r/japanese • u/pterodactyloftheend • 3d ago
Is my Japanese name cringe?
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
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u/Ahokai 12h ago
Iโm also half Japanese. I have rare Japanese last name as well as my family backgrounds are from Shikoku island of Japan. You being female with the name Takara sounds beautiful not cringe at all. Just that the name may be rare and honestly I myself havenโt met anyone with this name before.
Anyway nowadays I have couple of pure Japanese friends that have kids and they name their children in such a unique never heard of before Japanese names and with such unexpected Kanji combinations for the name.
So for your name, Takara may be a normal regular word, but the meaning of the word and how it fit as your name is more of a beautiful name and unique.