[X] My Assistant

[LarkortheNightin...]

Have you ever noticed weird Pokemon names like Articuno, Ekans, Onix, etc., and wondered where they got them? Well for those of you smart enough to figure out exactly how these Pokemon are named, feel free to post here! As it is, I know a few... I'll start with legends.

Count to three in Spanish. Uno, Dos, Tres, right? Now think...

Articuno = Arctic + Uno = Ice Bird One
Zapdos = Zap + Dos = Electric Bird Two
Moltres = Molt (molten lava) + Tres = Fire Bird Three

Some Pokemon names are as simple as reading them backwards.

What does Ekans resemble? A snake. What is Snake backwards? Ekans.
What does Arbok resemble? A cobra. What is Cobra backwards? Arboc. Change the c to k and you have Arbok.

Should I start going through the Pokedex? I'll do the Kanto starters for now...

Bulbasaur- It has a BULB on its back and is related to a DINOSAUR.
Ivysaur- Ivy Dinosaur
Venusaur- Venus Fly Trap Dinosaur

Charmander- A SALAMANDER that CHARS things.
Charmeleon- Chameleon that chars things.
Charizard- A lizard that chars things.

Squirtle- Turtle that squirts
Wartortle- Turtle that likes war
Blastoise- A tortoise that blasts things

Simple I'll let other people figure out the rest. Go to freedict.com to look up things in other languages... It might come in useful during your quest.

[Pokeplup]

Machop-A Man Who Karate Chops?
Eevee-A Evolving Evergreen Fox?
Rayquaza-A Giant Dragon Which Spits Rays?

[LarkortheNightin...]

Machop- I think it's more of a mix between Macho and Chop.

Eevee- I think it was just a palindrome that they thought of with the letters 'e' and 'v' in it.

Rayquaza- No idea. I think the main part of the name is the 'Quaza' part but the only thing I can think of that's close is Quetzalcoatl, the great winged serpent. And I don't think that's it...

[Attic Mouse]

I worked this out with fellow Pokemon fans on another website.

The name "Deoxys" comes from the word "Deoxyribonucleic acid" (or DNA, so most people). You should notice the connection almost instantly because Deoxys was an alien virus that fell to Earth on a meteor and underwent a DNA mutation.

Deoxys also has four forms: Defense, Normal, Attack, and Speed, which forms the acronym DNAS, which looks like DNA. Another way to remember this is to flip it around so it now spells SAND.

[Jasmine Justice]

Onix: I believe it is the stone, 'onyx'.
Rayquaza: It spits rays. RAYquaza.
Golem: Refers to the fictional idea of a moving stone creature brought to life by mankind(or in some stories, Divinity), a golem. *shot for obviousness*
Ninetales: Nine Tail(ed fox*shot again*)
Gardevoir: Guard, because they protect their Trainer, and 'voir'-'clairvoyant'-psychic.
Gallade: Gallant and blade.
Mew: It looks like a cat. Cats go 'mew'.
Mightyena: Mighty hyena. Although it strikes me as more of a wolf. :/
Salamence: Salamander and immense.
Empoleon: Emperor and Napoleon.
Carnivine: Carnivorous vine.
Umbreon: Umbra, refers to the total shadow(as opposed to the penumbra) in an eclipse.
Espeon: E.S.P., the acronym dedicated to psychic powers.

[Jotur]

poocheana: pooch (small dog) hyena

beedrill:bee with drill hands

[Cursie]

Clefairy: Fairy pokemon. Dunno what the 'cle' is for.
Driloon: A drifting balloon...?
Haunter: It's a ghost. Ghosts haunt people.
Mewtwo: It's the second Mew. DUHHH. -shot-
Zigzagoon: The zig-zag patterns on a racoon.

Man I hardly noticed some of these until just now. Common sense stuff, I tell you. lol

[Jasmine Justice]

Linoone: A racoon that runs in a line(check the Pokedex entry, it says something about running very fast in a straight line). Or Linux is fast. *brick'd*
Gastly: It's a ghastly little ghost.
Altaria: Altitude and 'aria', a musical term. It sings! And we all fall asleep.
Swablu: It's blue. And it swabs counters with its cotton wings.

[HitomiNoRyu]

I'm going to be different and do the Japanese names! (Avoiding anything with only English words as its root origin.)

Bulbasaur = Fushigidane: "Fushigi" mean 'mystery' (refering to the debate whether Bulbasaur and its evolutions are classified as plant or animal) and "dane" mean 'seed'. Thus "Mystery Seed"
Ivysaur = Fushigisou: "Fushigi" mean 'mystery' and "sou" is another word for 'grass'. Thus "Mystery Grass"
Venusaur = Fushigibana = "Fushigi" mean 'mystery' and "bana" mean 'flower'. Thus "Mystery Flower"

Spearow = Onisuzume: "Oni" means 'demon' and "suzume" mean 'sparrow'. Thus "Demon Sparrow"
Fearow = Onidoriru: "Oni" means 'demon' and "doriru" means 'drill'. Thus "Demon Drill"

This post has been edited by HitomiNoRyu: Jul 29 2009, 07:24 AM

[Jotur]

Wurmple: a worm that pulls something
Beutifly: a beutiful butterfly

[Jasmine Justice]

Hmm...
Sharpedo: Sharp torpedo.
Murkrow: Murky crow
Houndoom: Hound of doom
Houndour: Dour hound
Honchkrow: Head Honcho Crow
Carvanha: Carving piranha
Wailmer: Whale. 'Mer' doesn't refer to anything.
Wailord: Lord of Whales
Wingull: Winged gull(what other kinds are there?)
Pelipper: Pelican flipper(I suppose in contrast to wings)
Magikarp: Magic carp
Gyrados: Gyrations
Dratini: Tiny dragon
Dragonair: Dragon of air-it flies with no wings.
Dragonite: Dragon of might

[Liseliumb]

what's a dour hound? not all of the Pokemon's names are suppose to be taken literally.

