Question

Here: http://pokemondb.net/etymology
I think we got it 99% correct, so thanks to everyone that helped, I really appreciate it!

The point of this post is just in case there may be a few mistakes. If you happen to notice anything you think is wrong, post an answer here and I will look into it.

Update 16/12/12: I updated the etymology page with the suggestions here. The answers have been hidden to avoid them getting in the way of any new ones. Thanks to everyone who's contributed so far!

Comments

solosis -> sylosis

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@Gligurr what is sylosis? Apart from apparently a rock band.

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Blastoise and Karrablast both have the Root word "Blast," which comes from the word "blastoid." These were both fossils.

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I agree with DarkDestiny, I think that "tales" is a clever pun, not just a deliberate mis-spell of "tails". I would perhaps change it to something like "corruption of ‘tails’, may also refer to stories and legends about this Pokémon". I actually don't think it's based on a cat-o-nine-tails, it's pretty gruesome. Much more likely that it's the legendary asian nine-tailed fox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-tailed_fox :)

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You said "Emolga" was from "momonga," the japanese scientific name for the dwarf flying squirrel, but you forgot that the e and l in the name had to come from somewhere. I think Emolga's name also came from electric, which explains "E"molga.

Answer 1

For Tyrogue, tyke and rogue are good, but I always thought it partly came from "tyro", someone who is inexperienced or a rookie, since it evolves into one of the more advanced martial arts Pokemon

Comments

I really agree with this! +1

Answer 2

Sorry to bother you again, Pokemaster, but on Magnezone's etymology, Magnetic Zone says "An alternate term for magnetic field. An area near a megnet. Shouldn't it be "magnet"?

Answer 3

Just going to throw out there that pretty much all the ones with "Greek for" are wrong.

Selene is not the greek goddess of the moon...

Comments

Wikipedia says: "In Greek mythology, Selene was an archaic lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia."
That sounds like goddess of the moon to me.

What do you think it should be?

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She was a Titan. "Selene, the greek Titan of the moon"

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Well what's a "Titan" then if it's not a god(dess)?
Lunar deity literally means "moon god".

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In Greek mythology, the Titans were like, the gods before the gods. The main Titan Kronos fathered the gods, who promptly overthrew him, cut him up into pieces, and sent him into the deepest part of the underworld, along with the other Titans. But with my luck I misunderstood what you were asking and am now rattling on about irrelevant things...

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Titans were also more destructive than the gods. Kronos tried to eat his kids.

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I love how he ate a rock instead of Zeus though.

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LOL. (filler)

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Yes like me, King of the Titans... Crounous or Kronos.

Answer 4

For dugtrio, trio means a group of three, like dodrio, but in the description it says "Spanish word for three."
Murkrow is right for murky and crow, but there is also murder, which is a group of crows as well as death, keeping the dark element to it.
Forretress could also mean fortress, turret, and forest.
Clamperl has clam, pearl, but also possibly clamp, to signify that Clamperl slams its shell shut tightly.
The Bi in bidoof and bibarel could mean a prefix of "two," referencing their two buck teeth.
Happiny might also mean happen as well as happy, considering the basic evolution Chansey means odds. Blissey could also mean bliss and bless, to bring great happiness and good fortune, creating a trio of happen, chance, and bless, along with happiness and bliss.
Caterpie is right on the caterpillar part, but I think it might also be combined with "cutie pie," a term of endearment or of something adorable, possibly referencing its big eyes or just all around "cuteness."
I always thought that pidgey was a combination of pigeon and pudgy, like in that one episode, pidgeotto was pigeon and "auto"-pilot, for flying, and pidgeot was pigeon and pilot.
Rampardos could also have rampage, referencing that it tears things down easily with violence. I also agree with a previous user of rampart.
There is also other users that mention victreebel (tree) dragonite (knight) and sunkern/sunflora (sunflower, not just sun).
I'm probably talking out of the back of my head, but that's what I have to contribute. Sorry for the slight wall of text.

