Nickname discussion

Ash Borer

Ash Borer

I've heard they're short of room in hell
In this thread I wish to promote creative, and interesting nicknaming, and examining these nicknames.

Nicknaming is a way of personalizing your Pokemon and your team, and expressing yourself not unlike an art. It becomes stimulating and somewhat poetic to come up with a short but fitting nickname that is actually interpretable. To create a good nickname does not have a rigid set of requisites, but a few loose ones can be proposed.

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.

2) Aesthetics are important. Aesthetics can be seen as how much a word or combination of words is pleasing to the ears.

3) Ease of interpretation. People have to be able to have a chance of understanding what you're trying to say with a name. I see a lot of people that give their Pokemon names of characters or people that they like, but what good is this if no one understands what you mean by this? This guideline seems counter to 1, but it merely states that you need to strike a reasonable balance.

All these points can be followed as loosely or rigidly as you please, but keep them in mind.

To promote intelligent discussion it's not very useful to just state that you like a nickname, reasons why are needed. Then rating and examining these nicknames can be then fun and stimulating.

Let's start with a couple examples of nicknames that I like

Supercharger the Manectric (mega). I like this nickname due to the multiple ways it relates to the Pokemon and also its easthetics. A supercharger is a kit that can be added to a car's engine which through forced induction greatly increases the power output of the engine making it FASTER. Mega Manectric is extremely fast, and further still power is associated with electricity so to be supercharged fits Mega Manectric quite well. Now why not call it supercharged? Well that lacks aesthetics in my opinion, it simply sounds better to be a supercharger. This is partially for the reason that a supercharger may also be a part of an engine but it can interpreted as simply that charges at something very very fast. Overall the relation to power, speed, and the imagery of being super at charging things fits well with MAnectric and sounds good.

Stille the Bisharp. Stille is just German for "silence". Using foreign words is a generally easy way to increase subtlety of a name, though it risks being over obscure as most people can't actually understand it, this particular word is a title of a song that some other users might now. Despite the obscurity "Stille" can stand up on its own, due the aesthetics. Stille kinda sounds cool dont you think? The reason for choosing the word Stille on top of aesthetics is that silence is a reasonably subtle way to imply Bisharp's brutal murderous nature and also fits well with its own edgy and angry appeance, Bisharp silences what it wants. Stille implies some sort of darkness, one of Bisharp's types, while the similarity to the word "steel" in english has a reference to its other type by proximity. This gives it a number of reasons to consider it a cool nickname.

Nightmire the Gengar. Gengar is hard to name, it took a bit of thought to come up with something decent for it. Nightmire is not a real word, it's a portmanteau of night and mire, however it sounds dangerously similar to nightmare. This is the key point of this name as nightmare would simply be too obvious to name Gengar, even though its nature of a ghost would certainly cause many people in the world of Pokemon nightmares. Mire is a verb, one that is mainly used in the form of "mired in x" which essentially means that something is covered in and deeply involved in x. So the word nightmire makes little sense, but if you know the meaning of the two words you can interpret this as Gengar being something that mires you in night, Gengar IS the night, even. This play on the word nightmare while still retaining the meaning of being a ghost that haunts and stalks people during the night fits Gengar well and is subtle but possible to get.

So I encourage readers to post your favourite names for your favourite Pokemon, and explain why you like the name and why anyone should think they're actually good names. RAting and critiquing other's names is also encouraged as long as your point of view is supported by some kind of reasonable appeal to what makes a good nickname.

I should also mention that discussion of what makes a good nickname is encouraged too. I just made this shit up, if you want to add to or refute what I've said then please do
 
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I don't nickname a lot of my pokemon myself, but when I do, I usually name them simply after a book/film/video game character (e.g. Dragonite=Glaedr from the Eragon series, Mamoswine=Manny from Ice Age, Scolipede=Twinmold from Zelda: Majora's Mask, Clefable=Tingle from Zelda, etc.) I don't like to use overused nicknames, in cases like that I like to go one step further (e.g. I'd never name my Lucario Luke, then I'd go for Anakin. Didn't nickname my Lucario like that because I don't like starwars and therefore it'd be hypocritical, but you get the idea). I'd like to mention one mon from this category:
Thor the Mega Ampharos. For obvious reasons, L'Oreal is the single most overused nickname for Mega Amphy, but I think Thor is its most suitable one. On the one hand, it is appropriate because Ampharos is an electric pokemon and Thor is the god of thunder - on the other hand, it also fits in the L'Oreal realm pretty well, because images of Thor from the Avengers movie appearing in fake L'Oreal advertisements (because he's fabulous) appear frequently on 9gag etc.

