I've taken to giving my Pokemon nicknames lately, though I didn't always. Makes me feel closer to them. To the collection of pixels in the animated monsters on my DS screen...I may need to get out more :laugh: My current team's nicknames (the ones in my sig) are:
Quorra the Blaziken, named after the character from Tron: Legacy.
Mistral the Jolteon, named after the .Hack character.
Rumor the Froslass, named after a character from a .Hack novel.
Nausicaa the Milotic, named after the Studio Ghibli character.
Elnara the Sawsbuck, slightly inspired by Inara the Firefly character.
Tiamat the Hydreigon, named after the multi-headed dragon god in DnD.
As for other peoples nicknames? I like them. It shows a little of who the previous owner was, even if it's something rude or in a language I don't understand.