What's in a Name?

[Blademaster]

(looks at forum topic)

General Discussion
Talk about Pokemon in general in this forum.

OK, I think this fits the category.

The basic thing is that Pokemon names, for the most part, are easy to decipher. Most of them are simply either compound words, made from 2 other words crushed together like Manhattan traffic at 4:30pm - names like Machop (Macho + Chop) - or they're simply words translated from foreign languages - names like Kabuto (Japanese for 'crab'). Or, in rare instances, both rules apply, such as with Articuno (Arctic + Uno [Spanish for 'one']).

However, there are some names that just seem as though they were chosen completely at random; I'm hoping that the one's I'm confused about can be translated, and if anyone else wants any translations, then they could maybe post here and get some help.

So, to start off, can anyone tell me where the origins for the names 'Ralts,' 'Kirlia,' and 'Gradevoir' come from?

[mr_pikachu]

Ah, excellent question!

Hmm... looking at Wikipedia, Ralts is apparently based on "waltz", which is a type of dance. Kirlia seems to be named after Semyon Davidovich Kirlian, a Russian scientist who researched human psychic ability and similar phenomena. Gardevoir seems to be a bit more complicated, so I'll just quote its Wikipedia entry:

The name "Gardevoir" is thought to originate from the words "garde" (in French to care and look over) and "voir" (Also in French, "to watch"). It may also be a portmanteau from the word "guard" and "devoir", which is French for duty or "to have", so it could mean "duty to guard" or "it has to guard". That may refer to the fact that Gardevoir will protect its trainer no matter what, even if it has to risk its own life.

Cool topic idea. I like it!

[The Blue Avenger]

Ralts is also its Japanese name, so it might have some weird obscure Japanese meaning.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

If I saw Ralts written in hiragana or katakana, I maybe could get the meaning. You see, Japanese does not have triple consonants as 'lts' in this word. It should read rarutsu or something. If someone could help us how the name is pronounced perhaps I would get the idea.

EDIT: And so Ralts itself can't be a Japanese word.

[Mega Horny]

Noctowl (Night owl in german)
Feraligatr (Feral+Alligator)
delcatty (Delicate+cat)

I actuallt do these frequently and know quite a few. But gengar really gets me.

[Blademaster]

Gengar is a bit confusing, mostly because the translation is not what you think it is.

'Gengar' is another way of spelling 'Ganger,' which is taken from 'doppelganger,' a copy or duplicate. Gengar is indeed a copycat because of its RBY Pokedex entry:

'It pretends to be a shadow so as to scare people; then it laughs at them.'

...Something like that, anyway.

[Lady Vulpix]

Interesting.
And I've always found the names of the RBY legendary birds funny, with their 1-2-3 succession. But what do the names of the other legendary birds mean?

[Mega Horny]

Yes, what does Ho-Oh represent? Prostitute? A Form Of Twikies?

[Blademaster]

Mega Horny, you are a very strange individual...

Actually, Ho-Oh is derived from 'Houou,' the Japanese word for 'phoenix.'

Lugia, Latios, and Latias, however, I have no idea about...

[Phoenixsong]

Wow. There are Pokemon as Wikipedia entries?!? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, given the nature of Wikipedia, but I never knew that... it's actually kind of creepy...

Actually, I have read (and contributed to) a guide on GameFAQs on this very subject. I don't remember if Lugia's name was explained, but on my last check Latios and Latias have not yet been explained. Those two are confusing indeed...

Anyway, paraphrased from the aforementioned guide I have this to offer:

Kyogre: Even though it looks like something about an ogre, that part of the name is apparently a play on the word "orca", the killer whale. "Ky" is spelled "Kai" in Kyogre's Japanese name, Kaiorga, and I have heard "kai" equated with "lord", or "god". Therefore, Kyogre's name would mean "whale god", or something of the sort. However, according to my Japanese dictionary, "kai" means "shellfish", giving "shellfish whale", but that doesn't make sense. Oh, well.

