Harry Potter Names

General Name Discussion
1

Okay, I’ve wanted to post this thread for awhile, and here it finally is! I absolutely love to read (and write) and I am determined to have a literary connection in each of my children’s names (when I actually have them). The [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] Series is the best series I have ever read, and I wouldn’t mind at all if one of my kids’ names honored the books! Here are some of the names from [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] that I have considered/am still considering for my list:

First Names:

[name]Harry[/name] (I love this name, especially since it was once used as a nn for [name]Henry[/name], but I’m afraid to actually use this because I’m not sure if the child would be teased, as in “he’s a harry _____.” Am I over-thinking this?)
[name]Cedric[/name]
[name]Rose[/name]*
[name]Phineas[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name]
[name]Adrian[/name]
[name]Felix[/name]

Middle Names:

[name]James[/name]*
[name]Hermione[/name]
[name]Sirius[/name] (I honestly don’t know if I would use this but I really love it!)
[name]Albus[/name] (Same as [name]Sirius[/name])

Cool names that I love but probably wouldn’t use:

[name]Severus[/name]
[name]Pollux[/name]
[name]Draco[/name]
[name]Alice[/name] ([name]Love[/name] this name, but I would only think of the little girl who’s in my class right now)
[name]Kingsley[/name]

Names with a “*” also honor family members or close friends. Some of the names I also loved before I read [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name], and discovering this connection has only made me like them more ([name]Rose[/name], [name]Phineas[/name], [name]Adrian[/name], [name]Theodore[/name], etc.)

What do you think of these names? And what are your favorite [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] names, whether they are on my list or not?

2

I also love [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] and all of its great names, too!

[name]Harry[/name]–I really like it, but I don’t know how well it’d work in the US. I feel like kids would probably call him “hairy.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the British pronunciations of [name]Harry[/name] and hairy are different, so this isn’t a problem?

[name]Cedric[/name]–great name!
[name]Rose[/name]–a little overdone, but still pretty, of course.
[name]Phineas[/name]–reminds me too much of [name]Phineas[/name] and Ferb, the cartoon? It’s a good name though, and a different way to get to the nickname [name]Finn[/name], which is so popular right now.
[name]Theodore[/name]–[name]LOVE[/name] [name]Theodore[/name]! And [name]Theo[/name]. And [name]Teddy[/name].
[name]Adrian[/name]–Not a fan, sorry.
[name]Felix[/name]–I like this name in theory but I don’t know about actually using it.
[name]James[/name]–classic, can’t go wrong!
[name]Hermione[/name]–[name]LOVE[/name], [name]LOVE[/name], [name]LOVE[/name]. [name]Love[/name] the character, love the sound of the name. I’m planning on using it for a future daughter’s middle name. I wish I was brave enough to use it as a first name ([name]Minnie[/name] is an adorable nickname for it!), but I don’t think I am. Plus my son is [name]Vincent[/name] “[name]Vinny[/name],” so [name]Vinny[/name] and [name]Minnie[/name] don’t work for me as siblings!
[name]Sirius[/name], [name]Albus[/name]–great as middle names.
[name]Kingsley[/name]–I like this, especially with the nickname Kings.

I also like [name]Lavender[/name], [name]Ginevra[/name], [name]Minerva[/name], [name]George[/name], [name]Seamus[/name], [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Vincent[/name] (of course), [name]Fleur[/name], [name]Lily[/name], Merope, [name]Hugo[/name], [name]Luna[/name], [name]Helena[/name], and many, many more!

3

It is correct that the British (and Australian) pronunciation of [name]Harry[/name] is different from “hairy.” I recently had a chat with an Australian [name]Berry[/name] (her user name is rollo) about this name. If you’ve seen the [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] movies you’ve heard the difference. It’s subtle, but it’s there–they pronounce the “a” in [name]Harry[/name] short a, as in apple.
I do like the name [name]Harry[/name], and I do like the series, though I don’t know if I’d go as far as deliberately referencing it with my child’s name. I love many of the names in the books, though! J.K. Rowling is one great character namer. The combo I fell for the hardest while reading the books may have been [name]Remus[/name] [name]John[/name] Lupin. I love it!
I love [name]Phineas[/name], really like [name]Harry[/name], and like the other names on your first-name list. I love [name]James[/name] enough to use it for a first name, and I agree the others would make great middles. I love [name]Alice[/name] as a first name, and I think [name]Kingsley[/name] would make a good middle. I agree with you about the others.
Best wishes!

