Town name theme?

[moon]

In Kanto, all cities had color names. In Johto, all cities were based on kinds of trees.

But what theme do the Sinnoh towns have? Anybody know, or have creative alternative suggestions?

 

[Piloswine]

What I've figured out is the names seem to be a combination of two words, like Twin+leaf, Sand+gem, Flo(wer)+aroma. The names seem to be related to the cities' highlights, like, Floaroma is noticeable for its flowers, Oreburgh is a mining city, (it basically means borough of the ore). But not all cities follow this rule, like Eterna and Celestic.

 

[Damien.aspiring.fandev]

WALL OF TEXT LAUNCHED!

Spoiler:

Are we sure about this themes thing...?
Okay, I investigated, and with some exceptions themes do, seem to be a thing.
All the in-game Kantonian settlements are named after colours with the exception
of pallet to-oh wait, the original name, Masara town, comes from brand new or
pure white... well, the palette still relates I guess.

The islands of the Orange archipelago are mostly named after fruits or fruit varieties,
with the exception of various islands we don't know the names of, fire, lightning and
ice islands, possibly Fairchild island(can't find any documentation regard the name's
origin) and Shamouti island's original name being Earthia, from earth or Asia.

As for Johto, there's the exceptions of New Bark town, Goldenrod and Violet city
(there would be also Azalea town, but the original name is based off a variety of
cypress)... hm, maybe the in-game Johto settlements are meant to be themed after
vegetation in general, rather than trees(with the exception of Goldenrod city)?

The Sevii islands are named after numbers. Nothing else to see here, move along!

The vast and barren Orre appears to follow a "mineral" theme, with
Phenac city being named after phenakite(and possibly Phoenix, a city in
Arizona), Agate village being obvious, and Pyrite town being also obvious
(but possibly alluding to pirates). Particular cases are The Under, a town deep
below Pyrite town's ravine, pretty much what the name suggests. Gateon port
probaby comes from gate and eon(referring to the eevee-lutions), in Japanese
however it's called Io Port, from iolite(you guessed it, a mineral).

The only 4 settlements of the minuscule Fiore are all named and themed after
the 4 seasons(Ringtown, Fall City, Summerland, Wintown).

Unovian settlements (with the exception of black city/white forest) are
named after patterns in Japanese and clouds in English, but of course
that varies depending on the language (in Italian they're named after winds).

The lordries of Ransei are all named after types except for ???, shadow and fairy,
the latter nonexistent at the time.Your own domain, Aurora, is an exception :
the original name is Hajime, aka beginning(top Ranger Kellyn intensifies), and
was referred on the game's website as Primus(first?), as for the name Aurora...
I'm clueless :P.

Kalosian settlements were stated to be named after perfume-related items.

As for the Sinnoh settlements, I checked and what I noticed is that rather than
being named after a theme, each settlement is named what it's themed after,
so my best guess is that the settlements' name theme is the theme itself...
(pretty much as the user above suggested)

The names seem to be related to the cities' highlights

I love recursion! :3

But not all cities follow this rule, like Eterna and Celestic.

I think Eterna alludes to the continuity of space and time, whereas the celestial Celestic
might allude...
well, to Dialga and Palkia directly, methinks... the original name is Kannagi, aka oracle.

Almian locations seem to follow a similar path, since Pueltown derives from
puerto(guess?), Boyeland derives from boiling, and Shiver camp is rather obvious.
More complicated are the cases of Vientown, from viento(wind in Spanish, I wonder if it
has anything to do with the winds of new beginnings, since it's where your Ranger career
starts?Wait, winds of... Johto confirmed?), the Haruba desert & village possibly being named
after halva, a confectionery(yum) and the Chicole village being named after chicory, a plant
with bright blue flowers(not sure if Johto confirmed because of chikorita or allusion to the
protagonist coming from Fiore, region that is literally named flower in Italian).

Well, I'm a bit tired of typing, so I'm leaving Hoenn, Alola, Mystery Dungeon world,
Decolore islands, Ferrum, Oblivia and the Shuffle areas to anyone else for now.
Bye-bye à go-gò!

 

[Piloswine]

You did a great research. Now we have a good idea of the origins of the cities' names in Pokémon.