Groudon: This one's easier. The "grou" obviously comes from ground. The "don" part is a Spanish title of respect or esteem (such as one might see in Don Juan or Don Diego). It more or less means "lord" as well, giving "ground lord". "Don" might also be from the ancient Greek for "tooth", like in Iguanodon "iguana tooth", and, well, Groudon's pretty toothy, too.

Rayquaza: Until I heard it pronounced in that really weird Destiny Deoxys movie, I thought it was "Ray-KA-zaa", and so I got the impression of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl ("KET-zaal-ko-AH-tull"), who is often represented by a feathered or flying serpent. This might be part of the case, but I know now that the name is pronounced "ray-KWAY-zaa", and so it is more likely that the "quaza" part comes from quazar, having to do with celestial bodies. Either way, "rey" is Spanish for "king", giving either "celestial king" or "flying serpent king". Pick whichever you like.

Deoxys: On that note about Destiny Deoxys, Deoxys's name comes from the term "deoxyribo neucleic acid"- commonly shortened to DNA. This is part of why its tentacle-arm things are shown twisted in a double helix.

Growlithe/Arcanine: The first part of Growlithe's name is obviously "growl", a very annoying noise that dogs tend to make when they're miffed at you and five seconds away from rending your flesh. The "lithe" part looks like it comes from the word "lithe", quick and limber, and Growlithe is a pretty fast Pokemon, but on hearing the pronunciation ("GRAU-lith", not "grau-LAITH") you might realize that it is more likely to have come from the highly combustible metal element lithium. Again, the "canine" part of Arcanine is obvious, and the "ar" sounds a little bit like the bark of a dog, but it probably also stems from the word "arson".

Rhyhorn/Rhydon: Most of this is obvious, with the plays on the words "rhinoceros" and horn. Again you have "don", or "lord", with Rhydon's name. But interestingly, "rhy" was not just used as a bastardized spelling of "rhi". Those are also the first three letters of "rhyolite", a very hard volcanic rock (and Rhydon lives in magma).

And, as another note, Feraligatr's name could also stem from "ferocious", not just "feral". But feral works too.

Those are just some of the more interesting ones I can remember. You might want to go look at the GameFAQs guide (I'm too lazy to find the link, but it's called "Name Guide" and is under the FireRed/LeafGreen section, if nowhere else in the Pokemon sections) for some interesting piece by piece explanations of the names. Really, I've been meaning to ask the author to add the names of some of the more significant trainers, too... I mean, ones like Lt. Surge and Misty are pretty obvious, but not everyone might recognize Sabrina, Giovanni, Lorelei and Falkner, and even I'm still not sure where Koga, Tate & Liza and some others came from. Those are possible things to discuss here, too. I'd add the ones I know, but not right now because I've already mentioned I'm lazy. Whatever. Outta here.

[The Blue Avenger]

If I saw Ralts written in hiragana or katakana, I maybe could get the meaning. You see, Japanese does not have triple consonants as 'lts' in this word. It should read rarutsu or something. If someone could help us how the name is pronounced perhaps I would get the idea.

EDIT: And so Ralts itself can't be a Japanese word.

Rarutosu, if I'm not mistaken.

Also, Phoenixsong: 'don' is also Italian, for the same thing, just for the record - it tends to be associated with Mafia bosses, at least by the people where I live. Concerning Rayquaza, I always thought 'ray' came from ray - as in a ray of light. Given that it was the one who calmed Kyogre and Groudon (and also seeing it in the Emerald introduction) makes me want to say that the 'ray' in Rayquaza comes from 'ray' and not 'rey.' Also, I believe Rayquaza is loosely based on its Japanese name, which is Rekkuza or something to that effect. Additionaly, I believe the 'ar' in Arcanine comes from 'arcane,' or mysterious.

Also, Koga, I think, is just a generic sounding ninja name. Liza and Tate come from ReaLIZe (?) and mediTATE.

