Anyone who has read the Harry Potter books will know the answer to this one, because it is a cause of arguments in at least one of the books. The correct pronunciation is her-MY-o-nee, and not HER-mee-own as is often supposed. (Hermione is a main character in the JK Rowling series, Harry's closest friend apart from Ron.)
The name is ancient Greek in origin. It is derived from the messenger god Hermes (Mercury in Roman mythology) although the exact meaning is uncertain. In Greek mythology it is the name of the daughter of Helen of Troy and her husband Menelaus. Hermione marries her cousin Orestes (the son of Agamemnon, who later murders his mother, Clytemnestra.)
To English speakers it may be better known as the name of the virtuous and patient wife of king Leontes in Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale," who is wrongly accused of adultery; but it has never been a common name.
The name is ancient Greek in origin. It is derived from the messenger god Hermes (Mercury in Roman mythology) although the exact meaning is uncertain. In Greek mythology it is the name of the daughter of Helen of Troy and her husband Menelaus. Hermione marries her cousin Orestes (the son of Agamemnon, who later murders his mother, Clytemnestra.)
To English speakers it may be better known as the name of the virtuous and patient wife of king Leontes in Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale," who is wrongly accused of adultery; but it has never been a common name.