I also like to give my pokemon punny nicknames. For instance, I named my Mega Aerodactyl Pterror. I really don't think this requires an explanation, but just in case, Aerodactyl can be scary ('terror'), and he's also a pterodactyl, the p of which is silent in English. Yes, how fantastic. A better example might be the following:
Jaap the Garchomp. In my native language, Jaap is a somewhat common first name; however, it is also a noun meaning 'slash', 'gash', which obviously fits Garchomp pretty well flavour-wise.
(On that same note, my Drizzletoed is named Rainier, which is a common first name in French and obviously fits really well flavour-wise. I didn't think up that one myself though, I stole it from a replay in Politoed's OU analysis, so I'm not taking the credits for this one ^.^)

In general, I think a good nickname should just be original and clever. I pretty much agree with the points in the OP, mostly the subtlety point; the other two just go without saying with art (in a broad sense lol) in general, if nobody's gonna understand what you say maybe you should be expressing it differently and avoid overkill.
 
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You bring up some good points. Firstly, the anakin example is interesting. Even though lucario has nothing to do Anakin Skywalker it plays on the popularity of star wars and the tendency for people to refer to Lucario as luke. It's a reasonably clever meta joke. Yes, jokes, if something is successfully comical then it's good. A simple play on the spelling of pterodactyl accomplishes this very concisely, I like that as well.

Funny you bring up Rainier for politoed. I liked it for a couple reason when I came up with it. Not only does Rainier obviously have the word in rain in it, its also french who are sometimes (though derogative, it's a more playful jab in this case I hope) referred to as frogs. But ultimately I was inspired by Mount Rainier (the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states of the US), which is located in Washington, a region of the US that is known for lots of rainfall. So it ended up with a kind of triple meaning.
 
I always try to nickname any major Pokémon I have, though some aren't the best (those I won't share).
I named my Nidoking "Nero", after the Roman Emperor who (possibly inspired by a certain renegade Time Lord) burned down Rome. Also, it has a feel similar to Nido.

My Politoed was named Slippy, after the Star Fox character. Tell me they don't look a bit similar.

My special Lucario is named Auron. While the name is from a character in Final Fantasy X (a game I've never played), I picked it since it sounds like "aura", which Lucario is famous for using.

I've mentioned this elsewhere, but I named my Sylveon "Yuno", after my favorite anime character, Yuno Gasai. Not only did the pink and hair-bows remind me of her, I also have a Vaporeon I named Yukiteru, the other main character from Future Diary.

My Mega Heracross is named Satoshi, after Pokémon creator Satoshi Tajiri. This is due to the fact that his childhood love of collecting bugs was part of the inspiration for the series.

I have two Smeargle I use: Artemis and Kris. Artemis was one of my first Gen VI competitive Pokémon. I wanted to name her after a female artist and I found one whose first name was Artemisia. I shortened it to just Artemis, the Greek Goddess of Hunting. Also, the name begins with "art" so I couldn't resist. Kris's name is taken from the Pokémon Adventures manga. Kris is one of the Pokédex Holders and her skill is capturing Pokémon. Since this Smeargle is designed and trained to do just this, I thought is was a good name.

A common name I use for Salamence is "Xander". Now, to some, this makes no sense. But it does, in an odd way. The Japanese name for Salamence is Bohmander. The "mander" part of the name just made me think of the name "Xander" so I went with it.

My VGC Ferrothorn is nicknamed "Barbara" since Ferrothorn are covered in Iron Barbs.

My VGC Mawile is nicknmamed "Stahl", the German word for Steel. I just liked how it sounded. My OU Mawile is named "Mawleficent".

The origins of Mr. Mole the Excadrill date back to before the release of Black and White. My Excadrill held an Air Balloon, so when it would be sent out, it would say "Doryuzu is floating on a balloon!" (Pre-English release, remember) I just thought that "Mr. Mole is floating on a balloon!" was hilarious, so the name stuck and I reused it with my Mold Breaker Exca in Y.

While I bet it isn't that original, it works too well: Tony Stark the Scizor. I mean, it wears red metal armor and (since mine is holding a Scizorite) said armor gets upgraded.

