Errors with our Name Origins (Etymology) page

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. Answers will be hidden once corrections have been made (or rejected). Thanks to everyone who's contributed so far!

Please post ANSWERS instead of comments or else your post will be hidden, thanks.

Answer 1

As a native Japanese speaker (who played the first two games in Japanese), I feel compelled to point out the following:

Nidos
It is often thought that the "nido" comes from Cnidocyte (which anybody who's taken Bio 2 should know). "Ran" in Japanese can mean "orchard." I also feel the "rhino" thing is a little dubious, as in Japan the word for rhinoceros is sai. But then again, I don't have a better alternative so who knows.

Golduck
I just want to point out that the "gold" thing may be because psychic stuff in Pokemon is often symbolized with gold, like the Gold Badge (Japanese Marsh Badge).

Gyarados
Almost definitely not "gyre" (Gyarados is his original Japanese name). May be from gyakusatsu (mass slaughter), and dosu (onomatopoeia for puncturing, probably flesh in this case).

Lapras
While he is based off the Loch Ness monster, the name is probably from either lapis lazuli or Laplace.

Mew/Mewtwo
Doubtful it's from the cat noise, as "mew" is not an onomatopoeia for cats in Japan. Possibly from mutant.

That's all I got for now.

Comments

Referring to the Golduck one, Gummis for Psychic types (PMD) are Gold Gummis

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I believe that Mew has this name because of the Greek letter “Mu”, which is used in biology as a variable for the mutation rate in population genetics. I believe that this makes more sense that simply a cat sound, but I may be wrong...

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First time user/reader so sorry if I've missed something old - could Gyarados also relate to Tornado - especially since it is water/flying and has violent water- and rage-type moves?

Finally, the word "gya" is an amalgamation-type word where "G" stands for "giga" and "ya" stands for "years ago", so if there's any indication that Gyarados is an ancient being - including any of its moveset - it's possible that it's an "ancient tornado".

Answer 2

Regarding Cranidos and Rampardos
I don't think very many dinosaurs' scientific names end with "-dos". It's probably just a random, unexplained syllable, or it could be from "dosu" which apparently is the onomatopoeia for puncturing flesh in Japanese. The puncturing in Japanese explanation works nicely for Ariados.

Answer 3

After years with no activity on my suggestion, I was surprised to get an update from here, but I digress.

Anyways, I suggested that "acrobat" be Crobat's name origin, but it was dismissed because all other names in other languages reference its cross shape. While that is a fair point, I still believe it's highly likely they used that opportunity to make a clever pun out of Crobat's name, with it being "acrobat" minus the "a", with Crobat being known for it's agility, like an acrobat, while it may also be combining "cross" and "bat" to reference the shape.

Coincidence while making a boorish word combination? Or clever intentional pun? I'd like to think the Pokemon name creators did the latter, and that the acrobat explanation is worth adding on to the etymology post.
Thank you.

Comments

A crobat= acrobat

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Im here to nudge this post, I do believe that Crobat's name origin is from acrobatics as well, as it maneuvers extremely well midair.

Answer 4

In Nihilego, the "nihil" more likely refers to nothing rather than nihilism. This would make sense, as "ego" is self, and the combination of nihil and ego would reflect the fact that Nihilego and its victims have no consciousness or self-awareness.

Comments

I didn't know this thread existed i would have definitely posted it here

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I checked everything on Nihilism and jellyfish, and found nothing. What I did find, however, is that there is a song/band/album/something like that called Nihilist Jellyfish :P
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RvPkiHPAvMs/hqdefault.jpg

Also, I looked up several definitions of Nihilism and got this:

the rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless.
or
extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence.

Nihilism: That nothing matters, which may make sense because Nihilego has no real sense of value in anything; nothing really seems to matter for it...

That is pretty much it though. It could also mean both: the Japanese is a combination of void, ego, and being similar; All of the other names use ego and void, hollow, etc, which is like nihilism i. e. not caring/mattering.

TL;DR: It probably is Ego and Nihilist because other languages use ego and void/other words considered synonymous with Nihilism.

Answer 5

Should probably post in the answers section instead of making a comment.

I wanted to address a huge flaw in the origins of ponyta that no site seems to have gotten.
I'm fairly certain while ponytail does seem fitting that it's name is actually derived from the animal pony and then a corruption of the word niter(nyta) which is a flammable material used in gunpowder for instance

Answer 6

It is correct that Makushita is a division in sumo (the third highest), but Hariyama is not. Most likely, the "Hari-" part comes from "harite" which means a slap and is used in sumo. "Yama" is "mountain", frequent suffix in sumo shikona (ring names). Hence my own user name!

Also, Rhydon, I think also sounds like "right on", the way that it charges!

Answer 7

On the page of Zeraora you wrote that tora is Japanese for tiger.
Since torracat evolves in a tiger, I'm pretty sure it's name etymoligy could easily be something with tiger.

Answer 8

Evil should be in Yveltal's roots i mean its the destruction pokemon. Also its name is pronounced Eval-tal.

Comments

It's also tall. It's evil and tall! Evil-tall!

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My mind works the same way. Eviltal yveltal

Answer 9

It says Cloyster comes from a cloister, which is a religious cathedral, even though Cloyster is just a clam and an oyster. It probably was just a wrong definition though, as Cloyster is a a play on another type of cloister, which is to seclude or shell oneself.

