Okay, so, yeah, Voltaire probably wasn't the one who invented using not-so-sly pun names for his characters. However, I couldn't help but make this connection, especially because so far I really like Candide, Harry Potter, and etymology. Both authors used similar meanings for the names of two of their main characters.
Candide—"pure, innocent, white." As we've discussed, Candide is certainly naive...to the point of being annoying. He won't ever tell a "white" (get it?) lie to save Cunégonde from the governor! In fact, he doesn't even suspect that the governor is kind of shady. Sigh. The name is also ironic because, hello! Candide is not completely innocent, and definitely would not be thought of as such by today's standards. Up to chapter 15, he'd already murdered three people and yet still claims to be the best of all men (narcissistic much?).
Albus—"white." Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series, known by his trademark half-moon specs and his long white beard. Although initially Dumbledore does indeed seem to be totally wise and a champion of the greater good, a lot of readers now condemn him for using Harry (beginning at age 11) as a tool and for manipulating him and basically sending him to his death, etc. People literally write articles with titles like "Why Albus Dumbledore Sucks" and have many, many, many angry posts on Tumblr about the matter. A lot of people claim that he, directly or indirectly, causes many unnecessary deaths.
I found it interesting that in both cases, there's more to the characters than just being innocent and great human beings (as in real life, of course) even though their names might be misleading on first glance.
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