• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

What's your Pokemon naming convention?

Inside jokes and references, mostly. But only when I feel I can always call that Pokemon by that name, meaning it fits him and not out of place.
Still most of the nicknames I'll be the only one to understand what's so special about them and others will see them as generic or misunderstand where I got them from.

Though, I always tend to have ONE Pokemon of my 6 to be bro something. For example my Slowpoke is now Broseph, I had a Metagross named Metabross, Nidoking named Broking... I can't avoid it, it chases me.

I guess I'll give a list of some I have, here (they're always all-caps):
Infernape - Dudeguy
Raichu - Godspeed
Chingling - Smalltime
Heracross - Takamura
Jolteon - Faraday (this one's physics)

Can't remember any more interesting ones right now.
 
I leave them as they are unless I intend to seriously use them on my team, at which point I'll name them... something. I don't have any real conventions.

I don't like renaming to non-caps because anything vaguely important is in caps in the Pokemon world, so changing just your Pokemon's names only makes them no longer fit in.
 
I restart often so if I pick a name that is a reference to a movie, anime, TV show, etc I'll nickname the main ingame team around that theme.

The only exception is in any game where Slowpoke is catchable, where I will intentionally catch an extra one and call it "Kotaku". This started with Platinum.
 
Shin_Kojima said:
I always give the ones I play with proper names. You don't call your dog DOG.
Click to expand...
29vgr4i.jpg
 
Never really thought to rename Pokemon, the idea always seemed weird to me, although I stopped playing since Emerald, getting Silver when it comes out this Friday (UK) and I reckon I might just start naming them. Probably comic characters or something similar.
 
in grade school i used to take a pikachu, name it mew. take a weedle, name it scyther & on & on.
then when i brought it to school i would show them to my friends through the start menu & they would be like WHOA HOW DID YOU GET 3 MEWTWOS?!

yeah i lied to make friends.
 
Blu_LED said:
So what happens when they evolve? CHARMANDER would turn into Charmander, but then when he evolves, it will still be named Charmander.
Click to expand...

YOU don't change names when you get older and gets features like pimples and back hair ... why should they ? xD
 
i've never renamed my pokemon but i think i'll start doing it now.

my first thought is to name them all after mathematicians and scientists which i will laugh thoroughly while watching them use sleep :lol
 
Fire Pokemon - Sparky, Flamey, Blaze, etc
Electric Pokemon - Shocky, Bolt, Thund'Ar, etc
Grass Pokemon - Bulby, Leafy, Flora, etc

Or specifics too...
Zubat - Zubie, Battie
Geodude - Dudie, Geody
Squirtle - Squirtie
Miltank - Milky, Tanky

It goes on like that.

Yeah. I'm so original.
 
deadmuffin said:
I usually nickname them weak pokemon like pidgey or whatever the beginning pokemon are called...so when i am battling a friend and they read "...is calling out WEEDLE" and it turns out to be a level 90 charizard...just for the chuckles
Click to expand...

:-o
 
Usually puns on what the Pokémon is like or does mixed with mock-hippness e.g. Blastoise could be Ghettoblaster. or Lickitung is Mr.Slick.

Once I'd just rename my Pokémon with other Pokémon names in a hope to confuse my friends.
 
deadmuffin said:
I usually nickname them weak pokemon like pidgey or whatever the beginning pokemon are called...so when i am battling a friend and they read "...is calling out WEEDLE" and it turns out to be a level 90 charizard...just for the chuckles
Click to expand...
:lol That's pretty good.

BUT I NEVER, EVER, RENAME MY POKEMON.
 
I put way too much thought into Pokemon names... I think I've spent upwards of 2 hours deciding the perfect name, which is weird 'cause I used to never name them at all!

Usually I hit up Wikipedia and Bulbapedia for info about the Pokemon or the animal it's based on, and then Thesaurus.com to find words that are cool. If nothing sticks, I start looking up Shin Megami Tensei demons, etc.

Sometimes I just get random ideas, though, or hear a cool word that I decide to find a Pokemon to assign it to.

For example, last year I bred a bunch of shinies for my HG/SS playthroughs.

