Nickname discussion

I collected all of my nicknames because I was trying (and failing) to remember each of them recently. Having a single location with them should be handy when I try to remember them all again *next* year. But this time I'm going to SORT them.

The plan is to tag them with different categories of nickname types, insofar as it was possible to cluster them. Based on my nicknames, my categories are as follows;

Flavour: flavour reference, some link to a trait the Pokemon is known to have or be.
Metaphor: indirect reference, similar to Flavour
Name: An existing human name.
Coincidence: something only the catcher/breeder would know, specific to unique circumstances.
Injoke: an in-joke. Not coincidental.
Obscure: Crossword-esque chain of trivia required
Lang: An existing word in a different language to your own
GLatin: Popular subgroup of Language, Greek + Latin
CRef: Popculture references, general culture reference (broad, can be obscure)
Myth/History/Pun: these don't need explaining :/
Randumb: names which are admittedly stupid, seemed like a good idea at a time
Aesthetic: meaningless, chosen solely because they sound good... probably Randumb
Bastardised: a skew or variation on the original name or one of the other categories
Pkmn-style: Combination of words that could be an alt-universe name for the same Pokemon. May include puns and flavour by default.
Personal: May be named after someone or something that has a deep meaning to you.

these are initial ideas. There's gonna be quirks and overlap. Suggest other groupings if you want.

examples (not gonna explain other ones, it'd take too long):
Hatched/SRd pokemon:

Humphrey, Xurkitree [flavour, obscure, name - named after Humphry Davy, who invented a type of lamp]
Nova, Nihilego [coincidental - caught on New Year's]
Cabriole, Pheromosa [Metaphor, foreign - Ballet term, type of kick]
Allegro, Pheromosa [Metaphor, foreign - Ballet term among others, fast, lively]
COBOL, PorygonZ [CRef, flavour- a programming language]
Glacé, A-Ninetales [Metaphor/Flavour, Foreign - French for smooth/glossy]
Daisy, Dragonite [Randumb]
Sierrer, Absol [Aesthetic]

Random playthrough names:

Eddie, Spiritomb [Metaphor, Name, Pun - an eddy is a swirl in fluid dynamics]
Harley, Gogoat [CRef, Flavour - Harley Davidson is a brand of motorcycles, Gogoat is rideable and has handlebars]
Southpole, Magnezone [Randumb, flavour]
Strix, Decidueye [GLatin, Flavour - Strix is a genus for Owls, coicidentally also a greek mythological bird]
Stallone, Graveler [CRef, Pun, Obscure - Sylvester Stallone is an actor, known for his roles in the Rocky movies. Rocky.]
Arctide, Empoleon [Pkmn-style, Arctic + tide]
Nuttley, Ferrothorn [Bastardised, Flavour - Nattorei is Ferro's Japanese name, and he looks like a nut.]
 
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Shahdow

Banned deucer.
1) Subtlety is important in nicknaming. "Darkness" the umbreon is simply lame, it's easy to see. Umbreon is black and associated with night, it's almost synonymous with umbreon's nature and name to call it darkness. This lacks any sort of subtlety that may excite the namer or the reader! Part of the enjoyment of clever nicknaming is to feel smart and included by correctly understanding why something is nicknamed as it is.
I disagree with this. The whole point of nicknaming is to give it a name that YOU like. If I want to name my Umbreon "Darkness" then I will. I don't care what other people think of it, it's my nickname. As long as I like it, that's all that matters.

Anyways… these are some of my favorite nicknames. Most of you will probably think they're generic/immature/etc. since they're not subtle, but I don't care what other people think of me or my nicknames.

Shadow (Decidueye) Self-explanatory
Narutoad (Greninja) Naruto + Toad since it's a frog
Nightmare (Gengar) Self-explanatory
Frostbite (Weavile) Frost since it's Ice type + Bite since it's Dark type.
Knuckles (Incineroar) He doesn't chuckle, he'd rather flex his muscles…
JewBurningOven (Rotom-Heat) Self-explanatory
Mein Führer (Mienfoo) It has Mien at the beginning and Foo at the end which made me think of it
Illuminati (Chandelure) Seemed fitting since it's a Ghost/Fire type
Swagne-mite/ton/zone (Magnemite/Magneton/Magnezone)
Hail Hydra (Hydreigon) Self-explanatory
Shrek (Swampert) GET OUTTA MY SWAMP
Niglett (Diglett) I was bored
Dat Lati-ASS (Latias) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Trump (Gumshoos) Self-explanatory
Embird (Talonflame) Ember + Bird
Smugleaf (Snivy/Servine/Serperior) Self-explanatory
King Julian (Passimian) From the Penguins of Madagascar
 
When I'm hatching Alola Vulpix I name my female ones either Elsa or Misty-Vulpix (a play off of Ash-Greninja). The male ones usually get named Foxy Grandpa.