*Fixed

Comments

Thanks, you're right that definition makes more sense.

Answer 10

In the name Politoed, I suspect that the word "toed" (as in "having toes") is intentional.

Answer 11

Lapras' name is actually based on the mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace according to bulbapedia

Also Primarina's name is more likely prima donna + marine since primarinas design has little to do with ballet

Comments

can you link us to the bulbapedia article? that seems like a very far reach for that to be lapras' name, its possible it was a dumb edit

Answer 12

I think that the second half of Bidoof’s name could, as well as what is currently listed, be based on the word “doofus”. I mean, look at the thing. Bulbapedia also has this listed as name origins.
https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Bidoof <the bulbapedia page

Comfey could also be based of Comfrey, a type of flower. It is used as a herb, though it’s also toxic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphytum

Answer 13

Issue with Munna and Musharna's page

It says "muso" means "dream" in Japanese, when it doesn't. "Yume", also spelt as "夢" is dream.

I literally could not find any word close to "muso" anywhere, other than "miso" (a soup), but if y'all meant "mousou", that means "delusion".

Answer 14

Jirachi's page says "sachi" is Japanese for wish.

Again, fluent. Hoshii/negai would be better terms for wish, and neither of those fit.

All the pages I found say Jirachi comes from 幸, sachi, and all of those mean "good luck" and "fortune". Not wish.

Answer 15

The definition of "feral" on Feraligatr's page describes feral as meaning "menacing, ferocious." This is not exactly the meaning of feral. I believe it should be something like "wild, untamed."

Answer 16

Tropius' name is listed as a combination of 'tropical' and 'saurus' - I'm not sure that suffix fits. There was a sauropod-like animal called Tanystropheus living in the triassic - '-tropheus/trophius' is a much more similar suffix, and the animal in question actually resembles Tropius more than sauropods do, as Tanystropheus was characterised as having a neck which exceeded the length of its body and tail. Tanystropheus was a marsh-dwelling animal, which fished in narrow rivers with its long neck - a marshy habitat intersected with rivers describes exactly the routes Tropius are found in. The piscivorous aspect of the animal is referenced, in my opinion, in the location of Feebas on the same route.
Tropius is a single-stage evolution. Tanystropheus was a relatively short-lived animal which existed after the most destructive mass extinction in history - the developers, I'm sure, would've been aware of this period of time, and I think that Tropius being a single-stage, unique Pokemon is a reference to the brevity of the existence of the animal. Also, given the precedent set by the designers of Pokemon for an affinity towards non-dinosaurian ancient animals (Aerodactyl being a pterosaur, Archeops being a proto-bird, the Cambrian fossil duo from Hoenn), I think it's more likely that Tropius was actually named after Tanystropheus.

Answer 17

I think Milotic is partially based on the word melodic. I know this might sound wrong, but Pokemon has never made a Pokemon a homophone of a word and not connect it somehow. Obviously, Milotic is not known to be a singing Pokemon, but it has had Disarming Voice as a level up move since ORAS. Milotic's design is obviously part mermaid and mermaids are famous for their perfect voices.

Idk just a thought

Comments

This is a big stretch. Only supporting evidence is the name and Disarming Voice, and there are multiple other Pokemon that can learn it despite having no connection to sound.

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But is there another Pokemon that is a homophone of a word and isn't based on it in some way?

Answer 18

The "puff" in Slurpuff should not be the morpheme : "a small blast (of powder etc.)" as currently stated in the entry. The puff here refers to the dessert, makes more sense considering the design of the pokemon which is based on some cake-like confectionery.

Cross referencing with it's Japanese name ペロリーム （ペロペロLicking Noises + クリーム Cream）might bring more clarity.

French name "Cupcanaille" and German "Sabbaione" both referenced a type of sweet confectionery as well. (cupcake and Zabaione respectively)

Answer 19

Wishiwashi is based on "wishy-washy", but the reason as to why it is stylised as Wishiwashi is another different reason. It is a direct succession from the Japanese name ヨワシ (Yowashi), which contains the word 鰯 (iwashi) which means sardines, thus the "-washi".

Also to any lost soul who even bothers to read these, I would really like to draw attention to Vikavolt.

I don't really buy the current etymology analysis of Vice + Volt, we probably all don't pronounce "Vika" similar to "Vice", not to mention that it doesn't fit the design of the Pokemon. All other names of this Pokemon in other available languages all contain a morpheme relating to a cannon: クワガノン Kuwaganon (Japanese) / Lucanon (French) / Donarion (German)/ 锹农炮虫“Stag Beetle + Cannon” (Chinese).

So what the heck is Vika exactly? Volt part is self-explanatory.

Answer 20

I disagree with the current explanations for Natu and Xatu.

The Japanese names ネイティ (Naty) and ネイティオ (Natio) respectively might simply be referring to "Nature", "Native"or "Natio(Italian)" (with Naty like a more junvenile/baby name for Natio) .

I think "Natu" simply follows the etymology of the orginal name.

As for Xatu, I think its farfetched to infer that X is for "Exotic". Based on its design, its etymology most probably lies in "Xat", I quote, "a carved pole erected as a memorial to the dead by some Indians of western North America". Thus it's totemic appearance. I also entertained the idea of "Xanadu": "an idealized place of great or idyllic magnificence and beauty", which is okay given how Xatu is tied to mythical beliefs and something almost like a Aztec prophecy. I still prefer the "Xat" explanation personally.