Do you nickname?

[UniversalGamer]

I never used nicknames until Pokemon Y came out because i always wanted the Pokemon's name to stick in my head so ill know what the trainer will shoot out next.

 

[Meganium]

I don't nickname my Pokemon, but ever since I started playing White 2, I started doing so. During my first playthrough I named all my Pokemon after NASCAR drivers, (all of them had to be male), and now I'm planning to do my first X playthrough naming all my Pokemon after my friends. Usually I don't do this, but it's becoming pretty fun.

 

[PumpJack]

Always. I just find it fun to do.

Some from the X roster.

Chesnaught - Gawain
Gardevoir - Valeria
Pinsir - Mordred
Vivillon (Polar) - Silverbelle
Barbarcle - Loch n' Lode
Crustle - Tuareg
Golurk - Atlas

 

[Aether★]

Practically I always nickname them, especially shinies!

 

[Patrick]

Depends on how or why I'm playing the game. In Yellow I used nicknames if the anime had them as well. In Blue and Silver, initially, I didn't. I can't remember so much in Sapphire but I don't think I did.

What those games have in common (Yellow aside) is that I played the games just to play them and get through the story.

In a years later replaying of Blue to hunt for all the data corrupting glitches I could find, I then nicknamed my Pokemon since I was doing it with a friend. They went on to become characters immediately afterwords but died off just as soon. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team was a game where most Pokemon had nicknames to make them distinguishable and unique. Then that went on to become a story I got tired of. :P

The most recent game, Y, takes on the approach I did for Silver, which is that it became the basis of a long running series with a friend of mine, so I'm doing the same thing again, but most new Pokemon will have nicknames (and others won't to keep the tradition of "Pokemon-the-Pokemon") just to differentiate.

So in short, these days if I nickname a Pokemon, it's because the Pokemon is based on an existing character (naming my newly caught shiny Nidorina in Y "Charlotte" again) or they're likely to become characters (Mystery Dungeon). The games become basis for off shoot stories. Off shoot stories influence the games. It's a cycle now.

Some new nicknames from Y:
Gardevoir - Clemence
Roselia - Follett
Aromatisse - Chanel
Gourgeist - Odile
Goodra - Margaux

All of which I'm gonna draw out in a dumb adventure, of course.

 

[Alfabusa]

Nowadays I pretty much always nickname my Pokémon, but only with nicknames that I feel are worthy. The nicknames I currently like the most is Pepperupt for my Typhlosion and Esidisi for Landorus.

 

[Garrabutártulo]

I never nicknamed my pokes 'till 4th gen (been playing since 1st gen!) and Now I can't imagine playing with an unnicknamed party... Also, I love to see creative nicknames when I battle other players.
I gave some nicknames I'm really proud of, like Karma the keckleon, Fungusaur the breloom, Petalodon the meganium, Stall.exe the Porygon2 or Rockzilla the tyranitar.
However the best nickname I've ever seen is Frostitute, Haydunn's jynx.

 

[Pokemon Trainer Jackey]

I tend to nickname Pokemon that I'll either be using for a while or if something just "clicks." Like, ya gotta have an Oddish named Evenish at some point. You just have to. There's not a set pattern to how I name. I might give them a name that just "fits," or I might name them after a person/character. Or I might just go with something silly to amuse myself.

 

[Captain Oshawott]

When I first started playing Pokemon thirteen years ago, I almost never nicknamed them. Mostly because I thought it was stupid that calling my Charmander 'Lizard O Deth' *I was five xD* was silly, because it just said Charmander anyways when it talked *or so I pretended*.

But nowadays, I usually tend to nickname it, mostly because of the Nuzlocke challenge having inspired me to become more attached to the little sprite characters. I'll name an Oshawott after a sea monster, like Nessie, or the male version; Champlain. Or Poseidon if I see fit.

Or maybe a Raichu gets something a bit more specific/punny, like Sparks, Bolt, Jolt, those kinds of things. It's really all about the Pokemon, and what they remind me of, which is how I name them.

 

[Arma]

As of this gen, I tried to give everything I caught a nickname, but, eh... I might need to take a few boxfulls of mons to the name rater.. XD However, everything I have trained does have a nickname.

I also like to give funny nicks to the mons I'm offering in wonder trades. Hope they like Vin Diesel the Mudkip...

Here are some of the names I've given:
Crenshaw - Cloyster
Felix - Heliolisk
Therana - Roserade
Caesar - Arcanine
Sorelle - Noivern
Eubans - Dodrio

 

[Shhmew]

I've been giving nicknames religiously since 3rd gen, now it just feels very strange and impersonal if I use an unnamed Pokemon.

I usually just name them whatever comes to mind. It's extremely random xD But I seem to name things after food quite often. Because it's cute >n<

 

[Trainer Galza]

I used to try to nickname all my Pokemon.. but I sort of gave up/ran out of ideas at one point. There's just too many for me to make up something unique.. and considering that most of my boxes are made up of traded guys from all over the world, I sort of stopped caring. So, these days I usually only nickname the ones I like or the ones on my team(s).

 

[Orogenes]

Always, though I have no real method that I rely on. It can be something "clever" that goes with associations, like my Charizard called "Ragnarok" or my Lucario called "Bigby", but sometimes it's just random names like "Holger", "Veronica" etc.

 

[CanalavesHermit]

I usually nickname anything and everything, I tend to name my actual Pokemon something meaningful, but I've been known to come up with odd ones like a Squirtle named Eco-turtle.

I enjoy calling my HM users, Secret Agents after the japanese fandom. It just makes them sound so awesome.

Everything else gets wacky names some from their pokedex entires, some from how they look to me, everything usually ends up with a nickname from me XD.

 

[Pikelodeon]

I do, but my lack of creativity always makes me consult sites. xD Nickname Rater ftw!

 

[TheKantoKid]

I usually Nickname my Pokemon after close friends. I'm actually actively trying to make a team of Pokemon that they act like the most

 

[Link119]

I categorize my nicknames into several categories:
Signature...These often fit into other categories, but these are just nicknames I feel absolutely obligated to use for certain pokemon...These are sometimes, but not even close to always, original ones...

Humor...Things I find humorous...

Deep Meaning...Self-explanatory...

Reference...References to anything...Can be a character, can be a song...

Theme...I like theming my competitive teams' nicknames...

Random/Placeholders...Could be a common name or could just be something random on a pokemon that I may/may not change later, just cause I was too lazy to think up a nickname...

Breeding...Could be considered Placeholders...Generally cycle through the alphabet, then go to two letters (AA, AB, AC)...

 

[Talon Flare]

Not anymore or sometimes just temporary
Like my Hawlucha I named him Rey Mysterio from some amount of time and later switch it back to his original name

 

[Mesmerella]

Yes, I definitely nickname stuff! My first Pokemon I ever had was a Torchic who I named Tweety. For a while, as a kid, I stopped nicknaming stuff, but when I got older, I went back to it... I give all sorts of nicknames, funny or serious, depending on what I'm using the Pokemon for. Most of the time, I name my Pokemon after characters from other things I like. The team I used in X, for example, were almost all named after Animal Crossing characters. XD

 

[Dreg]

I have never nicknamed any of my Pokemon... I've always kept their original names. Nicknaming a Pokemon has never crossed my mind.