 

[moon]

That's a nice post! Yeah, vegetation for Johto seems to make sense.

I guess there is no very cohesive theme for Sinnoh cities other than that they are named after what they are featuring then. This disappoints me a bit haha, I like when it's thematic (8

 

[Damien.aspiring.fandev]

Snip

Snip

Thank you very much! Thank you, thank you!
Rethinking about Eterna city and Celestic town... maybe they allude to time(eternity) and
space(vault of heaven, sky) respectively. This is also supported by the fact Eterna city is an
antique settlement with a high contrast of tall contemporary buildings and more dated
households, representing past and present, and Celestic town... well, doesn't have much room...

Oh, and stars, no need to be disappointed! Think it that way : the theme is the theme itself!

And just when I was about to cover MORE locations on an other post, the computer
restarts point blank!
(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻
*deep breath* *miniremo noises*
Damien used synthesis!

Oblivia

Spoiler:

Settlements
Cocona village>Coconut, the one you put the lime into.
Tilt village>Tilt, inclination, obliquity, slantering.
Aqua resort>Take a guess. French and Portoguese are particular cases, for they refer to its balnearity(seaside-ness)

The settlements might be themed after themes themselves like Sinnoh, Almia and Alola.
Since There isn't much here, I'll cover the islands' names

Dolce island> Dolce is Italian for sweet(as flavour) or cake. The original Japanese name is Drop island. The Italian translators decided to fuse both into Dolcegoccia(Sweetdrop).
Renbow island>Guess?
Mitonga island> From the original Japanese name Mironda island, the latter coming from ronda, Italian, Portoguese and Spanish term for round(in Italian it might be outdated or dialectal...)
Faldera island>Caldera is a volcanic phenomenon.
Layuda island>The English name contains ayuda(help in Spanish, similar to aid), the original Japanese name however, Laiun island, comes from raiun(thundercloud). Similarly the other translations I have documentation of allude to lightning, storm or thunder.
Tilikule island> From ukulele.
Sophian island> Can't find anything here, BUT... isolate the first two letters of the islands' names, and what do you get? Meowth, that's right! Solfège syllabes!

Shuffle areas (will cover some Italian translations due to documentation availability and obvious bias :P )
The computer is frozen! It might not respond!
Damien hits himself in frustration!
Great! I'll have to restart over with the silly Shuffle areas...

Spoiler:

Puerto Blanco>Port White, but it's in Spanish! In Japanese it's harbor 'tho.
Sandy bazaar>Obvious. The Italian translator/s might have though it was lame and thus translated it as "Bazar Asfar"(asfar appears to be yellow in Arabic). The original name is Biij Bazaar(biij is seed in Hindi).
Night festival>Obvious. In Italian it was translated as fiera kuroiro(fiera=fair,such as funfair, as for kuroiro I can't find anything in regard...). The Japanese name is Sumi Festival... I'm not sure whether it relates to the year's end or the dusk.
Isla Asul>Azure island in Spanish, but there's an S instead of a Z. In Italian it was translated as Spiaggia Azul(identical to the Japanese name). Also, are those starfish...?
Rainbow park> Take a guess. In Italian is was translated as Parco Iris, pretty much like the Japanese name. Iris, aside the flowers and the part of your eye that contracts or relaxes to let in more or less light, was the Greek she-deity of rainbows, this explains why Iris gets rainbow lights in the background sometime in the games.
Galerie Rouge> Red gallery, but in French. Some versions have galerie translated.
Sweet strasse> Sweet street, but street is in German and with a double S instead of a ß. Translated in Italian as Casa Bonbon(bonbon house, like in Japanese) hold on *brakes screeching* this area was once known as Bonbon Boulevard...
Silbern museum> Silbern is silver in German. It also reminishes me of sideral, an astronomical term used to describe something incredibly cold, with a temperature below 0 degrees, quite fitting since the area looks like an aerospace exhibit.
Mt. Vinter> You guessed it, Winter. The translator/s decided not to use the abbreviation M.(Mt.) but rather use the full term Monte(Mount). Maybe they thought not everyone is aware of the abbreviation?
Castle Noapte> Noapte is night in Romenian(I see what you did there).
Jungle Verde> Green jungle, but it's green in Italian, Portoguese and Spanish. In such languages the term "green" can be used to vaguely allude to greenery, vegs and more. In Italian it was changed to Verdor(Spanish term for Greenery).
Wacky workshop>It's... pretty much what it's named... in Italian it was translated as toy factory, similar to the Japanese name Jouet factory, except Jouet is toy in french.
Pedra Valley>Pedra is an XX name derived from stone, quite like Peter. In Italian Pedra was changed to Piedra, literally stone in Spanish...
From this point on I won't be covering Italian translations because I'm stuck to the haxorus stage
and also lack documentation... -_-
Albens town>Albens is a conjugation of the Latin verb albeō(to be white). This is pretty much Puerto Blanco serie 2... the Japanese name is Albus town, probably still about whiteness...
Roseus center>Take a guess?
Desert Umbra>Umbra=Shadow in Latin. The Japanese name is Pullus desert. Pullus is a Latin term which translates to waaaay too much stuff... it's most likely meant as dusky, blackish or dark coloured.
Violeta Palace>Guess?
Blau Salon>It's blue, dabe-di dabe-dae-be, dabe-di, dabe-dae, dabe-di dabe-dae-be...
Glaucus hall>No clue about this one...
Nacht carnival>Night carnival, but night is in German.
Prasino woods>Green once again, but this time it's Greek! In japanese the area is called Chlorón woods(from chlorone)... uhm, I'm a bit clueless here.
Zaffiro coast>Could be from zefiro(a wind) but it's most likely...