4

I love [name]Hermione[/name] as a name. However, as it is not very common, I feel that it is too connected to ‘[name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]’ to be used lightly. Unlike names like [name]Harry[/name] or [name]Alice[/name], [name]James[/name] or [name]Lily[/name] which are used frequently.

Other totally usable or awesome names from HP include:
[name]Katie[/name] (You could even use [name]Katie[/name] [name]Bell[/name] as first and middle name)
[name]Bellatrix[/name] (the popularity of [name]Bella[/name] makes this usable- plus its awesome!)
[name]Amelia[/name]
[name]Millicent[/name] (maybe use [name]Millie[/name] for short)
[name]Penelope[/name]
[name]Fleur[/name]
[name]Gabrielle[/name]
[name]Amos[/name]
[name]Brian[/name] (one of Dumbledore’s middle names)
[name]Ariana[/name]
[name]Everard[/name]
[name]Arabella[/name]
[name]Justin[/name]
Perenelle
[name]Dexter[/name]
[name]Helga[/name]
[name]Rowena[/name]
[name]Angelina[/name]
Rabastan
[name]Luna[/name]
[name]Teddy[/name] ([name]Theodore[/name] maybe?)
Alastor
[name]Gideon[/name]
[name]Molly[/name]
[name]Evan[/name]

5

These are on my list:
[name]James[/name] - girl first name / boy as middle name
[name]Hermione[/name]
[name]Sirius[/name]
[name]Severus[/name]
[name]Alice[/name]
[name]Remus[/name]
Regulus
[name]Hedwig[/name]
Irised [the Mirror]

6

I love, love, love [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]. All your potential first names are fabulous - I’d use any of them in a heartbeat. I’m not sure about [name]Albus[/name] because I feel like it’s so strongly connected to Dumbledore, same with [name]Hermione[/name] a bit.

[name]One[/name] very minor character whose name I love is [name]Dilys[/name]. I’d never heard the name pre-HP but I’ve adored it ever since. I also like [name]Minerva[/name], [name]Seamus[/name], [name]Helena[/name] and [name]Demelza[/name], although the last is a bit tricky to pronounce.

7

I’m British and the pronunciation is very much HA-ree, rather than anything that sounds like Hairy. It’s so common hear that the [name]Potter[/name] association doesn’t really exist, the name will last a lot longer than the films will. I don’t particularly like the name because I find it very overused but that doesn’t make it a bad name.

I love [name]Rose[/name], [name]Phineas[/name], [name]Theodore[/name], [name]Kingsley[/name], [name]Alice[/name], [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Fleur[/name] and [name]Luna[/name] but I really don’t think anyone would automatically associate those names straight to [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] unlike names like [name]Draco[/name], [name]Severus[/name], [name]Hermione[/name] etc.

8

I met a [name]Hermione[/name] once and she said she was glad her name featured in [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] as now people knew how to announce it.

I love too many of the names in [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] to list them really. I love that they’ve made parents reconsider what were otherwise really old fashioned or obscure British names.

9

Thanks for your responses! The reason everyone said about the pronunciation of [name]Harry[/name] is what I meant when I said I was unsure of using it because of the child being made fun of. I love the name, but it’s not a good one for the US I guess.

emmyk: I’ve read around the boards and seen that people have said [name]Rose[/name] is overused as a middle name, but I saw some other opinions that it wasn’t used as much as a first name. I really want to use [name]Rose[/name] somehow because it is the best way I can think of to honor my mom. She has always hated her name ([name]Phyllis[/name] [name]Edith[/name]) so I wouldn’t use either of those in my own child’s name. However, my dad has always called her [name]Rosey[/name] (because her cheeks are naturally rosey) so I wanted to honor her that way. I was always planning on using it as a middle name until I saw that people thought it was so overdone :(. Last night I watched We Bought A Zoo and the main character’s daughter’s name was [name]Rosie[/name] and I thought it was so cute. I guess once I’m actually ttc, I will post this as it’s own thread for discussion. I also love the name [name]Vincent[/name], and I don’t know why I didn’t even think to put that on this list!

auroradawn: I wouldn’t mind referencing HP in one of my children’s names because I’m pretty obsessed with it haha. I’m actually getting an HP tattoo in about a month and a half! I can’t get enough of it :slight_smile:

namesgloriousnames: I didn’t know how to pronounce [name]Hermione[/name] until the 4th book, when she has to pronounce it for Krum. I was totally pronouncing it the wrong way until then!

