Hermione........???

[LemonLovesLilac]

I love the name Hermione, I think it both looks and sounds beautiful. The Harry Potter thing doesn't bother me at all as its not a negative association really. What I really want is to get a feel for what people think of the name and how it is perceived? Thanks in advance

[bananaramma]

But these associations change over time as names move 'down the ranks' and names that used to be 'posh' no longer are today -this is well explained in Freakonomics.

Personally I love the name Hermione and couldn't care less about 'class'.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I love Freakonomics!

[PrattingAroundTheChristmasTree]

I have a niece called Hermione. I love the name :)

[maillotjaune]

I love it too. DS fell in love with a Hermione when they met, aged 2 and they are still very close. She is lovely and I plan to be a very good MIL to her in another 20 years or so!

[SomersetONeil]

"When people insist that it is not a classless name, does this mean that people of, say, working classes can't use it"

No, there are no laws.

Of course it would - or could - suit anyone. Anyone can - and should -use it. But names - like pretty much everything so many things in British society - are often inextricably associated with class. This is the point being made. Hermione has middle/upper middle class associations. It's not a classless name.

Once you know which supermarket a person shops in, which newspaper they read, where they buy their clothes, what accent they have, what sports the play/follow, what hobbies they indulge in, how they decorate their house, where they holiday - and this is before we even come down to their education, what they do for a living, and how much money/assets they have(!) - you get a pretty good idea of their class. Their name is just one small stand woven into a complex picture. Practically nothing in the UK is classless, when you think about it!

It is especially pronounced in the UK, but the US also has an ingrained class system, and even my small, Antipodean country is riddled with class indicators.

[sonniboo]

SomersetONeil, if I tell you that I shop both at LIDL (for all the basics) and Waitrose (for a few special treats), wear clothes from both Primark and Designer brands and my hobbies include reading and playing golf, my accent is a mixture of German/American/British (having lived in different countries) and that I went to University - what 'class' do I belong to . I really find this British obession with class fascinating!

[mollymole]

Hermione is lovely - go for it !!!

[Alisvolatpropiis]

The class issue in the UK gets even more interesting outside of England because not only are there posh names there are posh English sounding names. The two are by no means equally acceptable for some!

[FriggFRIGG]

I love it,although its a shame it's been so popularised by HP...if that doesn't bother you,go for it!

[SomersetONeil]

Undoubtedly middle, sonniboo.

[maillotjaune]

But wasn't Hermione the daughter of Helen and Meneleus? So Greek not English (although as upper class as it gets).

[Alisvolatpropiis]

She was,but it's been in use since Shakespeare's time,she was a character in A Winters Tale.

Loads of "upper class/traditional" names are Greek in origin,but been used to long they no longer seem "foreign" :)

[COCKadoodledooo]

My car is called Hermione

It's a great name, I love it. Don't think my boys would have liked to be called it though!

[delilah88]

Really posh name!

[rotavirusrita]

love it.
I have 3 boys though
I have suggested we have a fourth .... so we can try for a girl and call her herminone... I love it that much. DH was not impressed