I admit it, I’m a sucker for British sounding names and [name]Hermione[/name] is one that I think is quite pretty. But I’m afraid it will always be only associated with [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] (and don’t get me wrong, I love [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]). What are your thoughts? Is it a viable choice or is will it always have that association for you?
It doesn’t for me (and I love HP). I think of the movie musical, “The [name]Music[/name] [name]Man[/name]”. The actress who played the mayor’s wife was called [name]Hermione[/name] Gingold. That’s the first place I heard the name, so I will forever associate [name]Hermione[/name] with that actress. I absolutely love her. That being said, there are going to be a lot of people who think of HP, but I wouldn’t let that stop me.
I think in the US the association is too strong to use [name]Hermione[/name].
There’s also the Hermiones of [name]Shakespeare[/name] and Greek mythology! Yes, in today’s world, a little girl named [name]Hermione[/name] will undoubtedly be associated with Miss [name]Granger[/name], but is that a bad thing? In Rowling’s words, “let my girls be Hermiones!”
If it helps, if I were to use it, it would be as a middle 
I know that it will be associated with her for a long, long time. However, as others have pointed out, J. K. Rowling didn’t make it up! It is a mythological, Shakespearean, classic name. And it happens to be lovely and British. And [name]Hermione[/name] [name]Granger[/name] is lovely and British. If you really love it and want your own [name]Hermione[/name], then use it! I guess for me, I would not use it because I would just think I was trying to make my kid be [name]Hermione[/name] [name]Granger[/name].
It’s such a musical sounding name–I love it too. I’ve also considered using it, but I think if I did, I’d put it in the middle–a little less conspicuous that way. Although I do think [name]Minnie[/name] is a lovely nickname for it!
I say go for it, in the first or middle spot. It’s such a great name. There were [name]Hermione[/name]'s before HP and there will be more after. Adults might eventually forget about [name]Hermione[/name] from HP, but the kids will remember, and your daughter will have a cool factor that [name]Olive[/name] and [name]Emma[/name] don’t have.
Since I have no interest in [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name], I would wholeheartedly encourage you to consider [name]Hermione[/name] as a viable choice. For me, the name is more assocated with two late great British actresses: [name]Hermione[/name] Gingold and [name]Hermione[/name] Baddeley. I have fond memories of watching Ms. Baddeley as the drunken housekeeper on the TV show “[name]Maude[/name]”. [name]Both[/name] Hermiones were wonderful character actresses for many years. To disregard [name]Hermione[/name] due to a current book/film craze is beyond my comprehension. From what I gather in reading the posts, [name]Hermione[/name] [name]Granger[/name] isn’t such a bad character. The best thing about [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] is the fact that most people would now know how to pronounce the name properly. [name]Hermione[/name] is a mythological, Shakespearean and [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] name and not many names can claim these distinctions.
I also associate the name with [name]Hermione[/name] Baddeley, but my understanding is that many in the US can only think of [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name]. Yes, there were other Hermiones long before HP, but sometimes an association sticks on too well. For example, another mythological name, [name]Juno[/name], is forever pasted with that movie by the same name, thus rendering it unusable in my opinion.
Go for it if you like, but I definitely think the [name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] association isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.