Comments

I agree with most of these ... but not the Pidgey related ones, they're seem just a bit farfetch'd to me (sorry that was dreadful I know!) Perhaps not the caterpie one either. The rest are good though :) I agree with sunflower as the basis of sunkern, because of its evolution but also it is stripey heh!

Answer 5

I think lampent's etymology could be improved. It currently says lamp and pent (up),but lament could also work there. It would fit the pokemon's ghost type just as pent (up)fits it's fire type, plus it's only one letter away from lampent, so it really fits.

Comments

Yes I think you're right. It's a tough one to be honest, there are so many places the word could come from.

Answer 6

The name origin for Lampent is only half right. The first is lamp, of course, but "lament" likely has nothing to do with it. The word lambent, on the other hand, is an adjective given to something that glows, gleams, or shines. Remember the Lambent from Gears of War? They were called that because of how they were all glowy and stuff.

Comments

Ooh good answer! Plus I'm happy that I learned a new word today :)

Answer 7

It says that part of Sunkern's entomology is from the Sun. I think it's much more likely that it has to do with the Sunflower, since Sunkern's evolution(Sunflora) is based on Sunflowers. The name Sunflower came from Sun, yes, but Sunkern, being a Sunflower seed Pokèmon, would have been named for the flower itself.

Comments

Pokeslash, come to chat! Absol is blowing up earth with bio-nuclear bombs!

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please tell me, What do flowers need to survive?
________ + water

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Sunlight

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What if the name comes from Sunken? Once I read the word 'Sunken' and thought it said 'Sunkern'...

Answer 8

I'm wondering if squirtle could be squirt + squirrel + turtle instead of just squirt and turtle, because the tail really reminds me of a squirrel.

Comments

Whhaaa? This is the second time someone has said this.

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Maybe it is just Turtle + Squirrel after all turtles do enjoy their water. Just Squirtle maybe does not need the squirt part being Squirrel and Turtle mixed together sounds like Squirtle.

Answer 9

herdier- herd should be the act of herding which some people use dogs to do

buizel- buoyant (floating)

rampardos-rampart?

grotle-grotto (a cave)

Salamence -immense (very large)

cascoon-casket

torchic-chick (a young chicken)

celebi-celery(a plant)

hippowdon- don means tooth in greek

tornadus, thunderus, and landerus- cloud types end with -us,
cirrus, stratus, cumulus, nimbus and lots more

sunflora-floral(pertaining to or consisting of flowers)

dragonite-knight(a warrior often associated with dragons)

cubone-club

victreebel-tree

Comments

Sorry I disagree with several of these... for example Celebi is unlikely to be derived from celery ... I mean the words sound similar but so do a lot of things. It doesn't really make sense in the context so.. yeah.

Answer 10

I think you overlooked the big cROSS on metagROSS's head. I also heard that ludicolo sounded like the Mexican word ridiculo, which means ridiculous, I mean, he's a pineapple in a sombrero. Empoleon also sounds like polar. I also think beldum is a dumb bell, meaning metang means metal f'tanng, like a bell sound. I also think vibrava is a cicada and flygon is a dragonfly. Spoink sound like boing. Torchic is a starter, so I think chick, a baby chicken is more accurate than chicken. Delibird is a delivery bird also. Kingler may also be an angler. Weedle is also a weevil, and I think absol means absence of sol or sun. That's about all i can spot at least.

Comments

I couldn't say anything about the others but Empoleon is a mix of Napoleon and Emperor, as it says.

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Most of this seems right. Except I think the Empoleon like Ben says.  +1

Answer 11

The "lga" in Dialga is it really from Dragon? I don't think it makes much sence.
Also answering instead of commenting so you have a chance to see this.

Comments

Dia is the stem for across, and the "lga" according to that means dragon. So Dialga being the time dragon who can travel "through / across" time. Kind of makes sense, but I may be stretching it a tad.

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Yeah I'm not sure about this one. Dialga/Palkia have their name same as the Japanese (like most legendaries), so the origin is rooted in the Japanese somewhere.

Answer 12

Graveler: -er somebody
Mr.Mime mr male
Pupitar: pupae pupa
Volbeat beat rhythm

Comments

I think the "Mr" is a obvious one and that is why it isn't on there.

