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Help[Opinions] Chara
Chara
If you weren't given any pronunciation, would you pronounce it "car"-a, or "char"-a, or some other way?
What else do you think about it? Rate it, for a baby right now?
Is it ruined by Undertale?
WDYT of it compared to Kara, Cara, Carys, Charis, and Charissa?
If you weren't given any pronunciation, would you pronounce it "car"-a, or "char"-a, or some other way?
What else do you think about it? Rate it, for a baby right now?
Is it ruined by Undertale?
WDYT of it compared to Kara, Cara, Carys, Charis, and Charissa?
This message was edited 9/3/2023, 2:25 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
I would pronounce it SHAH-ra.
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My guess would be KHA-ra, with a hard H, as in loch. I don't like the sound much.
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cha-ra because of Shugo Chara.
From what I understand, Chara in this context is an abbreviation of "Characters" and the full title of "Shugo Chara" means "Guardian Characters". Edit: I should mention that because its Japanese, I'm almost positive its pronounced cha-ra like the ch- sound in "cheat" and not ka-ra like the k- sound in "cable". I mean, its been a good looooong while since I've seen the anime, but I'm positive I'd have read it another way if that's how they said it in the series.
This is what I think of when I see it. Never engaged with Undertale and I didn't know there was a character with this name. The only one I know of was Sans because he was very popular on Tumblr back in the day.
I prefer Charissa by a lot, Kara, Cara by a good amount, Carys and Charis only by a little.
Which pronunciation is more typical for this name?
From what I understand, Chara in this context is an abbreviation of "Characters" and the full title of "Shugo Chara" means "Guardian Characters". Edit: I should mention that because its Japanese, I'm almost positive its pronounced cha-ra like the ch- sound in "cheat" and not ka-ra like the k- sound in "cable". I mean, its been a good looooong while since I've seen the anime, but I'm positive I'd have read it another way if that's how they said it in the series.
This is what I think of when I see it. Never engaged with Undertale and I didn't know there was a character with this name. The only one I know of was Sans because he was very popular on Tumblr back in the day.
I prefer Charissa by a lot, Kara, Cara by a good amount, Carys and Charis only by a little.
Which pronunciation is more typical for this name?
This message was edited 9/3/2023, 4:20 PM
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Oh no it's a manga / anime
sigh ... I should have googled it.
Feels like when I see a lovely red strawberry growing in my garden, and I go to pick it, it but the entire backside of it has been eaten by a slug ... and the slug is still there, munching, and I touched it, ew ew ew. Or like stepping in cold kitten vomit.
I was kind of interested to see it linked in blue on btn (to a Greek name meaning joy, pronounced kha- apparently, could be ka- to an English speaker) and thought Undertale was the only usurpation. (I sometimes feel like mass/pop culture hoovers up all of the most simple, obvious names that people could revive, borrow, or invent in English and use for children, and contaminates them by associating them with some dumb character nobody would want to be named after and nobody will remember after 20 years.)
Well, this is what the opinions board is for! I'm glad you commented about it.
sigh ... I should have googled it.
Feels like when I see a lovely red strawberry growing in my garden, and I go to pick it, it but the entire backside of it has been eaten by a slug ... and the slug is still there, munching, and I touched it, ew ew ew. Or like stepping in cold kitten vomit.
I was kind of interested to see it linked in blue on btn (to a Greek name meaning joy, pronounced kha- apparently, could be ka- to an English speaker) and thought Undertale was the only usurpation. (I sometimes feel like mass/pop culture hoovers up all of the most simple, obvious names that people could revive, borrow, or invent in English and use for children, and contaminates them by associating them with some dumb character nobody would want to be named after and nobody will remember after 20 years.)
Well, this is what the opinions board is for! I'm glad you commented about it.
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It's not even a character name, it literally just means "character" in Japanese. So I think you're fine there.
That's a rather dramatic take though, that even an obscure foreign association can ruin a name for you. Fiction reflects humanity, so of course that includes the names. And as we've seen on this board, people will develop all sorts of positive or negative associations towards a name regardless of pop culture references. It's rather unavoidable either way.
That's a rather dramatic take though, that even an obscure foreign association can ruin a name for you. Fiction reflects humanity, so of course that includes the names. And as we've seen on this board, people will develop all sorts of positive or negative associations towards a name regardless of pop culture references. It's rather unavoidable either way.
