I agree with this. (And I’d even add that, with Snape especially, he is blinded by his love for his parents that anyone connected to Lily is immediately in his good books.) But I ALSO think that Albus Severus (obligatory lol) is the name that matters so much because it represents the end of Harry’s story.
Harry is the victim of a lot of mistreatment and hatred from the very first chapter to the end, and even at Hogwarts, the hero-worshipping comes at a price. His foils—Voldemort and Snape—spend their time at Hogwarts loved by all or hated by all, while Harry gets both the love and the hate. Voldemort manipulates, he’s selfish. Snape bullies, he’s spiteful. Harry is defined by how much he diverges from these two paths, though he could easily have become either of his enemies. Unlike Voldemort, he’s selfless, and unlike Snape, he forgives.
Athough he and Harry have very little in common, Dumbledore is another foil. They are both the Heroes. But Dumbledore’s heroism is cold and calculating, he sacrifices others—even in death, he sacrifices Snape’s “soul.” If Dumbledore is “God” then Harry is the martyr.
What does this mean for Harry’s character development, though? DH is punctuated with turning points, moments of forgiveness. PS/SS begins with Harry being abused by the Dursleys, and DH begins with Harry forgiving Dudley. He says goodbye to his cupboard, he’s not angry when he gets the Dursleys to safety, he doesn’t look back. He lets go. This is how Harry moves on.
Harry obsesses over Dumbledore’s dirty secrets in DH, but in choosing to go after the Horcruxes instead of the Hallows, he moves past his feelings of betrayal.
Before Voldemort’s death, he sees him for what he is and doesn’t feel hatred, but pity. He shows him compassion.
I think that, while there is definitely some hero-worshiping happening, Harry does realize that Snape and Dumbledore were wrong. But he’s spent so much of his youth angry and mistrustful. Honoring these two, his bully and his puppeteer, represents not only Harry’s forgiveness, but that he’s made peace with his suffering. He’s made peace with his doubts about his father and Sirius being bullies, too. (Lily Luna is different—while James Sirius is named after Harry’s father figures, and Albus Severus after his heroes, Lily is named after the two characters in the books who represent Harry’s ideal of selfless love.)
Thematically, naming his son after these two characters who were so stuck living in the past, implies a future where Harry’s learned from their mistakes. Unlike Dumbledore or Snape, Harry really lives.
But at the same time, you don’t see Ron or Hermione worshiping Snape or Dumbledore’s —this is all Harry, and this is how he’s always been. He doesn’t HAVE to forgive or admire them—but of course he does because he’s Harry. The names are SO not saying “THESE are the most important characters to Harry Potter and also the best people in the book fuck you Remus.” The names reveal all those things OP said about Harry’s flawed views of heroism, and more they represent a scar that’s fading, the resolution to a life of pain for the hero whose only superpower was living and forgiving.
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