To go along with my headcanon that the Tapus are more guardian angels rather than deities, I have new names for some of them and the "Tapu" names are given by the people like UB-01 etc. Right now I have Cherubird (Tapu Koko) and Seraphin (Tapu Fini). I'm still working on the other two.

Oh and a friend of mine traded me his Type:Null named Nulltella :)
 
I named my Null 404. I was also considering TypeNotFound but that looked weird.

I was going to name my Kartana Scissors but decided not to because of my personal "no nicknames on legends" rule.
 
I always nickname my Greninja 'Quajutsu'. It's the German name for Greninja, but I just think it's an awesome nickname :)
 
Porygon-Z: good opportunity to go software engineery on it. Spoilt for choice really. Do I use a language? A framework? A technology? Maybe an algorithm or design pattern? Too many options. Default is probably COBOL.
I went with KDE for my shiny one, because blue and white.

Speaking of silly programming jokes, I have a Klinklang nicknamed (Gi)+gear.
 
Since we are talking about suggestions for nicknames... I have issues thinking of one for my Staraptor and two Krookodile. I actually had some nicknames in mind for them... but they all turned out to be female, and I realized the nicknames I could think of were fitting of males.

Any suggestions for a female bird of prey and two female crocodilians?
 
Since we are talking about suggestions for nicknames... I have issues thinking of one for my Staraptor and two Krookodile. I actually had some nicknames in mind for them... but they all turned out to be female, and I realized the nicknames I could think of were fitting of males.

Any suggestions for a female bird of prey and two female crocodilians?
I always name my Staraptor 'Kamikaze' because of Reckless in combination with Life Orb and Double Edge.

For the reptiles, maybe 'Tokage', an unusual and mysterious lizard-like creature from the anime Toriko. And for the other one 'Oceanus', which refers to Oceanus Shenron, the only female Shadow Dragon in Dragon Ball. Because your are female :)
 
Any suggestions for a female bird of prey and two female crocodilians?
For Staraptor, how about Alecto? She was one of the Greek Furies. (Scary bird ladies.)
[GLatin, Myth]

Tick and Tock are nice paired names, as a Peter Pan reference, for the crocs. [pun, ref, obscure]

Edit: if there's anyone thinking of naming any Kartana "Scissors", you're obliged to catch another and call it "Rock." You won't need to catch a third, it's implied...
 
More great nicknames from the wondertrade: Finn the human Bewear.
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Given he's shiny, adamant, level 100, in a Level Ball, 2 egg moves, perfect stats, and carrying an assault vest it's probably a hack, but A+ on the nicknames random trader!
 
I really hope I'm not the only one who spends a good 5-10 mins alone thinking about a nickname after EV training something, can't come up with anything fancy, give the 'mon an "average" nickname and then slap it in the box and never use it again because of that ;_;. You will be missed, Politoed 2.0 the Pelipper...

Anyway, here's a list of the major ones that come at the top of my head as of now:
.finalize(): Metagross (you call finalize() onto an object to erase it. Meta erases its enemy :>. Technically not grammatically correct, but cheesy enough for me );
Chuck: Tapu Koko (like the yellow bird in the Angry Birds movie);
Bone to pick: Mandibuzz (after the eponymus idiom. Also, because Mandibuzz do pick up bones to adorn themselves);
Torpedo Girl: Garchomp (after that one character in that Bobobobo anime);
Papyrus: Alola Marowak (after a certain Undertale character);
Sanders: Palossand (I honestly had no idea how to name it and had to Google search it to see if it was an actual name);
Death Star: Toxapex (It looks semi-spherical, it's gray, its weak point is inside, it can shoot lasers, it's a star(fish) and is the bane of those less experienced online);
Munch: Sylveon (even though anything that uses Hyper Voice could be called that);
Yuki-onna: Alola Ninetales (Femminine? Check. Ice typed? Check. Related to ghosts? Uh, it learns Hex, I guess);
Don Lino: Sharpedo (Shark Tale was a nice movie);
Metal Beak: Skarmory (After the main villain in Legend of the Guardians);
ChicagoBulus: Tapu Bulu (After the Chicago Bulls (duh));
 