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No, it's not the foreign association. It's the "pop culture" association. Not because anime isn't American, but because they're so popular. It's sorta like, back in the 1990s, I would have been reluctant to use the name Ren. Ren could be a perfectly legit name, like Chara is... but it was "ruined" by pop culture, at that time.
I actually agree with you that it probably doesn't matter. Even someone named Ren in 1995 would not be suffering for it today! I'm just reacting according to how I feel about it right now, as a hypothetical appealing name I could add to a list, if I were hoping to name babies.
I actually agree with you that it probably doesn't matter. Even someone named Ren in 1995 would not be suffering for it today! I'm just reacting according to how I feel about it right now, as a hypothetical appealing name I could add to a list, if I were hoping to name babies.
This message was edited 9/6/2023, 6:41 AM
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I think I get what you mean. I like both Ariana and Selena, but I know next to nothing about Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez. If I used them, people'd think I'm a fan, but I have no idea if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
I like the name Justin, but it's associated too much with Justin Beiber to use right now, so I won't even as a middle
I like the name Justin, but it's associated too much with Justin Beiber to use right now, so I won't even as a middle
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Actually in Japanese ‘chara’ as in character is pronounced like ‘kya-ra’ (written キャラ ). But it does feel natural to pronounce it the other way.
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You're probably right. I'll need to re-watch the series, I'm now unsure of me memories regarding the pronunciation
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I would guess KAHR-uh, because that's how I've heard the Ch in charisma + Charis, and because CHAR-uh or CHEHR-uh are the 1st alternatives I'd see (I'm vaguely reminded of Chandra and Charon), but those sound more awkward/unfamiliar than Cara.
I like Cara and Kara 100% better, although I slightly prefer those pronounced KEHR-uh similar to how I say Caroline or Carrie. I would pick Kara over Cara for the KAHR-uh pronunciation, partly because of Kari. I also feel like Khara would be preferable to Chara.
I like Cerys but am indifferent to Carys and Charis.
Carissa is ok and better than Charissa (and Charis) imv, unless I really care about the Faerie Queene connection.
I am not familiar with Undertale.
I like Chara more if the Ch is a Sh sound as in Cheryl, but that'd seem least likely to me, and I don't even prefer Shara to Kara.
Chara: 6/10 for a baby (it's fine; I just don't like the spelling)
I like Cara and Kara 100% better, although I slightly prefer those pronounced KEHR-uh similar to how I say Caroline or Carrie. I would pick Kara over Cara for the KAHR-uh pronunciation, partly because of Kari. I also feel like Khara would be preferable to Chara.
I like Cerys but am indifferent to Carys and Charis.
Carissa is ok and better than Charissa (and Charis) imv, unless I really care about the Faerie Queene connection.
I am not familiar with Undertale.
I like Chara more if the Ch is a Sh sound as in Cheryl, but that'd seem least likely to me, and I don't even prefer Shara to Kara.
Chara: 6/10 for a baby (it's fine; I just don't like the spelling)
This message was edited 9/3/2023, 4:16 PM
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I wouldn't know if it was meant to be like "Car"a or "Char"a, or like Chava with an r.
It could even be "Shara", like a rare nickname for Charlotte.
Kara and Cara make me think there's a 50% chance it's pronounced "Care"a instead of "Car"a, but I couldn't guess. The C version looks more like "Care"a to me but it could still be "Car"a.
Carys and Charis sound pretty similar when I say them. I like Charis better but Carys looks more usable.
Charissa is definitely with a "c" sound. The 'issa' ending sounds too prissy to me, at least in this case.
It could even be "Shara", like a rare nickname for Charlotte.
Kara and Cara make me think there's a 50% chance it's pronounced "Care"a instead of "Car"a, but I couldn't guess. The C version looks more like "Care"a to me but it could still be "Car"a.
Carys and Charis sound pretty similar when I say them. I like Charis better but Carys looks more usable.
Charissa is definitely with a "c" sound. The 'issa' ending sounds too prissy to me, at least in this case.
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I’d assume car-a.
I would say if it’s pronounced car-a, why not just spell it Cara? The H seems unnecessary, although they’re slightly different names. It’s nice enough (kinda sweet, maybe a little youngish) but not overly exciting. I prefer Carys.
I don’t know what Undertale is.
I would say if it’s pronounced car-a, why not just spell it Cara? The H seems unnecessary, although they’re slightly different names. It’s nice enough (kinda sweet, maybe a little youngish) but not overly exciting. I prefer Carys.
I don’t know what Undertale is.
This message was edited 9/3/2023, 3:15 PM
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