Asha

[ladyriverrun]

Producers confirm name change for Asha. See this link:

http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/07/producers-confirm-asha-name-change/

What do you guys think?

First, I didn't really mind. But after re-consideration, I think they should leave the name Asha be as it is.

[Corvinus85]

Since the amazing creators of this show have been known to visit this site, I respectfully request for them not to change Asha's name. Yes her name is very similar to Osha, but here are a few reasons why you should not change it:

1) Changing Robert Arryn's name to Robin was not that bad, especially since he could still be called Sweetrobin, but also because he is a secondary character. Asha, on the other hand, is a major character with her own chapters (though admittedly not in book 2).

2) HBO has created a wonderful guide on their website; on that guide, Asha is already listed. So any non-reader fan who had/has an interest in learning more Westeros knows or will know about her from there.

3) Her name will also be put in the credits. One easy thing that could be done to avoid confusion would be to list her full name: Asha Greyjoy, since Osha does not have a family name

4) Osha's name has never actually been spoken in any episode. So if there are any viewers who don't care about credits or guides, then they still won't be confused when Asha's name is first spoken in season 2.

5) If both names will be spoken in season 2 (and I have the feeling that Asha's will), then you can make sure that pronunciations will be clearly different.

All in all, I don't think that the number of confused viewers will be large; certainly no larger than the number of book fans. :D

[Cinn-a-Bronn]

I didn't see a topic or news post about this, so....

It seems that one of the producers has confirmed in an interview that Asha Greyjoy's name will be changed to avoid confusion with Osha. It makes sense, but what do you think?

Teh Article

[guad]

4) Osha's name has never actually been spoken in any episode.

I never realised that, but if it's true, wouldn't it be easier to change Osha's name? Since she's got much less screen time anyway and is not a POV character (so far) ?

[ladyriverrun]

I never realised that, but if it's true, wouldn't it be easier to change Osha's name? Since she's got much less screen time anyway and is not a POV character (so far) ?

Yeah I was thinking about this too, but there are people that might only be watching the tv series and not reading the books. These people are already used to Osha.

[A Time for Wolves]

I am so against this. Osha's name is never mentioned in the show, and Asha is one of the main protagonists. Changing her name makes no sense, and I can imagine the confusion when some viewers decide to read the books after watching season 2.

[Asha—Not Yara!]

I agree; I think this was a poorly thought out choice. There's no reason to change Asha's name. The audience can't be that stupid to tell the characters apart. Not only are Asha and Osha entirely different from each other, they don't even share a scene together.

I like Asha's name, and the choice of Yara just doesn't have the same feel to it. If they're really worried, since Osha's name hasn't been mentioned in the show yet, they should just change hers instead. Osha isn't as important of a character as Asha, and I wouldn't care if they changed her name.

This is the first choice they've made that I've strongly disagreed with. Ah well, it won't be the end of the world of course, but it does annoy me as I do like the name Asha a lot.

[Auska]

Yep…where do we write about this? Firstly, I think it's severely underestimating the audience that they couldn't distinguish between Asha [aʃa] and Osha [o:ʃa] but even given that, Asha is at least thus far in a much larger role and since neither name has been used yet, Asha's should take precedence.

[Xenophon]

So Asha and Osha are confusing, but Jeor Mormont and Jorah Mormont were just fine? :blink:

[ptyx]

So Asha and Osha are confusing, but Jeor Mormont and Jorah Mormont were just fine? :blink:

And add to these two: Jory Cassell, Joffrey Baratheon...

Why don't they leave her name Asha, but invent some nickname that she would be identified by on most occasions, while other times she would be called by full name Asha Greyjoy?