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And a female Mr. mime 0_0

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Ms mime! XD

Answer 13

For Ekans, it says "snake a species of reptile; ‘ekans’ spelled backwards"
And for Arbok, it says "cobra a species of reptile; ‘kobra’ spelled backwards"

Shouldn't Ekans be "snake a species of reptile; ‘snake’ spelled backwards"?

Comments

"ekans spelled backwords" is meaning to "snake a species of reptile" so it is correct

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No, you've misunderstood me. It should say "'snake' spelled backwards".
Even if you're still in dismay, the use of the semicolon means "'snake' spelled backwards" is correct, as both sides of the semicolon are explaining the name.

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Ekans spelled backwards does not mean the name, Ekans, it means the snake
You can also read like "snake, ekans spelled backwards"

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Well then either Ekans or Arbok need to change, as they are the same style yet there's two different explanations.

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you're right.
If you look at this, http://pokemondb.net/pokebase/meta/9972/pokemaster-think-might-confuse-people-relating-etymology
Ekans is correct, so it should be "Arbok spelled backwords"

Answer 14

I don't know if this has been suggested before,but Vullabys's name can be slightly changed.The vulture part is right,but instead of lullaby,it should be baby.Clearly Vullaby is a baby pokemon,it looks like it just hatched.Plus it doesn't even learn any moves that but the enemy to sleep.

Comments

A lullaby is something that's sung to babies to help them sleep. So the origin is correct.

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oh,I was going by apperence...

Answer 15

a buffalo is not a large ox
Bouffalant

Answer 16

Wheedle could also refer to
Wee, as in small
Wheedle, to pester or bother constantly. In order words, to bug.
Beetle, a type of insect

Pikachu. Pikas aren't rodents, and are related to rabbits

Omaster may also refer to master

Dragonite may also refer to knight

Furret: ferrets arnt rodents, though the ret in furret may refer to rats

Piloswine: may also refer to Pleistocene, the time when mammoths went extinct

Tyranitar: tyrant also

Torchic: chick, a baby bird

Swampert: expert maybe?

Lombre: hombre (Spanish for man)

That's all for now

Answer 17

For Nidoran ♀ and ♂, the first part makes sense, but I am not convinced by the "ran" part. Sure ran is Japanese for orchid, but where did the bit about blue and purple come from? Also, to be honest, although ran means orchid literally, Nidoran doesn't really resemble or have any connection with orchids, so perhaps, it's not literal?

I think it's far more likely that it's just a corruption of "run" or "rhino" in reference to the horn on its forhead, and because it evolves into Nidorino or Nidorina which really do resemble a rhino, and rhinos run at you when they're angry? Perhaps they even named the Nidorino/Nidorina first, then decided to shorten it to end in -ran for the pre-evolved state, because it's just smaller and cuter? :)

Answer 18

ho-oh word is from chinese phoenix called feng huang. Chn. = Fèng Huáng, Feng Huang 鳳凰
and those word read ho-oh in japanese. Jp. = Hō-ō 鳳凰 or Hou-ou, Ho-o, Hoo-oo

so instead of the 'Chinese phoenix' on the description, it would be better if you make it more detail like 'Japanese for phoenix' or maybe 'Japanese for chinese phoenix'.

source: http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/ho-oo-phoenix.shtml

Thanks :)

Answer 19

Archaeopteryx and Cheops seem good for Archeops, and archaeoptyrex and chicken for Archen. But archaic, meaning very old, also makes sense for both of them.

Answer 20

Pikachu .. Pica children are a type of children that like the chew and eat everything (from food to pens, all the way to furniture and window sills). I used to always relate this to mice because I know mice eat and chew everything in the house including walls and such (and that pikachu is a mouse as well). I thought they just put the suffix and prefix together to make, pika-chu, or pica-chew. Although if pika is the japanese word for lightning, maybe it was just a coincidence. Or maybe they were just epically creative with the word and used both the japanese and english terminology for it...That would be pretty awesome.