Since SoulSilver, I've always have had a Gengar named "Slimer" in my boxes, ready to kick some ass. The name Slimer is both a reference to the famous specter from the Ghostbusters movies, and a reference to Gengar's Poison-typing as well.

Another 1984 film reference is that of the Darkrai I obtained all the way back in Platinum: Freddy. Of course, he was named after another fictional entity who causes bad dreams that hurt the dreamer: Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

A common nickname I use on male Pokémon that look feminine (such as Delphox and Gardevoir) is Emile. This is after the real name of YouTuber Chuggaaconroy and is in reference to how he starts all of his main series Pokémon LPs, after being asked if he is a boy or a girl. Plus, his LPs made me a better trainer.

Final note: I found out that you can change the name of the PokéBank Celebi, so I took advantage of that and named it "The Doctor". I had to, okay?
 
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Ash Borer said:
You bring up some good points. Firstly, the anakin example is interesting. Even though lucario has nothing to do Anakin Skywalker it plays on the popularity of star wars and the tendency for people to refer to Lucario as luke. It's a reasonably clever meta joke. Yes, jokes, if something is successfully comical then it's good. A simple play on the spelling of pterodactyl accomplishes this very concisely, I like that as well.

Funny you bring up Rainier for politoed. I liked it for a couple reason when I came up with it. Not only does Rainier obviously have the word in rain in it, its also french who are sometimes (though derogative, it's a more playful jab in this case I hope) referred to as frogs. But ultimately I was inspired by Mount Rainier (the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states of the US), which is located in Washington, a region of the US that is known for lots of rainfall. So it ended up with a kind of triple meaning.
Click to expand...

Lol that was your replay? Gj on naming the frog then, you put in a lot more stuff than I noticed ^.^

Also, there's one nickname I forgot last night (was only browsing through X, but there I only have this mon as dex fodder, I only nickname it when I use it on playthroughs, which is basically only on Sinnoh games) but I'd like to mention anyway because I consider it to be my finest:
Bonfire the Rapidash. This nickname is already quite appropriate for a horse to begin with, as Bonfire was one of the most famous dressage horses ever. With Rapidash, it becomes even more appropriate of course, as Rapidash is a fire horse. (Seriously, it fits so well that I sometimes wonder if GameFreak designed Ponyta and Rapidash with Bonfire in mind. I'm not interested in dressage or horseriding at all, but this one was just so perfect I couldn't resist). I like this nickname because it basically fits the mould of what I consider to be a good nickname: it references something outside the world of Pokemon, but it adds a second layer as well (in this case, not just using the name of any ol' horse, but the name of a horse that references 'fire'). It doesn't have to refer to something outside the world of Pokemon of course, the second layer is what's important.
Ironically, Bonfire died as I was doing a Platinum playthrough where I named my Rapidash Shadowfax for variety .-. (obvious LOTR reference is obvious, and fax is Latin for torch so it also fits in the fire theme. Kinda. Not my best effort.)
 
In general, my nicknames tend to be funny and/or witty. A good example of this is DUCK.pkmn, the name of my competitive Porygon-Z. Since the Porygon family are computer programs, I found it only natural to give it a computer file name (<File name>.<extension type>). Porygon-Z is a duck, so the file name is DUCK (All caps to make it look more computer-y). And Porygon-Z is a Pokemon, hence the extension pkmn. Other names I considered were "PGZ-076" (76 is the number of Porygon eggs I hatched to get it) and 'ERROR' in hex (Too many numbers; game didn't allow it).

Of course, there's the obligatory "Conkelderp" which somehow gets past the censor despite 'con', Zappy Bird the Zapdos, and then Liz and Amy the Kangaskhan. None of these should need much explanation. But my favourite of my nicknames is definitely "Fun Guy" the Breloom. Don't get it? Say it out loud, and think about what Breloom is.
 
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I don't think I'm that good at choosing nicknames unless I'm trying to be funny. My nicknames are things like Dry Cleaner for Rotom-Wash, Mr. Smiley for Gengar, or Face Eater for Pinsir. The first two are ironic, but the third is a definitely a very suitable name, especially after Mega Evolution. Also, in Nuzlokes I name Oddish after drugs because the Pokedex says it's the Weed Pokemon.