Alola

Spoiler:

One curiosity about the most recent core region is that translations are almost identical
to the Japanese or English names(with a few close exceptions). You know what I like about this region's settlements? The fact the Italian translators got tired of the suffix -poli. About time! I'm tired of seeing places ending with poli {XD}.
Iki town>Liliʻi town in the Japanese version and amost every translation. Both lili'i and iki in Hawaiian mean small. Mandarin and Cantonese versions add an extra small to emphasize(ba-dum-tss!).
Hau'oli city>Hau'oli in Hawaiian means happiness. In the French translation it's changed to Ekaeka, possibly from ake(desire in Hawaiian). Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese translations also contain hǎo and hóu(good).
Heahea city> Kantai City in Japanese and other languages, both names mean "warm welcome" in Hawaiian and Japanese respectively, same for Hwandae city in the Korean translation. The Mandarin and Cantonese denonyms are composed by generous and reception.
Paniola town> Paniola is cowboy in Hawaiian. In every other translation it's called Ohana town(in some cases "town" is omitted). 'Ohana is family, always in Hawaiian.
Konikoni City> This settlement has its denonym mostly UNCHANGED in every language I have documentation about. Konikoni is Hawaiian for passion.
Malie City> From mālie(Hawaiian for calm, serene). Once again, teanslations seem to stay faithful to each other. Mandarin and Cantonese denonyms have an extra calm within to put emphasis on the concept.
Tapu vilage> Or Kapu village, referring to the guardian deities of Alola. Nothing else here, move along.
Po Town>Pō, night in Hawaiian. Mandarin and Cantonese denonyms instead have a poetic term for moon(pò, bok).
Seafolk Village>Pretty much a vilage of sea folk... again, not much to see. Italian and Spanish denonyms refer to its maritimity, and the French denonym to the fact it fluctuates.

Holon (region and omonymous settlement)
In philosophy the term holon describes something that is similtaneously a whole and a part,
possibly alluding to the city and region having the same name (like some small real world
countries). In physics it's the name of an electron quasiparticle, this could be related to the
magnetic storms recurrent in the region.