Lucario - Orichalcum, after an Atlantean metal
Empoleon - Calphalon, after a brand of expensive cookware, which fit Water/Steel
Mycophilia - Breloom, "mushroom lover"
Blaziken - Kagutsuchi, Japanese fire god of destruction and creation
Drapion - Hemophage, meaning "blood-eater," which is what gave him his red color
Politoed - Azureus, because it was a species of blue frog before it was a torrenting program
Garchomp - Geosphyrna, Greek-ish for "land shark"
Metagross - Logicbomb, a type of computer virus, which fit his psychic nature and computer-y description
Flygon - Puk, an Irish little good-luck dragon​

So... yeah, I'm crazy.
 
Ravidrath said:
I put way too much thought into Pokemon names... I think I've spent upwards of 2 hours deciding the perfect name, which is weird 'cause I used to never name them at all!

Usually I hit up Wikipedia and Bulbapedia for info about the Pokemon or the animal it's based on, and then Thesaurus.com to find words that are cool. If nothing sticks, I start looking up Shin Megami Tensei demons, etc.

Sometimes I just get random ideas, though, or hear a cool word that I decide to find a Pokemon to assign it to.

For example, last year I bred a bunch of shinies for my HG/SS playthroughs.

Lucario - Orichalcum, after an Atlantean metal
Empoleon - Calphalon, after a brand of expensive cookware, which fit Water/Steel
Mycophilia - Breloom, "mushroom lover"
Blaziken - Kagutsuchi, Japanese fire god of destruction and creation
Drapion - Hemophage, meaning "blood-eater," which is what gave him his red color
Politoed - Azureus, because it was a species of blue frog before it was a torrenting program
Garchomp - Geosphyrna, Greek-ish for "land shark"
Metagross - Logicbomb, a type of computer virus, which fit his psychic nature and computer-y description
Flygon - Puk, an Irish little good-luck dragon​

So... yeah, I'm crazy.
Click to expand...


Nah - those are all quite cool.

I just do random things, but tend to have a few that have stuck with me.

I have a ray thing called TouchTank and an evolved Kricketot called LiveFood which I've carried over since the start of the DS days, a Crobat called Herman (munster). As you may notice, naming them means I haven't got a clue half the time what the real pokemon are called so maybe I should stop.

Keep meaning to dig my original launch day Blue out to see what I did back then. Battery probably just a puddle by now though.

I've already decided that I'm calling my player 'Retail' and my rival 'Piracy' this time round (when it launches in the UK). Should produce some cheap laughs from the messages when battling.

Ed: wow - my 1999 Blue original game save is still fine! No real comedy names though, I seemed to go with mostly actual names with a few modifications like my Charizard called 'Bobby' and my Omanite 'Ommy!' - I couldn't be bothered to change boxes to see all of them though - I'd forgotten what a pain in the arse that was...
 
I never name my pokemon, I never understood who does that, like those people who change Link's name in Zelda.
 
Android18a said:
Fire Pokemon - Sparky, Flamey, Blaze, etc
Electric Pokemon - Shocky, Bolt, Thund'Ar, etc
Grass Pokemon - Bulby, Leafy, Flora, etc

Or specifics too...
Zubat - Zubie, Battie
Geodude - Dudie, Geody
Squirtle - Squirtie
Miltank - Milky, Tanky

It goes on like that.

Yeah. I'm so original.
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what I do. Word-play based on their name or type.
 
ive started calling them any name as long as the first letters are the same in both

i.e
Pikachu = Paul
Bidoof = Barry
Kricketune = Kolonel
Raichu = Rapeswan
 
deadmuffin said:
I usually nickname them weak pokemon like pidgey or whatever the beginning pokemon are called...so when i am battling a friend and they read "...is calling out WEEDLE" and it turns out to be a level 90 charizard...just for the chuckles
Click to expand...
:lol
 
I was naming Pokemon in Diamond after historical figures. Since my copy of Diamond was either lost or possibly stolen, I decided to order Soul Silver, and I will continue this historical figure trend.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one that names their pokemon. I definitely connect more to mine because of the names. I have a Luxray (evolved from a Shinx) called Grafton who is named after a local shitty shopping area, but he's one of my favourites and I wouldn't be nearly as bothered if he was just LUXRAY.

I think even simple names can make a big difference with this game.
 
I gave them variations of their generic name. So Bulbasaur was Bulby, Zapdos = Zapdy, and Geodude was Geoguy.
 
