I'm (F18) half Japanese and I have a western first name, and Japanese middle and last name. My father didnt care what my mother named me since I wasn't a son lol so she just kinda made up an "alternative Japanese name" for my grandparents to call meโsince she picked a name impossible for Japanese to pronounce as my first name (it has Rs and Ls together ๐). So my middle name is Takara, yes as in ๅฎ, because it makes a pun with my first name. My father and family just call me by a modified katakana version of my first name which is still a bit of a tongue twister even though Takara is "supposed" to be my "Japanese name," so I'm just curious about how Takara sounds as a name to other people.
My Japanese friends and Japanese professors all say that the name Takara is really cute, but my father refuses to use it lol so I cant tell if people genuinely think its a cute name or if they're just trying to be nice.
Takara, as far as im aware, isn't necessary a conventional Japanese name (but ig technically anything can be a name), and I grew up in America so I can't really tell if Takara sounds cringe as a name.
I am starting to get involved with more Japanese speakers and I have been looking for opportunities to work and/or study in Japan lately, so I was wondering if I should switch to introducing myself as Takara to native Japanese speakers because its easier to pronounce and it is a name that I have, but idk how it sounds to native speakers yk ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ
Why couldn't my name just be Naomi bro, common in the west but also a Japanese name like come on mum ๐ญ fym "treasure??" Like its very sweet but what is this "i named my son Richard because i want him to be rich" ahh name ๐ญ๐ญ๐ญ๐๐๐
by pterodactyloftheend
5 comments
At least it’s not Princess Candy.
FWIW, Takara is a real name, not super common but not unique. Usually ้ซ่ฏ or ๅฐ่ฏ or something though, not ๅฎ, but as a foreigner of Japanese descent you’d be expected to have a katakana name anyway for normal usage, and if you got any vanity items with a kanji version of your name it would be your choice how to spell it.
when I was working as an English teacher in Japan many years ago, I had at least one student named Takara (I only remember one specifically, but there might have been another one that I’m forgetting). It might have been written with different kanji, but I didn’t get the sense that the name was super rare or unusual. I’m not Japanese myself, but I think there’s nothing wrong with embracing it. Maybe you could think of it as metaphorical treasure, not literal?
If it really bothers you, perhaps you could take one of your friends or professors aside some time and ask them to be straight with you about how it’s perceived. I would bet that they actually do think it’s cute and your dad is just being weird about it for some other reason.
Isn’t that a somewhat common Japanese surname?
I think for most Americans, Takara would remind them of the toy company that makes Transformers and Beyblades.
Also, if you’re not aware, you’re allowed to use whatever name you want. Just tell people what you preferred to be called and they’ll call you by that name.
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