Y’know, it’s weird that I spend so much time on nicknames, because one of my odder beliefs about Pokémon is that they actually don’t understand or have any use for the concept of personal names; I think it’s purely something that humans project on them because it fits the way we like to think about our relationships with them. I guess coming up with nicknames is just fun! I always feel a deep sense of satisfaction when I think of a clever one, especially if I can shoehorn some Latin or Greek into it. Like so…
Invicta was my Volcarona from my Black team – it’s the feminine form (because she was a female) of invictus, a Latin word that means “unconquerable;” I chose it because the sun god worshipped in the Roman Empire during the late 3rd century was called Sol Invictus – “the unconquerable sun.”
My Sealeo on Alpha Sapphire is called Lennon, after the Beatles’ John Lennon, because of their song “I am the Walrus.”
My Girafarig is called Panama, because of the classic palindrome that goes “A man, a plan, a canal: Panama!”
My Heracross, who is female, is called Alcmene, after the mother of Heracles, because Heracross is supposed to be a Hercules beetle.
My Golduck is called Mad Eileen, for… reasons which… to be honest, now escape me.
Back on X now, my Pinsir is called Wesley, because Pinsir crushes things between its horns, making him Wesley the Crusher.
The first Smeargle I caught is called Fabius, after a Roman historian named Fabius Pictor – “pictor” being the Latin word for “painter.” The shiny one I found soon after I caught him is called Mona, for obvious reasons.
My Sigilyph is called Digamma, after a letter of the archaic Greek alphabet that fell out of use by the classical period, because Sigilyph’s wings remind me of the shape of the letter.
My Floatzel is called Ronald, because Floatzel is orange and Weasley.
My (female) Gourgeist is called Claudia in reference to a somewhat obscure satire written by the Roman philosopher Seneca upon the death of the Emperor Claudius, who is its main target. Its title is the Apocolocyntosis, which is a Greek compound word meaning something like “ascension to pumpkinhood” (contrast apotheosis, ascension to godhood, which is what’s supposed to happen to emperors when they die).
And my Delibird is called Jamesy because… well, sometimes there are inside jokes that only a few of my friends will get. 😉
Pokémaniacal 