Because Ilvermorny was based on Hogwarts, it boasts four houses. These houses were named by the founders of the school, Isolt and James Steward, and their two adopted sons, Webster and Chadwick. Unlike Hogwarts, the houses were named for magical creatures with which the founders were familiar. Isolt named one house Horned Serpent. James named another house Pukwudgie. Webster named a house Wampus, while his brother chose the Thunderbird (Pm).
The houses had different criteria from those of Hogwarts, and there is no direct correlation between the characteristics valued by each (JKR:Tw).
- Thunderbird – the soul of the wizard, adventurers
- Horned Serpent – the mind of the wizard, scholars
- Wampus – the body of the wizard, warriors
- Pukwudgie – the heart of the wizard, healers
Commentary
Notes
Immediately after the houses were announced, fans began trying to correlate Ilvermorny houses with those of Hogwarts. This chart was created by Eric Scull:
Rowling squashed that idea quickly later the day that the information first came out, on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/748047129814437888
Fans being fans, the conversations and analysis will continue regardless of Rowling's comment, I'm sure.