It’s interesting; I think [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] will always be quickly and solidly attached to [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] for me, even though I think there are quite a few of them out there these days! [name_m]Just[/name_m] like [name_u]Chandler[/name_u] will always be attached to Friends. But [name_m]Cedric[/name_m] and [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f], while initially having some attachment, seem to break free of their character bonds pretty quickly when I hear of or meet one. I think it might just come down to the likability of the names? [name_m]Can[/name_m]’t hold a nice name down for long.
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I don’t think it’s too tied to [name_u]Harry[/name_u] [name_m]Potter[/name_m] to work. I know a young [name_m]Cedric[/name_m], and I’ve never once made the connection. And I grew up a HUGE HP fan.
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Not at all!! I love this name, know someone (im in the US) named [name_m]Cedric[/name_m] and it’s never crossed my mind
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[name_m]Cedric[/name_m] from HP is my first thought, but as others have said, the association is far from being a bad one (and he’s not a main character anyway).
I thought I’d lend a bit of perspective from someone who named their firstborn [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], because I had a lot of the same questions you have now. I did find it annoying when so many people said, “Like from HP?” As if that was the sole reason for choosing the name (even though I do love HP). But at the same time, people were familiar with the otherwise unusual name because of the series, which made it easy to avoid pronunciation issues. And yet, I was also shocked how many people had never even heard of [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] [name_m]Granger[/name_m]!
The best part of choosing [name_f]Hermione[/name_f], though, was how quickly it became my daughter’s name. We still get HP questions from strangers, but everyone she encounters more than once now associates the name with her rather than the character. I find myself forgetting about the HP association altogether, despite the series being my childhood favorite, and I suspect it’s similar for the people we know. There’s something totally different about knowing a real person with a name vs. knowing a character with a name.
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