[Phoenixsong]

Ah... I never thought of the "ray" bit. However, the pronunciation of the name, and the fact that the "celestial king" bit fits more with Kyogre and Groudon's names leads me to disagree slightly, but then again neither of us made up the name so I guess any or all of them are possible. Out of curiosity, what would Rekkuza mean?

Yeah, I heard about the "arcane" part, too. I seem to remember the Gold (or Silver) version Dex reading saying something about how it looked like a mythological Chinese figure, and it "runs as if it were flying".. I'd forgotten about that. Again, like the double entendre in Rhydon's name ("rhynoceros" and rhyolite) it could be both and more.

Hmm... Realize and Meditate... that makes sense, like Will's name coming from WILLpower. Also, I think Koga came from "kogatana", Japanese for knife, but I'm not totally sure.

[Blademaster]

I'm looking for where Natu/Xatu came from, if anyone knows...

[The Blue Avenger]

Ah... I never thought of the "ray" bit. However, the pronunciation of the name, and the fact that the "celestial king" bit fits more with Kyogre and Groudon's names leads me to disagree slightly, but then again neither of us made up the name so I guess any or all of them are possible. Out of curiosity, what would Rekkuza mean?

I would be inclined to agree with you about Rayquaza if it were spelled Reyquaza. As it stands, I believe that the creators (or at least the translators) had 'ray' more in mind than 'rey.' However, the fact that it does sound like 'rey' is an interesting, appropriate coincidence.

Incidentally, I have no clue what Rekkuza means.

[Mega Horny]

what about Rukario?

[The Blue Avenger]

Rukario, or Lucario as it's sometimes said, is a play on 'Oracle.' Spell its name backwards.

Oir - A - Cul.

Now say that aloud.

[Phoenixsong]

Yeah, well, Kyogre's English name isn't spelled "Kaiogre", and "Ky" doesn't mean anything at all, so... whatever. They're both valid points, it ain't worth arguing over.

Anywayz, Blademaster, if I may quote that Name Guide I mentioned earlier...

"Natu- (Atu/natu) This is still not clear. Apparentley, Atu is some Aztec god,
however, I haven't found anything about him, so I don't even know what kind of
animal he is. If it helps, natu also means "born" in Latin."

"Xatu- (X-Atu/xatu) Xatu (the real thing, not the Pokemon) is a Native American
totem pole, which makes sense, since the Pokemon Xatu does look a bit like a
totem pole. Another explanation is "X+Atu." As stated in Natu's little bit,
Atu is an Aztec god, (Xatu is described as being legendary in South America, or
something) and the X would come from X in algebra, meaning, "the unknown." With
its psychic mystic powers, Xatu can see into the future, and it is pretty
mysterious itself."

Both are taken from Awasai's Name Guide, the link to which I am finally willing to post. It's http://db.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbad..._frlg_name.txt Quite an interesting read, this.

My my my, this is fast becoming an interesting topic. You don't really think about how much etymology and symbolism plays a part in things like books and video games until you really look into it. There are about a billion other video game references I could name... but I won't. Anyway.

(And the official English name IS Lucario, so stated by the title of the upcoming movie, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.)

[mr_pikachu]

Atu was also the name of the first man of Samoan mythology, by the way. That might play a part as well for Natu and Xatu.

In Natu's case, "Nat" might be like "gnat", which is a very small bug. (Hey, size matters.) Also, "natu" is the Latin word for birth.

[Blademaster]

Fair enough.

I think that the Legendary Pokemon are the ones with the strangest names, don't you?

There are 19 Legendary Pokemon in all: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Latios, Latias, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi.

The ones in bold are those that we've already translated; the others, though... I don't know about...

Just in case anyone's wondering, I didn't include Mewtwo and Deoxys because they technically aren't Legendary Pokemon. One was made by human geneticists and the other was created from alien DNA in a lab. For this reason, I don't even know if they could be considered true Pokemon...

