harry potter - Why did Voldemort use his hated last name as basis for his "professional" name?

The reason that Tom Riddle chose to call himself Voldemort was, in part, because he hated his father.

If so, the why did he build the name from the letters of his hated last name (Riddle)? As his diary soul fragment explains to Harry in CoS, "I am Lord Voldemort" is built from letters of "Tom Marvolo Riddle". Shouldn't he have chosen some other phrase not connected to his father to build his super-nickname with?

Answer

As mentioned in the comments, a canonical answer will not be possible unless JKR deigns to speak to the question.

I would speculate that the answer has to do with the nature and perception of anagrams and Voldemort's self image.

Anagrams, puns and other types of word games are often perceived as intellectual pursuits. Since Voldemort sees himself as a genius and thus an intellectual, it would make sense for him to choose, as his new name, something that he perceives as clever. "Vol de mort" being a French expression meaning "flight of death", Lord Voldemort would be a triple win in that a) It set him above the common people; b) It marks him as a bad-ass, but in an intellectual way; c) The name is based on a clever anagram.

Comments

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