I've always been bad at coming up with names for my Pokémon. The best I can always manage is something simple. I also run into this problem when writing up a Pokémon Trainer. I kinda want this thread to be a compiled list of naming ideas for others, so everyone feel free to contribute your own ideas. I used to name Charizard after Apollo, the Greek Sun God, because of it's Y Mega Evolution. Now I started naming that very Pokémon Helios. It's another sun god in mythology, sure, but it's also the name of a Bakugan which also happens to be a dragon. When it's for my ingame or Showdown teams, I also tend to name my Pokémon after video game characters. When I make a team on Showdown using Pokémon chosen by members of a website I'm on, I of course name them after the members they were chosen by. Mega Charizard Y Names Apollo Helios Staryu/Starmie Names Starfy Turtonator Names Bowser Bowletta
Azelf: Will Mespirit: Emma Uxie: Melly? Memer? If you can guess what all 3 refer too you get a cookie. Azelf should be obvious and then make the other two obvious.
I make my Pokémon's nicknames pretty complicated a lot of the time. I recently raised a Scolipede that I named Centurion. I usually name my Azumarill Paracelsus after the guy who gave names to elemental creatures, including water nymphs. It seemed to fit a water/fairy type. I named my Togekiss Fortunato a while back and the name stuck. I tend to name Bulbasaur Ceres after the Roman god of Agriculture. I recently named a Pawniard and Bisharp Durandal after a famous sword from French literature and Ulfberht after a sword that was once used exclusively by high ranking vikings. Lots of historical/mythological references in my names. Aside from that, I also named a Tepig Patch. I was watching a Rick and Morty theory on Evil Morty when the eye patch was brought up and I thought Patch sounded cute. Willpower, emotion, and memory?
I usually have a theme going when it comes to nicknames. For example, every Pokémon I've caught here on LV is named after food and beverages. Meanwhile, the Pokémon from my Sun play-through were all given Hawaiian names, for obvious reasons, and the Pokémon from my Alpha Sapphire play-through were named after Final Fantasy characters, because why not.
If you look at my list of caught Pokémon on LV (aside from the tests; those served a different purpose) you might be able to see a pattern to them. For instance, Alolan-Geodude is called Rock Lee not just because of Geodude being a Rock-type Pokémon but also because its large eyebrows are remeniscient to that of the ninja of the same name from Naruto. On the other hand, my Hoppip is named "JWittz" as homage to one of my favorite YouTubers, whose signature Pokémon is Hoppip.
The nicknames I give my Pokémon are usually ..dumb. I named my rowlet egg so now i have a decidueye named egg. Sometimes it’s based on their type tho. I had a typhlosion named cinder and usually if I have a gengar it’s named Grimm.
I look up names relating to their typing/appearance usually. For example, I named my Magnezone "Farad" after the unit of electricity for capacitance, and my Decidueye "Renshaw", which roughly translates to "Raven Woods". (Yes, I know Decidueye is an owl not a raven XD) Other times I name my mons after famous people/characters. For example, I named Solgaleo "Voltron" because it's a metal lion (I HAD DECIDED ON THIS NAME BEFORE I LEARNED ABOUT NEBBY OKAY).
Funny, I always give my Pokémon silly nicknames related to their type or species. I mean, just look at my collection (Ponyturd is a prime example)! Other examples in game are an Eevee named Steevee, my Fennekin named Megan (Fox), a Frogadier named Sgt. Frog, a Sneasel named cold... the list goes on.
I usually give my Pokémon names related to their types and such. Some of the best names I could think of came in my playthrough of AS that became a fanfic as well. For instance, naming my Sceptile "Forest" and my Mightyena "Raven" because of the type. Sometimes I get more creative, like naming my Gardevoir "Athena" after the Greek goddess of war and my Azumarill "Pikablu" because Pikablu.
I names my Litten 'Rudy' because Yo-Kai Watch references. I also named my Lurantis Cerise (cause Cerise means cherry, and I thought it sounded fitting?)
I forgot I had one for Pichu's line. When I was choosing my Pokémon Partner for Super Mystery Dungeon I chose a female Pikachu and I got the Japanese name Yumiko from a random name generator. I combined the two to create the name Chumiko.
@ShinigamiMiroku Heh, I have a Eevee named CandyEvie My Pokémon are full of different references name-wise Some of them are named after Pokémon I have/used in main series games (BuddyJr, CC Jr, Skylar, Sparkx, Maximus, ect) Some are named after other video game/movie/book characters or subjects (Slytherin, Remi, Qbert, Bubbles, DigDug, Fae, ect) Others are completely random internet jokes (RegrettiSpagetti, Ron, Becky, Pikablu, CoolTent, Lord Helix, Roundabout, RickGastly, ect) Also, JOJO (Roundabout, R.A.T., Mista, Dio)
I have a Ninja Trainer I'm planning to introduce in Pokémon Resonance, but I'm having trouble naming his Pokémon. His team is Greninja, Skrelp/Dragalage, Zorua/Zoroark, and Rowlett/Dartrix/Decidueye. I was also debating on giving him an Infernape. As for his Sixth, I got no idea. Maybe something found in Kanto since he had been training under Janine, the Fusha Gym Leader. I was going to name his Decidueye Robin, but I decided I should save it for myself just in case I use one on my team. Any suggestions for the Pokémon I have so far?
Gods and mythical monsters are often in my picks. Some Pokémon have taken nicknames of their own though and I stick to them: Hariyama: Bas or Rutten after one of my favorite fighters (link). He fought with open hand strikes so it seemed very fitting. Kecleon: Nox or Tox after an old story of mine. Miltank: Mooby, as an odd reference to Moby I guess? Psychic Pokémon: Various ones in Nuzlocke runs have inherited the nickname Fluke
My Vaporeon is named Ariel (after Princess Ariel in the Little Mermaid), and my Espeon is named Abigail, after my cousin who gave me an Espeon plushie to keep me company when I was 7-year-old girl in the hospital.
I often just name my Pokémon after something related to them, their Pokédex entries, or their personalities. An example of one of my nicknamed 'Mons is Leavanny, 'Taylor', since it often stitches leaves together to make cloaks for Sewaddle, like a tailor, and Taylor can be a male or female name. It just works perfectly.