10

[name]Harry[/name] - I like this name quite a bit…like others have said, there is a subtle difference in pronounciation, but if you live in the US, you’ll probably get the “Hairy” link. Anyway- I think it is classic and cute.
[name]Cedric[/name] - one of my favorites…I’d definitely use this! I don’t know how long the HP associations will last though. This is a name that doesn’t scream HP to me.
[name]Rose[/name]* - another pretty name…I like this one
[name]Phineas[/name] - love it. don’t think HP first though, but it is a great name
[name]Theodore[/name] - again, another favorite…definitely would use this
[name]Adrian[/name] - not one of my favorite names, but I see the appeal…it has a great sound
[name]Felix[/name]- again, not one of my favorites but I think it could really work

Middle Names:

[name]James[/name]* - pretty classic. actually, [name]James[/name] is one of my favorites, and I’d love to put it in the middle just because I don’t like it as a fn
[name]Hermione[/name] - love this one. I actually encountered it before HP and I love the HP has kind of brought it back
[name]Sirius[/name] (I honestly don’t know if I would use this but I really love it!) - this is one that is a pretty overt HP reference to me, but it could still work as a mn
[name]Albus[/name] - again- strong HP connotations

[name]Severus[/name] -this is one I don’t really like
[name]Pollux[/name] - same here
[name]Draco[/name] - I kind of like this one, but I’d never use it either, haha
[name]Alice[/name] ([name]Love[/name] this name, but I would only think of the little girl who’s in my class right now) - I love [name]Alice[/name]- it’s my grandmother’s name- and I would probably use this, but most likely in the middle just because it is so popular
[name]Kingsley[/name] - nms…probably wouldn’t use this one

on another note, I love the name [name]Rupert[/name] (the name of the actor who plays [name]Ron[/name] in the movies), and [name]Lavender[/name] has been growing on me. Two more sort-of HP inspired names.

11

rachel27: I don’t mind how long HP associations would/wouldn’t last with a name. I know that a lot of these aren’t immediately associated with HP, I just like that added benefit that I can mention when talking about why I love the specific name. I just love [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]! :slight_smile:

12

By the way, are you getting the HP association with [name]Theodore[/name] from [name]Teddy[/name] Lupin, or is there a [name]Theodore[/name] I don’t remember? [name]One[/name] would normally assume that a [name]Teddy[/name] was [name]Theodore[/name], but when reading the books I thought [name]Teddy[/name] Lupin was just [name]Teddy[/name]–[name]Teddy[/name] [name]Remus[/name] Lupin. He was named for Tonks’s father, [name]Ted[/name], and of course his father, [name]Remus[/name].

13

auroradawn: no, the [name]Theodore[/name] is not from [name]Teddy[/name]. I came across it while looking at a character list. I can’t remember the last name, but he was a very minor character, possibly just mentioned once. I added it just because I love the name! When I get a chance to look at the list again, I will post it.

14

OK, thanks!

15

Here is the list I was reading:

It has a lot of great names on it, and tons of characters I never even remembered. The [name]Theodore[/name] I saw on the list was [name]Theodore[/name] Nott, a Slytherin student in [name]Harry[/name]'s year and son of the Death Eater Nott. I know it’s random, and not a name actually associated with [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]; I was just happy to see the name on the character list, and it is one of my top three names for boys at the moment!

16

I love [name]Harry[/name], [name]Phineas[/name], and [name]Felix[/name]. [name]Phineas[/name] [name]James[/name] would be very handsome.

My favorites from the series are [name]Gideon[/name], [name]Remus[/name] (though I’d never use it), [name]Phineas[/name], and [name]Hermione[/name].