[mr_pikachu]

*sings poorly*

Wikipeeeeeedia, you are my best frieeeeeeeeend...



Raikou's name is completely derived from its Japanese name. The word "Rai" in Japanese means thunder. Raikou, 雷光, is the Japanese word for lightning, but since all the other legendary dogs have words that show dominance, the Kou in Raikou could also be the 公 that means lord, as he is the lord of thunder.



Entei's English name is completely derived from its Japanese name. Its Japanese name is likely a combination of 炎天 enten, blazing heat, and 帝威 teii, imperial majesty.



Suicune's name is derived from its Japanese name, Suikun. Since 水 sui means water, and 君 kun/cune means monarch, Suikun can be translated as water monarch, or water lord, referring to Suicune's dominion over the water element.



Lugia's name is most likely to be a variant of that of the Shinto kami Ryujin, which is also referred to as the "umi no kami" in Japanese religious/mythological writings. This same term is used in the original Japanese script of the second Pokémon movie to refer to Lugia; the term itself translates roughly to "guardian of the sea" or "god of the sea", somewhat interchangeably. There are also myths regarding Ryujin which have similar elements to Lugia, such as control of storms, the seas, as well as a story regarding the "jewels of the sea", which bear some similarities to the orblike "treasures" obtained by Ash/Satoshi in the course of the film. The English name of Lugia may also be formed around the Spanish words "Luz" (light) and "Rugía" (roared). It is also possible that Lugia's name is inspired after Greg Louganis, an Olympic diver (hence, the Diving Pokémon). Another influence on its name may be the Latin word lugeo, meaning to lie dormant, alluding to the way Lugia lies at the bottom of the sea.

Another, although less likely origin, is from the Celtic God "Lúg", followed by the suffix -ia, meaning to have the qualties of. Lúg was said to often take the form of a Seabird (hence the relation to Lugia's overall shape), plus he had a magic spear which he threw as an attack (Lugias attack somewhat resembles a spear of light).

Another mythic beast comparable to Lugia other than the Shinto kami Ryujin is the mythical Greek Halcyon. Lugia might have also been based off Hurakan, the Mayan god of storms and winds(hence his ability to create strong winds)



Ho-Oh, romanized as Houou (ホウオウ Hōō) in Japan, is a fictional, mythical character in the Pokémon series. The Pokémon's romanized Japanese name is the Japanese word for phoenix, specifically, the legendary Chinese phoenix, the Fenghuang.



There are many different ideas of Celebi's name origin. It most likely has originated either from the words "celestial" and "being" or "celestial'" and "bee," since it appears to be a sprite with bee wings and antennae. The name could be modeled off celebrity, due to it being a largely wanted Pokémon, or celebration (caused by actually owning one). There may be some reference to celery also (due to Celebi being part Grass, a substance which is edible to many herbivorous animals), and celibacy due to it not having a gender. It may even come from Celerity which means quickly.



Latias' name might have been derived from the Latin word" 'latere' (as in latent), which means 'to lie hidden', 'to be invisible'.

Latias' name is merely a romanization of its Japanese name, Ratiasu.



Latios' name might have been derived from the Latin word" 'latere' (as in latent), which means 'to lie hidden', 'to be invisible'. The first person singular form of this word is lateo, which, when mispronounced in English, sounds exactly like this Pokémon's name, thus making it translatable as 'I lay hidden'. It could also translate as 'The Uncle' in Spanish.

Also, the 'o' in Latios' name could be a masculine point, hence Latios being a male Pokémon.



The name Regirock originates from the words Regis, the Latin word for royal or king, and rock.



Regi is Latin for "king", so Regice would mean "Ice King" or "King of Ice."



Regi is Latin for "king" so Registeel would mean "Steel King", or "King of Steel".



The name Jirachi (ジラーチ) is a Japanized form of the pronunciation of желать (zhehlati), meaning "to wish" in Russian. In Russian, this word is pronounced "Jeh-yi-lah-tshi", much like "Jirachi".