I really hope I'm not the only one who spends a good 5-10 mins alone thinking about a nickname after EV training something, can't come up with anything fancy, give the 'mon an "average" nickname and then slap it in the box and never use it again because of that ;_;. You will be missed, Politoed 2.0 the Pelipper...
That reminds me; in ORAS I named my Politoed 'BudgetKyogre'.
 
Most of my names are pretty self explanatory and bad. Like AuraSteel the Lucario or HydroZen the Golduck.

I do have a Jolteon named Quiver, after Quiver Dance, because it has good special attack and defence, as well as speed. It's Sassy BTW...

Any suggestions for Starmie(I'm thinking pkmn Stars), Azumarill, Moxie Gyarados(I'm thinking Rage, from Lake of Rage), Hydreigon, Haxorus, and/or Lilligant?
 
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Most of my names are pretty self explanatory and bad. Like AuraSteel the Lucario or HydroZen the Golduck.

I do have a Jolteon named Quiver, after Quiver Dance, because it has good special attack and defence, as well as speed. It's Sassy BTW...

Any suggestions for Starmie(I'm thinking pkmn Stars), Azumarill, Moxie Gyarados(I'm thinking Rage, from Lake of Rage), Hydreigon, Haxorus, and/or Lilligant?
Warning: garbage nicknames ahead.
Starman or something like PK Staryu(mie).
Azumarill could be Bobberman
I went Raseri for my Gyarados, it's basically the same as what you thought.
Danceless (or "fairies suck") for Hydreigon
Just Dance for Haxorus
Fleuriste for Lilligant

I prefer random names or references for my nicknames, usually. Raseri is Norwegian for Fury (rage) which fits Gyarados. Blue for Salamence, because..It's blue. (Big) Red for Dragonite, for no good reason. Gilbrand for Aegislash, referencing Super Mystery Dungeon.
 
I have nothing to brag about with names. My names tend to be stupid and/or inappropriate, like I'm 12 and not 26. I do have a little anecdote, however. . .

I was playing Alpha Sapphire and caught a Gulpin. I'm not going to post exactly what I named it because I'm not entirely sure if that's allowed? But I'm sure you can guess the category for a family that is about gulping and swallowing. Anyway, I was shocked it got through the censors.

I later traded it by accident and I'm hoping beyond all hopes that it went to a fellow adult and I didn't ruin someone's childhood.
 
I finally wrote out a list of all my trained nicknamed Pokémon, and it's made me realise I need to rework my categories. The vast majority are flavour or type references, making it nearly redundant. Names referencing a Greek myth might be a Greek word, but that wouldn't be the intention, so it shouldn't get the Language tag. French is also common enough to get a unique tag (though that's probably because I went on a French kick during Kalos.) "Theme" is another new tag since some names only make sense as part of a themed group.

I should put these into CSV format and mess around with REGEX. It'd be interesting to see if I have any preference for names with certain characters that fall outside what you'd expect with ETAOIN SHRDLU. "A" names, probably. Likewise there's a small trend of giving female Pokémon names ending in A.


Anyway:

ADA - Porygon 2
Aldebaran - Tapu Bulu
Allegro - Pheromosa
Amélie - Staraptor
Apatos - Tyranitar
Archimedes - Azumarill
Argo - Gyarados
Ariadne - Galvantula
Austin - A-Marowak
Bella - Gourgeist
Belle - Politoed
Bertha - Diggersby
Brian - Dragonite
Brunel - Excadrill
Burny No.1 - MCharY
Burny No.2 - MCharX
Burny No.3 - MCharX
Cabriole - Pheromosa
Calima - Hippowdon
Camomile - Sylveom
Caustic - Sharpedo
Chanterelle - Breloom
Charles - Arcanine
Charybdis - Kingdra
Chess - Gengar
Cirrus - Latias
Clara Bunny - Lopunny
Clematis - Tangrowth
COBOL - Porygon-Z
D-who? - Venusaur
Dandelion - Dragonite
Dasher - Sawsbuck
Excalibur - Scizor
Fadiése - Klefki
FalseProphet- Crobat
Faraday - Magnezone
Fealty - Clefable
Fenchurch - Excadrill
Fennex - Ninetales
Flair - Talonflame
Flite - Talonflame
Flitz - Talonflame
Fluffy - Garchomp
Foxglove - Dragonite
Fulgur - Jolteon
Gawain - Chesnaught
Glacé - A-Ninetales
Humphry - Xurkitree
Incitatus - Scolipede
iT's iPad - Malamar
Jeht - Lucario
Julius - Bisharp
Keiro - Scizor
Knox - Forretress
Landoge - Lando-T
Levi - Gyarados
Loki - Weavile
LordNSavior - Sharpedo
Marquise - Gliscor
Meshugah - Tyranitar
Mohs - Tyranitar
Mulcair - Eelektross
Napoleon - Bisarp
Noel - Toxapex
Nova - Nihilego
Nuttley - Ferrothorn
Ohmega - Zapdos
Oregano - Vaporeon
Otzi - Mamoswine
Overlord - Gengar
Paladius - Serperior
Peepo - Gourgeist
Pekachu - Garchomp
Pepper - Manectric
Pulsus - Alakazam
Roger - Cloyster
Roxie - Scrafty
Sabra - Salamence
Sage - Espeon
Saline - Starmie
Scylla - Hydreigon
Sethlans - Heatran
Shamal - Hippowdon
Shrumpus - Dragalge
Sierrer - Absol
Skipper - Azumarill
Sol Bemolle - Klefki
Swampy - Swampert
Tachi - Togekiss
Tahki - Froslass
Tanto - Donphan
Taru - Haxorus
Tlanowa - Skarmory
Treble - Clefable
Tucker - Gardevoir
Turing - Rotom-W
Tyrian - Starmie
Tyson - Toxicroak
Wilma - Mandibuzz
Xaldurr - Quagsire
Ziggy - Reuniclus


Some notes:

The eevelutions are spice-themed, with an exception for Jolteon since a friend named that. Jolteon's would-be-name passed on to Manectric. Example: Sage is an obvious one for Espeon. Camomile sounds "calm", and the name comes from the Greek for "the ground", and this Sylveon is packing HP Ground.

iT's iPad (Malamar) is an injoke based on a friend from an other forum. Any time he tried to upload photos from his iPad to the forum, they uploaded upside down. LordNSavior and FalseProphet are jokes from the same forum.

I made a point of giving Dragonite, Charizard and Garchomp really bloody stupid names. [Theme!]

I wanted Arcanine to have a vaguely regal sounding name, so I named it Charles. 5 minutes later I ruined it by naming his brother Barkley.
 
I like to name my pokemon after food or just 'things' that have some sort of relation to the pokemon.

For example, I named my Torchic 'Nugget', as in chicken nugget. I named my Treecko 'Pickles', because it's green and it kinda fits.

I named my Pachirisu 'Toaster', because obviously a toaster works on electricity.

Also I name pretty much all canine pokemon Missile because of this guy...

 
I've always been terrible at nicknames so I don't nickname my Pokemon, but Wigglytuff is forever Trigglypuff now. I had another good one that randomly popped into my head recently but I forgot what it was...
 
In Sun and Moon I had a few decent names.

Butterscotch is an alternative to "Pancakes" for Alolan Raichu, while still referencing its color.
I thought Tall Tale was fitting on Alolan Exeggutor.
Ya Bug is a nice and memetic nickname for Golisopod.
Long Shot references Decidueye's archer theme.

My favorite is Kevin the Silvally, as naming a battle machine like it something so plain in contrast is amusing.
 
I have a "phylosophical" question about nicknames for a Minior.

I just got one from Wonder Trade... and it's nicknamed Michael Bay. Why?

Also, I gotta give some credits to whoever gave Mudbray the nickname Peña Nieto. Although I feel kinda bad for the Mudbray.
 
I have a "phylosophical" question about nicknames for a Minior.

I just got one from Wonder Trade... and it's nicknamed Michael Bay. Why?

Also, I gotta give some credits to whoever gave Mudbray the nickname Peña Nieto. Although I feel kinda bad for the Mudbray.
Minor has a bad habit of exploding in a Graveller sort of way. Micheal Bay, explosions, and hence the nickname.

Just have to say, really loving Butterscotch for A-Raichu.
 

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