However, I do have a couple of more interesting nicknames. I used binary code to name Magnezone (101010 or 42, The answer to everything) and Porygon. (110011101 or 413, a number that appears in Homestuck a lot) For Greninja, I decided to see what Frog translated to in Japanese (Kaeru) and I loved it. I borrowed (and by that I mean stole from someone. I can't remember who, but it was probably the guy above this post.) someone's idea to give two names to Kangaskhan, (Although KangasKHAAAN would work too) but I decided to add in a joke. I named Kangaskhan "Kim and June" because is sounds sort of like Kim Jong-il, North Korea's Dictator.

The last nickname I want to talk about is sort of an inside joke. I want to talk about is my Talonflame's nickname. Gen VI made me think I was going to quit Pokemon when the new Pokemon were being revealed. (10 days after X and Y came out I gave in.) When I was at the point where I was about to quit I was hoping I wouldn't hate the next thing revealed. Talonflame was revealed and my first thought was, "It looks like it's wearing an ugly pair of sweat pants!" It made me think I was going to quit Pokemon, but now I use it... and it has the nickname Sweat Pants.

If you don't believe me about Talonflame, here's the official artwork.
250px-663Talonflame.png

Edit: I just remembered Vaatu the Yvetal. No Legend of Korra fan can deny Oblivion Wing likes like Vaatu's spirit laser thing.
 
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I try to nickname every pokemon on my battle team, makes them a lot more personal. I mostly play on Showdown but names can be used when ever you have pokemon.

Lassy(Lapras)(F) - Cheesy I know but whatever.

Valériane (Mienshao)(F) - This actually has a few steps to it. Mienshao looks like the fairy gym leader Valerie(Mache), shes in the Kalos region (France), so i used her french name, Valériane.

Siegfried (Flygon)(M) - The dragon slayer from the Nibelungenlied. Seriously an underrated hero in fantasy.

Alphonse (Golurk) - From Fullmetal Alchemist. Just the perfect name for a rocky ghost pokemon of possessed armor with elemental punches. Watch the anime, it's really good.

Драпион (Drapion)(M) - I wanted a russian name but I ended up just looked up dragon and scorpion and stole the phonetics to them recreating the name Drapion (trust me on that).

ナデシコ ひめ (Lilligant)(F) - Nadeshiko Hime. Plant based, Lilligant's royalty, and using showdown's online technology I made it in japanese like where yamato nadeshiko are from.
 
Alright, I'll give some of my terrible, terrible nicknames.

Darzan - In White 2 I remembered just how strong Darmanitan can be. (conveniently this was the same generation that gave Flare Blitz a chance to burn and the fiery ape has Sheer Force) So when I picked up Darumaka on Route 4, I felt inspired to make a pun of sorts on Tarzan. In hindsight, I could have named it Wario for that menacing grimace or George after George of the Jungle. (I liked that movie as a kid, alright?) It was about the only Pokemon on my team that got nicknamed. ...Okay, I nicknamed Reshiram and Kyurem and used them a bit in the post game, but their nicknames were so GODAWFUL that I renamed them their species name before transferring them so I wouldn't have to look at it.

Hack N' Slash - It's a Haxorus. LOOK AT ITS FACE. -.-; Ironically enough, it doesn't know a single cutting/slashing move.

Katie - When I found Eevee on Route 10, I was determined to catch a female for Sylveon. (male doesn't suit its normal colors at all IMO) So when I finally caught a female, I nicknamed her after a character in a story that sadly no longer exists. Its Jolly nature suits the character even if it's horrid on a Sylveon. (though that hardly matters for in game and it has no defense whatsoever)

Protector - Yeah, I play PMD: Gates to Infinity. It's my first experience with a non-main series Pokemon game. In the game, you come across a Hydreigon who's actually a really nice guy unlike what you're initially led to believe. So when it came down to getting a Hydreigon myself, I thought of the one in the Mystery Dungeon game. Also, I think it kind of amusing that a Pokemon known for living up to being classified as the Brutal Pokemon is named something sounding so benevolent.

Ninjor - I grew up watching the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, even though nowadays it's far too cheesy for my tastes. I was going to nickname my Greninja Kakashi after the Naruto character, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Besides, that would be expected along with nearly any other ninja in the anime and manga. So, I thought of a ninja character that probably would be less commonly thought of. And in season three of MMPR, the Rangers needed the assistance of a character named Ninjor. Ninjor is primarily blue, and so is Greninja, so I went with it. I could have gone with the character's Japanese counterpart, but Ninjaman sounds incredibly silly.

And that's what I'm willing to share. I have a nickname thought out for a male Excadrill, but I'll save it until I actually breed one. (if I breed a male, anyway) At least these are better nicknames than Torchbug the Volcarona. Y'know, because Fire/Bug? ...I'll go sit in the corner of shame now.
 