[imladolen]

[sarcasm] I think this is great! I wish they had thought of changing character names before season 1 started because I was so confused by the different people all named Jon (Jon Arryn, Jon Snow). And then there were all the Roberts and Robbs. That confused me too. Especially since they were never on screen at the same time. Too confusing! And I was confused about Arya. Is she the related to that Arryn guy? There names are so similar! And what is up with that wildling working for Tyrion, his name is Timmet son of Timett. How in the world can he be his own father? This is all just to confusing! [/sarcasm]

Come on producers, your viewing audience consists of HBO viewers, a step more intelligent than your average American television viewer (and then of course the Europeans, who do tend to be a bit more intelligent than us dumb Yanks). I think the non-book-reading-audience can handle the names "Owe-Sha" and "Ah-Sha". Seriously! And "Yara" ????? Really? That does not even sound like it fits ANYWHERE in Westeros, let alone the Iron Islands. Maybe, just maybe it could be a Dornish name, but I doubt it.

And, as several have already pointed out, if you are to change a name, change the wildlings name, since it has yet to be mentioned on screen.

Producers confirm name change for Asha. See this link:

http://winter-is-coming.net/2011/07/producers-confirm-asha-name-change/

What do you guys think?

First, I didn't really mind. But after re-consideration, I think they should leave the name Asha be as it is.

[ladyriverrun]

[sarcasm] I think this is great! I wish they had thought of changing character names before season 1 started because I was so confused by the different people all named Jon (Jon Arryn, Jon Snow). And then there were all the Roberts and Robbs. That confused me too. Especially since they were never on screen at the same time. Too confusing! And I was confused about Arya. Is she the related to that Arryn guy? There names are so similar! And what is up with that wildling working for Tyrion, his name is Timmet son of Timett. How in the world can he be his own father? This is all just to confusing! [/sarcasm]

Come on producers, your viewing audience consists of HBO viewers, a step more intelligent than your average American television viewer (and then of course the Europeans, who do tend to be a bit more intelligent than us dumb Yanks). I think the non-book-reading-audience can handle the names "Owe-Sha" and "Ah-Sha". Seriously! And "Yara" ????? Really? That does not even sound like it fits ANYWHERE in Westeros, let alone the Iron Islands. Maybe, just maybe it could be a Dornish name, but I doubt it.

And, as several have already pointed out, if you are to change a name, change the wildlings name, since it has yet to be mentioned on screen.

Hahaahah!!! :thumbsup:

[Riverrun]

Osha's has never been said! Asha is a main character! Please don't change Asha Greyjoy's name! It has such a nice ring to it and really flows! Yara doesn't flow a tenth as nicely!

Asha! Asha! Asha Queen! :D

[L’Age d’or]

Yara sounds like a dwarf jouster's stage name.

[Snowy89]

Yara! Yara! Yara Queen!!!

That sounds horrible.

[tarantella]

I maintain that Yara is a fine name, but Asha is always going to be Asha to me.

[SecretSquirrel]

Shasa! Shasa! Shasa Queen!!!

It doesn't really bother me the way it is in the book, Osha is so forgettable in the book, but seems much more of a main character in the series because of the screen time and actress playing her. I think Yara would be a bad pick, it doesn't suit her.

[Athelstane]

Actually, I always thought Osha was a damn good character in the books. I was disappointed when she went off with Rickon in book 2 not to be seen from again (I havent read ADwD, so don't spoil me if she comes back!) I thought Asha was sort of boring to be honest.

[Dio Forel]

I will be honest and say that changing the name is pretty unnecessary. But, to play devil's advocate here, with all due respect, how can somebody say a name sounds like it is an Iron Islands name? Asha doesn't sound like any of the other names of the Iron Islands characters either, so how can we say that it is more Iron Island-ish than Yara? (This is referencing a few posts in the casting forum saying Asha is more Iron Island sounding) Yara actually means 'water lady' so that would have much more relevance to her location. I think the choice of name, with respect to name meaning, was a good one.

But, with that said, I agree in one of the earlier posts saying how can we change a name because it sounds similar to another name when there are characters that have the same exact name? Characters of high importance too not even a situation where it is a minor character like Osha vs a major one like Asha. With all the Roberts, Robbs, Robins, Robetts, how ever will we manage to watch the show and not be confused? lol, the confusion!

[Horza]

Sometimes you really have to wonder... this just seems like needless panic from the show. With a cast this big and plot this complex is this really going to trip people up that bad compared to everything else?