[name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] and [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] are some of my favorite girl names, but are they TOO [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]? Are they unusable because of that? Especially since [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] is a villain
I would say yes - too [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], especially [name_f]Hermione[/name_f].
Regardless, [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] looks sinister even without the association. [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] might be too [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] for now, but I think it’s beautiful on its own
If it were any other series besides [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] I would say who cares but [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] has proven itself to have staying power.
On the other hand, I might be inclined to use it anyway. Many wonderful names have been borrowed from literature. When she grows up everyone will think
her mom was a [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] fan… but so what? 
I don’t think they’re unusable. The association is always going to be there (sorry folks, [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] isn’t going anywhere), but once people meet your little [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] or [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] they’re going to associate the name with her, not the characters.
If anything, the [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] reference will make the average person familiar with a name that they would otherwise have never heard. Instead of getting a blank stare when you say “this is my daughter [name_f]Hermione[/name_f]/[name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f],” you’ll probably get an “oh, like [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]?” and move on. If that’s something that would annoy you I would save the names for a future pet.
They are both very [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] - but I don’t think you see this as a bad thing! I think [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] is [name_m]JUST[/name_m] usable (especially in the middle spot) - because her character is a positive one, and and because [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] is an established (if very very rare) name that was used by [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m] in '[name_u]Winter[/name_u]‘s Tale’. She would get hundreds of HP comments, not necessarily a bad thing, but potentially rife for teasing and insecurity if she’s not extremely academically gifted. [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] is completely unusable, in my opinion, because the character is violent and racist, and the name is never heard elsewhere. If you absolutely love it, you could make some kind of combination out of [name_f]Belle[/name_f] [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], [name_f]Bella[/name_f] [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], etc.
Well as sisters there would be no mistake as to what your inspiration was/might have been. [name_m]Just[/name_m] one or the other, still yes, but probably not a dealbreaker. What girl didn’t love [name_f]Hermione[/name_f]'s strong, smart, clever character?
On the flipside, [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] was a villain’s name in such a popular series so I don’t think you can escape that association but if it doesn’t bother you then I wouldn’t let that stop you. I would love to meet a little [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] and a little [name_f]Hermione[/name_f]
[name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f]: Yes.
[name_f]Hermione[/name_f]: No
I don’t associate [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] exclusively with [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] because of [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m], but the HP association is very strong when I hear/see [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f].
[name_f]Hermione[/name_f] is a beautiful, spunky name (just like the character from HP) whereas [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] sounds made-up and the “trix” part sounds shady to me.
Actually, -trix is a feminine suffix in Latin. [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] may or may not be made up; [name_f]Bella[/name_f] could refer to both beauty and war as a Latin word, but the former is more widely excepted. Here are substitutes for [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f]:
Amatrix, meaning “sweetheart”
Fautrix, meaning “patroness”
Tortrix, which could either mean “thunder woman” from [name_m]Tor[/name_m] being a variation of [name_m]Thor[/name_m], or “turtledove woman”, from Hebrew [name_m]Tor[/name_m](I admit to making this one)
Deletrix, meaning “witch that destroys”(nice sound, but maybe not)
Viatrix, the old form of [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f]
Aviatrix, meaning “flying woman”, I think, but I’m not sure(a true moniker of an occupational name)
All are Latin. As for [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] substitutes, you’re on your own, sorry. I think [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] is the more useable of the two.
They’re way too [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] if you use them together! Choosing only one, however, would be totally okay in my opinion. Personally, I love [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f]!
I love both [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] and [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], but I think as a sibset it would be a bit too much. [name_f]Hermione[/name_f]'s definitely usable by itself. And in terms of [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f], although she is a villain, because I started liking the name before I knew about her character, I can more overlook the association. But I prefer [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] as an alternative to [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f], so maybe that’s why I’m not too bothered. It’s still not a great association, so out of the two I’d go for [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], but I think anyone who isn’t a HP fan wouldn’t know about [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] Lestrange anyway.
I agree with all of this.
I love [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] and I think she will outgrow and outlive the [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] association (not that HP is necessarily a bad connection) and return to her classical Greek and Shakespearian roots. I don’t think HP is going to go away soon, but I don’t think [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] or [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] are too [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], though I wouldn’t name my daughter after Bellatrix Lestrange. She was a fabulously evil character, especially in the films (thank you Helena Bonham Carter), but not exactly baby naming material (murdering, racist, basically just nasty). [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] is a perfectly fine literary name- she was strong, loyal, brave, smart and knew how to stand up for herself. Not a bad standard to place on your little one.
Worst case scenario: people suppose you like [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]. Mind you, if I were a little girl, I would love to be called [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], and I can assure a lot of other girls would too, and they would wear it with pride.
O my, these names are wonderful!!! I love both names, and I don’t really associate them with HP. However, my nieces and nephews detest [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f]… it was my number 1 name choice for a girl prior to them describing the character from HP…frankly, it turned me off using it from thereon…
But I still really love the name [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] (I stumbled across the name from a baby naming website and not from HP). Personally, I would be thrilled to meet a little [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f]. But I’m not sure whether she would be teased or would detest her sinister HP namesake…
[name_f]Hermione[/name_f], on the other hand, is usable without reservation…i.e. it’s classical, pretty, Shakespearean and has a charming feminine sound/ look. Cheers
I would only use one both would be obvious but they both have connections outside of harry potter if your a fan your kids will probably be into it at some point 2 a lot of people say not to use bellatrix because of character but from experience kids love to be named after awesome characters good or bad and like I said bellatrix has her own connections outside of HP take her out 2 look at the stars teach her about the constellations bellatrix is the third brightest star in the constellation [name_u]Orion[/name_u] hermione has connections outside of HP as well [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m]'s a winters tale and mythology the daughter of [name_f]Helen[/name_f]
Honestly both names are on my lists and I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a little bellatrix who was around three and a little one with hermione as a middle who was a few months old and I know of a few kids here on nameberry with the names the bellatrix I met in person her mum named her after the star and she was one of the most well behaved kids I’ve ever met so I say go for it they are beautiful names that should be used
I clearly don’t think [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] is unusable :D. However I do get asked ‘like [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]’ all the time which doesn’t bother me too much. The character is a strong role model so I’m happy.
The character association with [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] puts me off though. However my ideal sib set would be [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] and [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] which I just realised are pretty similar…
They are too [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m]. That was what I first thought of when I read the thread title.
[name_f]Hermione[/name_f] is usable in my opinion, but [name_f]Bellatrix[/name_f] is not. Who would want to share a name with a villain while your sister is named after the heroine of the same story?