I hardly ever use Nicknames, but when I do it's, most of the time, related to a certain theme

For example I have several pokemon named after Explosives. why? because they all know explosion, and were part of a team i used on PO which was successful for who knows what reason

Siiphor -> Female Drifblim
Grynaid -> Male Golem
FlashMine -> Magnezone
Tienty -> was my old PO username etc.

I have 6 competitively raised greninja's, 5 of which have names referencing frog in some way, and all 6 names being ninja-ish. They were practically bred to fit the theme of ninja's of different elements like Edge and his students in FF4 after years (hence one isn't bred for a specific HP, but perfect stats)

Kikkero -> HP Fighting
Grodaime -> HP Rock
Volrana -> HP Electric
Gekkou -> HP Fire (Play FF4 after years)
Izayoi (Female!) -> HP Grass
Keromatsu -> Perfect stats, not HP bred (This is actually just froakie's japanese name. I like it too much)

then the other names are just random references, mostly random

Hitmontop -> Draciel (Bey blade bit beast)
Boom Booms -> Metagross
Snug -> Snorlax (It's snuggly, something you'd cuddle)
OpticBlast -> Kyurem Marvel 2 reference, it's a special atta
CajunSlash -> Bisharp (Marvel 2 reference)
RockMario -> Probopass (Obvious)
Smoke -> Landorus (It rides on a cloud and is ground type.... eh)
 
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Some of my personal favourites despite probably being cringeworthy are my female Volcarona named Sol Virgo (translates to Sun Maiden), and my Mega Blastoise called Basque Grand, after the Iron Blood Alchemist from FMA/B.
 
A completely random thing I've been doing lately is trying to nickname any shiny Pokemon I catch or hatch after food items that closely match their color and kind of what they are. So far I have Sugar Puff, (Swirlix) Lemon Pop, (Bergmite) Limebat, (Zubat) and Grape Sheep. (Mareep, though I can't tell if its wool is purple or pink. If it's the latter, I'll rename it the very cringe-worthy Strawbaarry)
 
Let's see for my nick names i atleast try to have a little fun or have them make sense. I used to do youtube so fun little names can make a minor difference take a look.

Count Glacula my gliscor has nice fangs and it is also part bat. So if you add it up it resembles the old movie villain Count Dracula.

StarFire my shiny latios reminds me of the character "Starfire" from the well known Teen Titans.

Darm-It my Darmanitan runs the sub belly drum set so when i set it up i can imagine people saying "Damn It" in there heads or out loud.

Ambidextrous my Ambipom is named this due to its ability to use both hands properly and kick butt

Moon of the Rings my Cresselia has this nickname because of its rings and its ability to use moon light so i knocked off of "Lord of the Rings"

Horny my Mamoswine has large horns which made me think of a sexual reference i don't know why. I dont know if i am allowed to say that but this site should be mature enough.

These are a few i can think of i will come back to this thread later if i remember or come up with more i hope you guys enjoy. This is my first thread post since i am new if i did anything wrong im sorry.
 
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My Pokemon nicknames tend to be either names of close friends who suit the Pokemon in my head or Star Wars references; the latter are usually fairly obscure (read: people who haven't read the novels and/or comics won't get most of them). Notable Star Wars names I've used include...
Miscellaneous:
Wroshyr - Sceptile, my favorite Grass-type. Named for the dominant species of tree in the jungles of Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld. All five of the Sceptile I've raised since 2011 have the name Wroshyr.
Kashyyyk - Torterra. Named for the Wookiee homeworld. All of the Torterra I've raised have the name Kashyyyk.
Kaiburr - Jirachi (sim only). That crystalline shell Jirachi hibernates in made me think of the Kaiburr crystal for some reason.
Durron - Thundurus. Named for Jedi Master Kyp Durron, one of Luke Skywalker's former trainees who eventually gained a seat on the Jedi Council.
Saba - Tyranitar. Named for Jedi Master Saba Sebatyne, a member of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Council (so named because Saba is a Barabel; the Barabels are a very physically imposing species of reptilian humanoids).
Syren - Bellsprout (sim only). Named for a carnivorous plant native to Kashyyyk
Vergere - Archen (sim only). Named for a Fosh Jedi-turned-Sith (the Fosh are an avian species).
Dac - Chinchou (sim only). Named for the homeworld of the Mon Calamari and Quarren races.
EDIT: Mega-Metagross is definitely going to be HK-47 when I get it.
Team: TATOOINE SKIES
Sekot - The Lilligant from my sun team last gen. Named for the spirit of the sentient planet Zonama Sekot. (Star Wars has some weird shit in it sometimes.)
Adegan - The Starmie from my sun team last gen. Named for Adegan gems, mined in the ice caves of the planet Ilum and often used as focusing crystals in lightsaber hilts.
Mustafar - The Heatran I caught in my first Platinum run and used on every OU team I've built up until XY, both in-game and online. Named for the planet where Obi-Wan and Darth Vader dueled at the end of Episode III.
Krayt - The Salamence from my sun team last gen. Named for the krayt dragon, a colossal reptilian predator native to Tatooine.
The other two Pokemon on that team are named after friends of mine, rather than things from Star Wars.
Team: ROGUE SQUADRON
Ooryl - Mega-Heracross. Named for Rogue Squadron pilot Ooryl Qrygg (so named because Ooryl is a Gand, and the Gand are a species of humanoid insects).
Ibtisam - Greninja. Named for Rogue Squadron pilot Ibtisam (so named because Ibtisam is a Mon Calamari, an amphibian species).
Tycho - Clefable. Named for Rogue Squadron pilot Tycho Celchu (so named because Tycho served as Wedge's XO for a while, which I associate with the support role Clefable plays on this team).
Wedge - My other Heatran. Named for Rogue Squadron co-founder Wedge Antilles.
Luke - Aegislash. Named for Rogue Squadron co-founder Luke Skywalker, chosen because a ghost sword kinda works with the lightsaber concept. (Well, not really, but it's a closer fit to Luke than anything else here. Might be replaced with Bisharp, depending on the outcome of the suspect test.)
Wes - Rotom-Wash. Named for Rogue Squadron pilot Wes Janson (no particular reason; I just needed the name of another prominent pilot to round out the team).

I'm sure there are more Star Wars names, since I raised a ton of Pokemon in-game last gen, but I'm having trouble remembering them all. Miscellaneous gags include:
Geezer - Shiftry. Named for Geezer Butler, bassist and primary lyricist for Black Sabbath.
Avogadro - Dugtrio. A mole of particles is Avogadro's number of particles, hence the name (I can seldom resist the opportunity to make a bad pun). I've used this for three different Dugtrio, I think.
Sativa - Venusaur. This started out as just a bad weed joke from a FireRed replay when I was in high school, but I grew so attached to that Venusaur that I've given every one I've raised since then the same name.
Dybbuk - Gengar. Dybbuk is the Yiddish word for ghost, usually with the connotation of a poltergeist or malevolent spirit. This was actually the first Pokemon I raised for competitive play.
 
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The way I usually nickname my Pokemon is that I nickname after the first thing I think about. Mostly based on their looks I give them a nickname like Angry Tree Midget the Shiftry ( If only it would have fit ), Sandbag the Hariyama, Ice Cream Bird the Articuno, Flappy Bird the Kyurem Black and Easy Bake Oven the Heatran. Sometimes I only start giving nicknames to Pokemon when I have used them in some battles and name them how they played in those battles. This also lead to Haxgod the Durant because he basically flinches everything because Iron Head. If I really can't think of a good nickname then I just type in random letters and see how that goes. This leads to nicknames like bdsiadbsda or hrftfturv because I really can't think of nicknames. Generally I don't put a lot of time into nicknames as you can see.
 
I try my best to bestow a nickname every Pokemon that I actually intend to use, but it's rather difficult to explain just how my naming style goes since it is all over the place and some make less sense than others. I think it is better I list the named mons I use on Wi-Fi and PS and try to come up with why I named them that:

Cherlinde (e is supposed to have an accent, but alt code thing) the Ferrothorn: I thought of mixing the french names for 'cherry' and 'armor' for this one, back when I intended to TSV abuse hatch as a shiny. Unfortunately, 1.2 patchup came before I could find her a trainer with a similar number (it wasn't in Smogon's listings) so hatched it normally.
Glorego the Blaziken: Continuing with my portmeanteau style naming. Oddly, this would have fit a Jolly one, but he had Naive (I no longer use him in Wi-Fi).
Siana the Espeon: Playing on "psionic".
Rhapsody the Sylveon: I used to run a Hyper Voice cleric set on X and named her back in B2 thinking a music-sounding name would fit.
Terrakuma the Tyranitar: Keeping to my theme of portmanteaus, blending the Latin word 'terra' and the Japanese word 'akuma'. Oddly fits.
Onihime the Mawile: After noticing how violently destructive (and adorable) she was, I figured something meaning "demon princess" would match up with something that was essentially the badass adorable in regards to Mega Evolutions. My shiny Mawile had a less fitting name, Epicura. It was a play on 'epicure', but I don't think Mawile is known for having massive appetites nor did the fact a feminine sounding name would fit a male.
Shiina the Greninja, Alastor the Shiny Chandelure, Oktavia and Maelstrom the Gyaradoses (or is it Gyaradosi? I need clarification), Saint Elmo the Charizard (Y evo): I also went by naming something based on shout outs and basing off a single trait. Shiina is from Angel Beats and happened to be a ninja, Alastor was a Shana shout out that was known for his fire motif, and Oktavia and Maelstrom were from Madoka and reference to a powerful whirlpool respectively. Saint Elmo was the only case it wasn't a shout out/trait fusion.
Gabriel the Dragonite, Thor the Thundurus, Gungnir the Garchomp, Lucifer the Charizad (X evo), Mara the Gengar, Beowulf the Mamoswine, Churchill the Blastoise, Bismarck the Cloyster, Eris the Sableye, Simo Hayha the Kingdra (no longer own), Heimdall the (accidentally deleted because I forgot to transfer) Mamoswine, Atlantis the Vaporeon: This would have to be my most sensible category of naming where it is based on mythology, religion, or a simple historical reference.
Picard the Empoleon, Cheesecake the shiny Latias, Reinforce the Aegislash, Giving Tree the Trevenant, Saber the Metagross, Farore the Togekiss, Sumac the Venusaur, Sterling the Serperior, Bombastus the Tyrantrum, Theona the Cofagrigus, Fiolette the Froslass, Kitty the Weavile, Pyrovis the Typhlosion, Anya the Honchkrow, Mami Tamoe the Jolteon (ironically, she never got chomp'd), Sheppard the Garchomp, Skytena the Dragonite, Ramsel the Houndour: This would be my "other" category, which is full of shout outs, random names, or just something I forgot.

Basically, I think I can say my naming style is either portmanteau, wordplay, religion/history/myth naming, or "other"/"unique". Even with four or so categories it's weird my naming goes all over the place.

At least I can say that I will rarely have a shortage of names on hand for the future.
 
Litra said:
Shiina the Greninja, Alastor the Shiny Chandelure, Oktavia and Maelstrom the Gyaradoses (or is it Gyaradosi? I need clarification),
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Pokemon species names are always the same for both singular and plural, so it'd just be Gyarados. Probably so trying to figure out what more than one of a given species would be called wouldn't cause brains to explode on either end. Though it's not like that's enforced...

Anyway, I forgot to share a nickname and have another I'd like to share. Aslan - With a lion based Pokemon, it would have been so easy to go with a Lion King reference. Especially with the males' big red manes. But instead I went for Aslan, the great lion from C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia series. It just seemed to fit at the time I decided to give him a nickname. A shame Pyroar feels rather limited in what it can do and none if its abilities are all that noteworthy, but I guess Unnerve is also kind of fitting for Aslan. The character's presence can have that effect on Narnians fortunate enough to be in it.

Tassadar - For Alakazam, you'd probably expect some play on a well known psychic or magician either in real life or from fiction. This...isn't quite so simple. I went with a character from Blizzard Entertainment's Starcraft franchise. Now, this would take quite a bit of explaining who he is and what makes him such a revered hero, and for that Google and/or Wikipedia can do so for those interested, so I can understand if some feel this kind of goes against the third guideline here. But he's the hero of a race of tall, somewhat humanoid beings that possess tremendous psionic powers that often powers their highly advanced technology that are often seen wearing predominantly yellow armor. They're a proud yet superstitious race. But what effectively sealed the deal here was this quote of his when taunted that his powers seemed to have diminished: "Mayhap, O Queen. Or is it that I need not flaunt my powers in such an infantile manner?" I felt it kind of fit the Modest nature while also not going too against the somewhat vain characteristic.

Or maybe I'm just thinking too hard on these.
 
My nicknames tend to be stupid/funny depending on your tastes. I'm just gonna run down the ones that aren't completely stupid

ATV (Vilvlion) dated reference is dated at least I don't have a Omastar
Janitor (Cloyster) Sweeping? Janitor? Eh? Eh?... Bah
Cpt. Falcon (Machamp) I couldn't really think of a better name besides Rocky, and that is obvious. Mind you, since it was shiny I could of named him Hulk... But that's even worse (At least Dynamicpunch RESEMBLES the Falcon Punch... Sorta)
Jaws (Mawile) I'm not training a Sharpedo anytime soon so... (Plus that name is awesome :p)
SmogonBurd (Talonflame) Yes I named it that. No I don't feel shame.
Bird Jesus (Hawlucha) Another TPP reference... It's sad when this was created in APRIL
Needles (Chesnaught) was gonna originally name him Grasshole after a Bayleaf I had in a Emerald Randomiser, but Game freak happened.
Luv Bug (Heracross) No it's not in a Love Ball, otherwise it would of fit. (it's female at least)
BALK (Porygon2) It has BALK. Probrem?
Unknown (Sigilyph) Sucks that it's not an Unown evolution. Otherwise this nickname wouldn't rub it in Game Freaks face.
3Spooky5U (Chandelure) My first Chandy (in game) was called 2Spooky, my second one was called 2Spooky4U. Obvious transition ^_^
Toxic Love (Toxicroak) pretty sure this is a reference to Ferngully... Which I just realised is a even better name for a FROG. (TY based Dart Arrow Frog)
Chugga (Lapras) yes I named my Lapras after Chuggaconroy. You may now mock me.
Mjr. Awesome (Azumarill) was watching the Family Guy episode "Saving Private Brian) while making a OU team, heard the name Major Awesome... Yeah
Mr. Driller (Escavalier) lol references. And it knows Drill Run (YES I KNOW EXCADRILL WOULD FIT THE NAME BETTER)
Hoodlum (Scrafty) this is even more blatantly obvious XD
Vastalleon (Vaporeon) subtlety? The fuck is that?
And finally, my favourite name given to anything ever.
("insert Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim trailer here) he is known as...
DRAGONBORN! (Ampharos)
Mega Ampharos's Dragon Pulse animation. That. Is. All. #FUSRODAH
Hope you enjoyed this train wreck of what happens when I nickname things ^_^
 
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My Pokemon's nicknames from the FireRed run I'm doing on OI Plays:

Flower (Ivysaur): Named after my first ever Pokemon, a Bulbasaur named Flower in Blue version.
RprtdIssue (Paras): Microsoft calls bugs in their software "reported issues." Since Paras is a Bug-type, the name fits.
SkunkCabbg (Gloom): Skunk cabbage is an actual plant that, as its name suggests, smells bad. In the anime, Gloom also smells bad; thus, the name.
 
Everything I raised is named. Only one I'll share right now is I hatched a shiny Eevee and evolved it into a Sylveon named "Henry" after my beloved pet cat

I have a stall Klefki set named "Don'tBeUpset"
 
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I planned out my entire White starter team months in advance...I had the entire breakfest team...

I named my starter (tepig) Bacon, I then named my pidove Eggs, and when I got my pansage, I named it Toast, so I had bacon eggs and toast....I think I named my surfing pokemon in that game Orange Juice as well, LOL.

In my pokemon X game I also named my chespin "OUCH!!!!" I was bored and thought this was funny.
 
I've been working on developing a fun mono-Poison team to act as my Gym team for my Super Secret Base in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. I was having difficulty coming up with some good nicknames (you can name Venusaur "Bulbapedia" only so many times). Then it hit me: name them all after poisons! I finally settled on Hemlock, Arsenic, Cyanide, Oleander, Iocane (to which I've built up an immunity), and Amaranthine (a poison gas in Super Smash Bros. Brawl). I'm still figuring out which Pokémon will have which nickname, though.

EDIT: I've had to abandon Arsenic due to the word "arse" being in it (damn in-game censor). It's now Aconite.
 
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Vader_the_White said:
I've been working on developing a fun mono-Poison team to act as my Gym team for my Super Secret Base in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. I was having difficulty coming up with some good nicknames (you can name Venusaur "Bulbapedia" only so many times). Then it hit me: name them all after poisons! I finally settled on Hemlock, Arsenic, Cyanide, Oleander, Iocane (to which I've built up an immunity), and Amaranthine (a poison gas in Super Smash Bros. Brawl). I'm still figuring out which Pokémon will have which nickname, though.
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Don't hate Arsenic, it is used in chicken feed.
 
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