I just hate how you can't rename traded Pokemon. Sometimes I trade from my own Japanese versions over to English, and they're either stuck with Japanese names, or silly 5-letter names.

There should be an option, when trading away, to allow renaming or not at the other end.
 
For my HG playthrough I've been naming my pokemon after former US presidents. I've only played for about 1:30 so im only at Adams. If I do try to go after all of them I guess Ill just start naming them after other countries' heads of state.
 
I typically don't nickname mine. The way I see it, if I name one of them, then I have to name all of them, and there's no way I'm ever going to come up with names for the dozens that I use.

The only exceptions I make are for utility Pokemon. I name my synchronizers after their nature. My Adamant synchronizer is called "Adamant" so I don't have to check its status screen to see the nature. My Dittos have their IVs in their name, like "31 ALL" or "24 SPDEF." My dedicated trapping and catching Pokemon are called Trapper and Catcher, respectively.
 
Nishastra said:
I don't like renaming to non-caps because anything vaguely important is in caps in the Pokemon world, so changing just your Pokemon's names only makes them no longer fit in.
Click to expand...
This isn't true in the 4th gen, actually. Pokemon names are pretty much the only thing still in all caps.
 
I don't usually rename mine. I also like using the default name for the trainer.
When I do give them nicknames, I give all of them nicknames
 
I never played Pokemon, but I do appreciate naming conventions. Example: in Civilization, I always choose a series of fantasy books I really like and name my cities after those.
 
- Members of Dipset and Wu-tang Clan
- Random swear words
- 'COOL PIZZA!!!' (i named like 3 farfetch'ds that on my pearl copy)
 
Back in the original Silver, I decided to name them all after the Gym Leaders their type would be a part of, such as all Water Type Misty's etc. I realized this was a terrible idea after I had boxes full of "Surge"'s and they all had Rhydon sprites, so I couldn't tell who was who.

After that, I rarely ever nicknamed my mons.

This time around, I decided to nickname them. I normally nickname them after something they remind me of, or are related to. For my Chikorita, it is named after my boss, because at our Pokemon tournament on Sunday where we drew Pokemon names for lots, she drew Chikorita. My Nidorino is named Silver because I had a kickass Nidoking in Silver.
 
I don't usually rename them, it's too time-consuming to come up with something meaningful for each one, especially on spur of the moment.

I'll name them in special occasions though, most often if I catch a shiny. A shiny Butterfree I had in Leaf Green was named Freeshine, my shiny Snover in Pearl (now Platinum) is named Obamasnow (I need to evolve it still...)
 
Aaron Strife said:
I don't usually rename them, it's too time-consuming to come up with something meaningful for each one, especially on spur of the moment.

I'll name them in special occasions though, most often if I catch a shiny. A shiny Butterfree I had in Leaf Green was named Freeshine, my shiny Snover in Pearl (now Platinum) is named Obamasnow (I need to evolve it still...)
Click to expand...

I did the exact same thing with my Abomasnow!
 
Anyone else remember the issue of Nintendo Power where the Write Away, Right Away was people's nicknames for Pokemon? One of the letters was something like; I asked my mom what I should name my Butterfree and she said Margarine. When I asked her why she said "because it's butter free!"

Good ol' NP
 
ryan-ts said:
Anyone else remember the issue of Nintendo Power where the Write Away, Right Away was people's nicknames for Pokemon? One of the letters was something like; I asked my mom what I should name my Butterfree and she said Margarine. When I asked her why she said "because it's butter free!"

Good ol' NP
Click to expand...
That's hilarious. I wanna know the rest.
 
We had an amazing moment where a friend named his Bidoof 'C*ntteeth", and then he traded information with my girlfriend. The TV show then proceeded to talk about 'C*ntteeth' in her game, she read it out loud, and he was very very embarrassed! XD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

What's your gaming routine right now?
2
64
205
MaestroMike replied
"Goth Games" - What's Your The Cure or Sisters of Mercy of Gaming?
15
300
nikos replied
Weekend GAF: What's On Your Wish List for 2026?
28
596
bender replied
The Division: Definitive Edition banner spotted at the FPSDay Japan convention
Rumor 
43
690
Mr Reasonable replied
Pokemon pokopia is putting in work!
48
553
PatientGamer replied
Top Bottom