucky Ricci's horse manure penis for worst in the series. His brother Gerald, whose name means rule of the spear may have some Freudian connotations. It does not seem to connect directly to his main role, which was to teach Mazu the illusions needed to make cult followers believe in the supernatural powers. 

Endensor:  Their surname, pronounced "Enzor" combins root words for wealth or prosperity, bear cub and ridge or bank. They are certainly a family of wealth, and their home is described as sloping towards a  river, so both those fit.  I am not sure about bear cub, unless that represents the protectiveness of the parents for their sons. The father Colin's name means victory of the people, appropriate for a working-class man who rose to be a respected civil servant, with a title and wealth. Sally means noblewoman or princess, which works for both the wealthy woman Sir Colin married. Will comes from William, or Wilhelm,  compound word meaning resolute protector, but the dropping of the helm (helmet, protector) root suggests someone more willful than protective, which is certainly the impression from his initial letters. Certainly Will is an ironic name for someone whose will is subverted by the mind control techniques of the UHC. However, Will certainly comes through at the end as his daughter's resolute protector, as he makes a risky escape from the cult with her, determined to get her to safety even with his sincere belief that this couls his own death via Drowned Prophet. James is a derivative of Jacob, which means supplanter, appropriate for the one who would write his youngest brother off in retaliation for this foolish decision to join the cult. , while Edward, or wealth guardian, fits for the one who would restore the family unity, particularly in his insistence that James should not blame Will's cult activities for the failure of their mother to get her tumor diagnosed in time. As for Qing, a name probably chosen by Mazu, it means blue. It is not clear what significance that has, except possibly the color of the tot's miniature track suit when she escaped the cult with her dad. It's probably just as well they re-christened her Sally at the end of the book; the newfound granddaughter will undoubtedly be indulged given her history of deprivation in the cult and as the lone girl in a family of all men.

Wace: Wace is the name of a legendary sea giant, which certainly fits for this family who rules the cult only a few miles from the ocean, and associated with two drownings. Jonathan means God has given which is appropriate for the cult leader who thinks, or would have his followers believe, that he has special powers, gifted from the "Great Divinity." Mazu has perhaps the most ironic name of the family, that of a Chinese sea goddess who was supposed to appear to lost mariners and protect them from drowning. Taio can have multiple meanings, depending on the language, but in Chinese, presumably his mother's first choice, it can mean long life or large waves.  The large waves meaning seems to match the ocean theme of the rest of this family, while Jiang, which means river, is named for a lesser body of water, in keeping with his relatively low status within the family. Daiyu means black jade, a stone associated with nobility and wealth, which works for the potential heir to the Graves fortune. Black jade is also a stone associated with protection, which is ironic given the false "Drowned Prophet's"  horrific fate.  Finally, Abigail's name also carries a lot of irony, meaning "my father's joy" given the fact that she seems to have brought very little joy to her "Popsicle" after the age of 7 or so, and made particular trouble for him when she chopped up her step-sister and fed her to the pigs. 

I'll add two other Chinese names here,  Wan, the pregnant woman whose baby Robin helped deliver, means gentle or gracious. In English, of course, "wan" means a pale complexion, as might be expected from illness or exhaustion. This would fit with Robin's clain that Wan looked terrible after her difficult delivery. Yixin, the name given to Wan's baby, means one heart. One can only hope that Wan got her baby back after the Wace family's arrest and that the child became the one true love of her gentle and gracious mother. 

Pirbright:This name means clearing with a pear tree. I guess JKR/RG could not find a surname meaning "clearing with a carrot patch." Kevin, meaning handsome, is certainly ironic for the boy whose acne made the cult characterize him as too unattractive for public display. Becca is short for Rebecca, which means to bind or tie, an indicator for the way she was "bond" to the cult, teachings after being taken from her family at age eleven and so thoroughly indoctrinated, hat not even the arrest of the leadership for horrible crimes could sway her faith. Emily has several possible meanings, but the one that fits the character best is rival given her jealousy and resentment of her sister's high position. Finally, mother Louise means warrior-maid, a sadly ironic name for a woman so thoroughly beaten down by cult practices. 

Doherty: a Scotch-Irish name meaning hard-hearted or unlucky, which certainly fits this family destroyed by the UHC. Father Ralph means, wolf-counsel which is supposed to connotate courage but in his case might be interpreted as more savage, although I suppose it took a certain amount of bravery and wisdom to escape the cult with his three oldest children. Deidre means broken-hearted, which she certainly was after her rape by Jonathan Wace and her abandonment by her husband. Niamh, the sibling who seems to have emerged from the cult the healthiest of the family, means bright or radiant. Lin, Deidre's youngest daughter, whose name was presumably chosen by Mazu, is a Chinese name that can mean either jade (like Daiyu) or forest, It is possible that Mazu named Lin as a tribute to Daiyu, but the the forest meaning seems more appropriate given Lin's clandestine meetings there with Will, her spying Robin's hiding place and the gathering of plants there to induce a miscarriage. 

Graves: Dweller near the grove fits the family with the country manor house. We have another Edward who is apparently a wealthy guardian and his daughter, Phillipa, lover of horses, is apparently an enthusiastic equestrian. The family calls the colonel "Archie" indicatin a possible middle name of Archibald, which means genuine bravery, fitting for the man who wants to "go after the UHC with both barrels" after the cult's smear campaign begins. It is less clear what significance the names Alexander (warrior),  Barbara (foreign or strange), Nicholas (victory of the people-- so the same meaning as Colin) or Delauney (dweller by the alder-tree) could mean, except that the Delauneys expect and desire to inherit the family estate (and thus have a vested interested in Daiyu remaining dead), so the whole "dweller by trees" thing will repeat in the next generation. Alexander's nickname, Allie, is most likely to be seen as a nickname for Albert or Alison, which mean noble. 

The second part of this post will pick up with other potentially significant names in the book.