Wikipeeeeedia, with me till the eeeeeeend...

[Mega Horny]

"There are many different ideas of Celebi's name origin. It most likely has originated either from the words "celestial" and "being" or "celestial'" and "bee," since it appears to be a sprite with bee wings and antennae. The name could be modeled off celebrity, due to it being a largely wanted Pokémon, or celebration (caused by actually owning one). There may be some reference to celery also (due to Celebi being part Grass, a substance which is edible to many herbivorous animals), and celibacy due to it not having a gender. It may even come from Celerity which means quickly."

For some reason that paragraph cracked me up; seriously I was on the floor laughing.

Anyway, nice work Mr. P.

[rinku]

It's worth noting that *every* legend's English name is merely a phonic transliteration of the Japanese one, usually tweaked to make the pronunciation clearer (Ho-oh is a good example. One standard romanization system would result in it being written Hoooo...).

[mr_pikachu]

It's worth noting that *every* legend's English name is merely a phonic transliteration of the Japanese one, usually tweaked to make the pronunciation clearer (Ho-oh is a good example. One standard romanization system would result in it being written Hoooo...).

Well, except for the obvious exceptions of the RBY birds. Freezer doesn't transliterate into Articuno very well, and the two others yield similar results.

[Blademaster]

You know what could very well be the most puzzling Pokemon of all?

Ludicolo.

I could never figure out what that thing is or what it's name meant, but I think I finally figured out at least the latter:

Ludicolo is known as the 'Jolly Pokemon,' and jolly, I think, is synonymous with ludic.

Also, Ludicolo loves to dance; the phrase 'dance solo' comes to mind.

Ludic + Solo = Ludicolo

[MeLoVeGhOsTs]

I always liked Sharpedo's name... YAY for me. And something about Mr.Mime and seel, made me think that the creators were on a coffee break.

EDIT: Spelling error.

[Mega Horny]

ludicolo is probably spanish seeing as he dances a lot, wears a sombrero and obviously becuase he has a duck bill.

[mr_pikachu]

That's an interesting theory, Blademaster. I hadn't thought of it that way. Wikipedia has a somewhat different explanation, even though yours makes sense as well.


Ludicolo (ルンパッパ Runpappa in Japanese, also Ludicolo in French and Kappalores in German) is a fictional character of the Pokémon franchise.

Ludicolo's name derives from the word ludicrous, meaning laughable or hilarious, and the colocynth, a tendril-bearing Old World vine bearing yellowish, green-mottled fruits the size of small lemons.

The "Ludi" part of its name is the Latin word for game/school. Ludicolo loves to dance, which could be associated with playing a game of sorts (school doesn't seem to fit a Ludicolo very well, so that meaning could be ignored.)

The "Colo" part is an anagram of a Spanish word for Crazy; "loco". Ludicolos are crazy by nature, so this actually makes sense.


And Ludicolo does seem to be a bit of a representation of Hispanics. After all, "Lombre" is very similar to both hombre and sombrero, and Ludicolo seems to be wearing a sombrero of sorts. I thought it was a little dumb for Pokemon to do something like that after all the trouble they've had with Jynx, but apparently there haven't been any complaints yet.

[Blademaster]

Trouble? With Jynx?

[Mega Horny]

=

They later made Jynx purple.

[Blademaster]

...

?

What, the way Jynx looked made all the African-Americans mad or something?

[Mega Horny]

Specifically insulted the those who worked in 'blackface' performances. wikipedia it.

[Phoenixsong]

Hmm, I wouldn't have noticed the Jynx thing. Maybe I'm just inattentive like that, though.

As for Ludicolo, I believe the name might also come from the Spanish "ridiculo", or ridiculous. As much as I love the thing, you've gotta admit that a duck-billed pineapple-pinata-lilypad with a sombrero is a pretty random idea.