Meaning & History
Used by author J. K. Rowling for a minor character in her 'Harry Potter' series. It may have been intended as a variant of Éliphas, the pen name of French occultist Eliphas Levi. His real name was Alphonse Louis Constant, and he chose the pseudonym in an attempt to transliterate his given name “Alphonse Louis” into a Hebrew-sounding name, despite not being Jewish (see also Eliphaz).