Decolore archipelago

Spoiler:

Honey island>Quite obvious. Probably the name is due to the large population of combee and beedrill.
Scalchop island>Shaped like a scalchop, the one oshawott and dewott carry. The island is known for the scalchop-based goods as well as being shaped like one. Not every language rates a made-up term for the scalchop, this thus causes things like shell island, island of the shells, island of the scallop etc.
Grand Spectrala island, town and islet> Original Japanese names being Mahora Main Island, town and islet. I lack documentation here and thus am clueless. Spectrala might have to do with the spectrum, but I don't know if a zoroark broadcasts illusions through the manipulation of light(the latii do, seem to do so)
Torom island> Sounds familiar? It's a nagaram of motor and rotom, the plasma pokémon! The original Japanese name is Mutoro island, aka rotom backwards.
Wayfarer island> Oh look! I discovered a new term! A wayfarer is a traveller. The original Japanese name is Watari Island(watari=migration). Both names allude to the local swarms of caterpie leaving the island once fully evolved.
Capacia island> Capacia might allude to the island's capacity, similar buisness with the other languages, alluding to size or extension.
Harvest island> Might have to do with the local grand harvest festival.
Deserted island & cave island>Those names...{XD}
Frond island>The fronds of the trees... yep, not much here... can't find info regard the original name either.
Paladin island> I can't be too sure why the place is named like this... maybe the two dueling trainers from Sinnoh and Unova had some particular role in society? The original name is Ganryū island, which happened to be the name of an actual island!

 

[moon]

If we're gonna discuss naming themes for any region, I'll just move this to Pokémon Gaming Central instead ^^

 

[Nah]

As for Johto, there's the exceptions of New Bark town, Goldenrod and Violet city
(there would be also Azalea town, but the original name is based off a variety of
cypress)... hm, maybe the in-game Johto settlements are meant to be themed after
vegetation in general, rather than trees(with the exception of Goldenrod city)?

Yeah, it's probably more likely vegetation in general rather specific types of vegetation, since like say, Blackthorn and Azalea are kinds of shrubs, but Mahogany is a type of tree.

Goldenrod and Violet do fit into the theme too actually. Goldenrods are some sort of flowering plant, and Violet is, while also a color, also a name for a group of flowers.

 

[Piloswine]

Hoenn follows the same pattern ad Sinnoh's.

Slateport: Slate is a kind of rock, and might be a reference to the pavings of the city. Port might be there because it's a coastal city.
Littleroot and Petalburg refer to plants parts. Littleroot may be because it's where the journey begins, and plants begin with the root.
Lilycove and Dewford have vegetables in their name (lily and dewberry) while also referring to the geography of the places where the cities are located (cove is the same as bay and ford is a shallow part of a river, though Dewford is actually by the sea).
Rustboro might refer to the fact that the city is old (rust). I don't know what boro means.
Mauville and Sootopolis both have common suffixes. The first words that form the names are mauve (a color) and soot (I'm not sure what it has to do with the city).
Fortree is a little obvious, cause the houses are built atop the trees.
Lavaridge has lava and ridge. It's a cool name because the city is near a volcano.
Verdanturf is verdant turf, and you can guess why it has this name.
I'll let the other cities to someone else.

 

[Mab]

and soot (I'm not sure what it has to do with the city).

soot is volcanic ash, right? sootopolis city is built in the core of a dormant volcano. it also matches the palette of the town.

 

[Ho-Oh]

Unova is clouds! I always thought it was super cool because I LOVED clouds as a kid and Unova got to be named after clouds :)

Anville Town -
Legit got the coolest cloud, cumulonimbus incus. Basically like these are the badass clouds that create the BEST storms.

Spoiler:

Lentimas Town -
Lenticular clouds. Basically like, alien type clouds. IIRC some people thought of them as alien space ships years ago but that mighta just been a rumour.

Spoiler:

Nuvema -
Literally just means cloud. The loser of the Unova locations.

aannnd I got tired of writing so here we go!

https://pokemonresearch.tumblr.com/post/40394334168/unova-clouds-explained-p1

Y'all should read this too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cloud_types

Legit I LOVE all these clouds but we see very little of these types other than cumulus, cirrus, etc. So Icirrus and Accumula tbh! Actually no, we haven't seen Cirrus here for a while... mostly in WA. Clouds in Queensland suck guys :( Legit though, different places have different types of clouds, yknow those alien clouds I mentioned? They're like mostly found around high altitudes so nope not here but in really coldish mountain-y areas HELL YEA.

Also if you ever see like these lumps in the sky, that means that Anville Town's cloud is coming (those are mammatus clouds btw!) and y'all should avoid because a big nasty storm is coming. :)

Either way - Unova is the coolest with the cloud names imo!