OH at the Starbucks counter:

Are you named after the character from Harry Potter?

No, I’m named after the Roman goddess of wisdom.

Anecdotal evidence that Professor McGonagall is the most popular Minerva and except for the ones who have planets (or days of the week in places that speak or once spoke Romance languages) named after them, Roman deities are generally obscure. (Perhaps Athena and the rest of the Greek pantheon might fare better, though.)

#allusions #literary #mythical