Little Whinging

Little Whinging, Surrey, UK, is a fictitious suburb of London described in the Harry Potter series of novels. (Strictly speaking, a Surrey town is not a London suburb, although Surrey is part of the London commuter belt). It was Harry's home for roughly the first 12 years of his life, where he lived with his cruel aunt, uncle and cousin, the Dursleys. The author, J. K. Rowling, designed this place to be the most bland and stereotypical London suburb in order to contrast it with the unique and spectacular Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry despises Little Whinging because of his memories of his treatment there, but in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore reveals that there is a reason why Harry must return there at least once a year.

The name "Little Whinging" is probably a pun on "whingeing", which is Anglo-Australian slang for endlessly complaining about something.