Pokemon Pokémon Name Origins

[PokePhD]

Hey PB!

So, I was having a conversation with a colleague of mine, and somehow we got on the topic of how the original Pokémon were named. Of course, most people know that Ekans and Arbok backwards spell out "snake" and "kobra" respectively. Many people, however, don't know that Hitmonchan was named after Jackie Chan. Similarly, Hitmonlee was named after Bruce Lee (thanks Cobalt for the correction)!

There are plenty of other unique naming conventions out there; which ones do you know about?

Post away!

 

[Mitja]

Elgyem=LGM=little green men

 

[Cobalt Phoenix]

Hitmonlee was named after Bruce Lee, Soulwind. (otherwise it would've been spelled Hitmonli)
Anyway, Grimer/Muk (Grime and Muck), Trubbish (Trash+Rubbish), Garbodor (Garbage+Odor), Charizard (Char+Lizard). I'll be back once I think of some others.

 

[PsychedelicBreakfast]

Nido is 2 in Japanese and Ran is a blue or purple orchid.
Chikorita - Chicory (type of plant)
Chinchou - Chochin is 'lantern' in Japanese
Yanma - Japanese for 'dragonfly'
Umbreon - After umbra, the blackest part of a shadow, where all light is cut off
Sawsbuck - The prefix consists of the first letters of the seasons: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon - Ein, zwei, drei... One, two, three in German

 

[PokePhD]

Elgyem=LGM=little green men

Nice one! Never would have caught that.

Hitmonlee was named after Bruce Lee, Soulwind. (otherwise it would've been spelled Hitmonli)
Anyway, Grimer/Muk (Grime and Muck), Trubbish (Trash+Rubbish), Garbodor (Garbage+Odor), Charizard (Char+Lizard). I'll be back once I think of some others.

Thanks I fixed the original post. I'm not sure why I put Jet Li.

Umbreon - After umbra, the blackest part of a shadow, where all light is cut off

Oo latin. This one made me look up Espeon; esp is known as extrasensory perception.

 

[Uralya]

Elgyem=LGM=little green men

Also, Beheeyem = B E M = Bug Eyed Monster (early alien term).

I'll be back with more in time.
~AoH

 

[Ice Arceus]

Snorlax = Snore + Relax

 

[safariblade]

I know a magical psychic spell... Abra... kadabra... alakazam!!!!

 

[The Yoshi]

Sneasel = Sneak + Weasel

Registeel/Ice/Rock/Gigas come from a Latin word "Regis", meaning "kingly".

Gardevoir = Garde (French for "guard") + Devoir (French for "duty")

Bronzong = Bronze + Gong (Musical instrument similar to a bell)

Aerodactyl = Aero (related to the atmosphere for a Flying type) + Dactyl (Pterodactyl)

Crawdaunt = Crawfish + Daunt (to cause to lose courage)

I may post some later, but I'll edit this post.

 

[Professor Palutena]

Beartic = Bear + Arctic

Chandelure = Chandelier + Lure

Doduo = Dodo + Duo

Dodrio = Dodo + Trio

Blaziken = Blaze + Chicken

Teddiursa = Teddy + Ursa (Latin for Bear)

 

[Their Goominess]

Uxie - you + pixie
Azelf - us + elf
Mesprit - me + sprite

 

[Hydro Cannon]

Besides the obvious: ArticUNO, ZapDOS, MolTRES.

Also koffing (coughing) and wheezing.

Whiscash = whiskers and catfish.

 

[iSharingan]

I'm surprised no one has pointed his one out yet. Pikachu is from Pika (Japanese onomatopoeia for sparking or sparkling) and Chu (also Japanese onomatopoeia, but for a mouse's squeak)

 

[Spammy]

Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon - Ein, zwei, drei... One, two, three in German

Technically when counting in German you say "eins" not "ein." But for the purposes of name origin you hit the nail on the head. You didn't explain what the rest of the name means though.

Deino. Eins (1) + Dino (dinosaur)
Zweilous. Zwei (2) + Zealous (you could say jealous instead)
Hydreigon. Hydra (A Greek serpent with many heads) + Drei (3) + gon (as in dragon)

 

[Flys Gone 2071]

No one mentioned:

Mewtwo = Mew (Pokemon which was colned to get Mewtwo) + two (2 in English)



Flygon = Fly + Dragon (and dragonfly the other way around)
Slowpoke = Slow + Poke
Slowbro = Slow + Bro
Slowking = Slow + King
Hypno = Hypnosis
Lunatone = Luna (Spanish for Moon) + Stone
Solrock = Sol (Spanish for Sun) + Rock
Claydol = Clay + Doll
Kingdra = King + Hydra
Horsea = Horse + Sea
Seadra = Dea + Hydra
Salamence = Salamander + ?
Geodude = Geo (Latin root for earth) + Dude
Aerodactyl = Aero + Pterodactyl
Magcargo = Magma + Cargo
Tyranitar = Tyrannosaur + ?
Nosepass = Nose + Pass

Stating some obvious ones.

 

[AnUnown]

Horsea is actually a fun one. You have horse and sea. Seahorse and horsey ( what kids call them). Well played pokemon.

 

[Haunted Water]

Actually, I think hypno (as in hypnosis) means sleep.

 

[AnUnown]

This website has the origins of every pokemon's name Pokemon Names

heh /thread.

 

[Flys Gone 2071]

This website has the origins of every pokemon's name Pokemon Names

We were going to do our own Pokebeach list. They beat us to that. :'(

 

[iSharingan]

I believe the point of this thread is to state those that you know, not build a new list or link other sites (which I believe is discouraged by the rules, although this may not fall under those terms)