Let's see if I can try some:

Jirachi- Russian for the word 'wish'
Metagross- "meta" meaning metal and "gross" meaning great
Shelgon- Dragon and shell
Gardevoir- "devoir" means to have and guard
Armaldo- Armored armadillo O.o

[Nasra]

Duskull - "Dusk", referring to sunset, when it comes out, and skull.
Treecko - Tree gecko.
Sunflora - Like a sunflower, "flora" being another word for "flower"
Chingling - The sound wind chimes make.
Meowth - The sound a cat makes.
Pidgey - Comes from "pigeon".
Turtwig - Twig and turtle.
Raticate - Rat and irradicate.
Mr. Mime - Obviously, it mimes.
Spheal - Sphere and seal.
Seel - Comes from "seal".
Dewgong - Comes from "dugong".
Larvitar - Larvae and something.
Pupitar - Pupa and something.
Sandshrew - Sand and shrew.
Sandslash - Sand and slash.

[Jasmine Justice]

Dour means stern, unyielding, or gloomy. I can see where it would make sense, can't you?
Shinx: Shine
Geodude: Earth dude
Graveller: Gravel, small rocks

[HitomiNoRyu]

More japanese names:

Vaporeon = Shawazu: Showers!
Jolteon = Sandasu: Thunders!
Flareon = Busuta: Booster!

Taillow = Subame: Shortening of "Tsubame" which mean swallow.
Swellow = Osubame: Adding an "O" to make it mean big swallow

[Gilda]

Pikachu: "Pika" is an onomatopoeia for sparks, and "chu' is an onomatopoeia for the sound rats make.
Raichu: "Rai" means "Thunder" and "chu' is an onomatopoeia for the sound rats make. The name "Raichu" also resembles the name of a thunder God from the Shinto religion.

[methuselah alche...]

Ditto: a copy
Hoothoot: duh, the sound an owl makes
Noctowl: 'noc'turnal, as in active at night, and 'owl'
Growlithe: 'growl' what dogs do, and 'lithe' as in limber/flexible?
Rayquaza: 'ray' as in long and straight, or cuz he can shoot rays from his mouth, and 'quaza' as in quasar, or "extragalactic objects, starlike in appearance"
Vulpix: The scientific name for a red fox is vulpes vulpes
Kabuto: I believe that's a kind of Japanese helmet, which it kind of resembles.
Aerodactyl: 'aero' meaning ait, and 'dactyl' as in Pterodactyl, the winged dinosaur
Teddiursa: 'teddi' as in teddy bear, and 'ursa' means bear
Ursaring: again, bear, and it has a ring on its belly
Torchic: 'torch' and 'chick'
Combusken: like 'combustion' like in explosive or burning, and ending with part of 'chicken'
Blaziken: 'blazing' 'chicken'
Kyogre: 'kai' os ocean in Japanese, and an ogre is a monster. So, ocean-monster.
Torterra: 'tor' as in tortoise, and 'terra' means earth
Rotom: 'motor' backwards

[LarkortheNightin...]

Wow lots of people posted in this 0.0

Sharpedo, although I agree it would be a rather sharp torpedo, I think it means Shark Torpedo.

Let's give what I've deduced from the lake Pokemon, although I only know half of each of their names 'cept for Azelf:

Azelf: the Azure (meaning blue) Elf
Uxie: Something and Pixie
Mesprit: Something and Sprite or Spirit (a sprite being a green fairy, and in the Artemis Fowl series, the only fairy with natural wings. Sometimes known as vain or a troublemaker. And Mesprit sure gave me a lot of trouble...)

Hmm...

Starly- Starling and Fly
Staravia- Starling and 'avia' resembling 'avian' which means a bird.
Staraptor- Starling and raptor. Raptor being a particularly aggressive dinosaur.


You know, if you break things down into pieces, you can figure out pretty much anything. Like, my friends and I always joke about how politics, if you translate it a certain way, means 'many annoying insects'. Lol.

Here's some more!

Staryu- Star for you
Starmie- Star for me

Krabby- a very crabby crab.
Kingler- I don't know, sounds to me like 'kindler', but that's like a person who lights a fire, so I have no idea.

Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam- Abracadabra, alakazam!

Arcanine- Arcane Canine.

Kabuto I always thought looked like a horseshoe crab...

Omanyte... What might that be?

For Larvitar and Pupitar, maybe it's being combined with a slightly changed 'monster'?

In Wailmer, the 'mer' might refer to the MerPeople, as in mermaids? They're considered water creatures, maybe 'mer' has some reference to the water itself?

[Sailor Bjork]

Smeargle,
It smears on things using sketch.

gle was just something they added

[Star Fruits Surf...]

This is...random, and yet still pertains to the topic.

Some annoying guy at my school INSISTS that Squirtle is from "Squirrel" and "Turtle." Apparently Squirtle has a "squirrel tail."

Yeah. Whatever.

I don't know why it irks me so much whenever he says that. XD

Also! I think I read somewhere that Smeargle is from "Smear" and "Beagle." C: