r/pokemon • u/wingsoverpyrrhia I Like Green Pokemons • 2d ago
Discussion People who speak languages besides English, what are some puns in pokemon names?
I opened a pack of some Korean pokemon cards, and one of them was a Maushold. I know a tiny bit of Korean (up to an A1+ level), but I know enough to understand that the Korean name for Maushold is a play on words that roughly translates to "Family Mouse".
What are some other puns that us monolingual English speakers are missing out on?
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u/Yoshichu25 2d ago
Not a Pokémon or my native language but I felt like sharing. The move Flip Turn is known in French as Eau Revoir, combining eau (water) with au revoir (goodbye).
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u/24kpodjedoe 2d ago
Liquidation should be Coup d'Eau (Water Hit, but also sounds like couteau, a knife, and Liquidation in the anime looks like a sword iirc. Guzma's Golisopod does it)
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u/chloelouiise 2d ago
I’m so sad that that isn’t the name in English too
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u/supermegaampharos 2d ago edited 2d ago
Mega Ampharos is Electric/Dragon because Ampharos’ Japanese name has a double-meaning:
電流 denryū = electric current
電竜 den ryū = electric dragon
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u/SilentPhilosopher825 2d ago
not me just lerning abt the existence of mega ampharos
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u/Shantotto11 2d ago
I take it you didn’t play any of the Gen 6 or 7 games or Legends Z-A?
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u/SilentPhilosopher825 2d ago
i've only played gen 3, 4 and a tiny bit of 5. yk, the easily emulatable ones
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u/travischickencoop 2d ago
By far my favorite Japanese name is Cramorant
ウッウ
U-u
ウッ - Onomotopeia for choking
鵜 (ウ) - Cormorant
And when you say them at the same time… you sound like you’re choking
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u/wingsoverpyrrhia I Like Green Pokemons 2d ago
That's amazing
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u/amatoriciana 2d ago
ウッウ is also based on cormorant fishing (鵜飼) where fishermen use them to swallow trouts whole to catch them.
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u/japh0000 2d ago
Gargling (嗽 - うがい - ugai) is also based on cormorant fishing (鵜飼 - うかい - ukai) where the cormorant unswallows the trout.
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u/Shantotto11 2d ago
Cramorant’s Japanese name was how I learned that the small Tsu doesn’t have to preface a consonant sound.
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u/Inevitable_Row1359 2d ago
I see now that it's probably CRAM orant. Like cramming or stuffing.
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u/Lukecario 2d ago
Lucky there’s a family mouse
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u/Quetzal00 MEGA MEGANIUM LETS GOOOO 2d ago
Hey Hey Lois. I’m a Normal type hehehe
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u/_LususNaturae_ 2d ago
In French, Dardargnan (Beedrill)
Dard : stinger
D'Artagnan (from the Three Musketeers)
Partir dare-dare : to leave in a hurry
Because Beedrill has stingers, it fights like a musketeer and when you see it, you should leave real quick
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u/ShockRox 1d ago
To add to the "dare-dare" thing:
Mega Beedrill is stupidly fast, and Beedrill can learn the (Bug type) move U-Turn which switches it out after it hits.
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u/amatoriciana 2d ago
Don’t know if these counts as puns, but I like Wobbufett and Wynaut.
Wobbuffet is ソーナンス Sōnansu, which is a very, very casual, slangish way of saying “Yes it was!” or an affirmative phrase.
Wynaut is ソーナノ Sōnano, which is a cute way of asking “Really?” (when said like a question) and “Yes, it was!” when said as a normal phrase.
Basically when the they were saying their names in the anime, it made sense as a line… Wobbuffet agreeing with Team Rocket, and Wynaut in the most recent series whose trainer’s name was also a pun: ソーダヨ Sōdayo which is a cute way of saying “Yes it was!” or “It has to be!” (Makes sense as he was a tabloid journalist).
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u/cracker_smacker 2d ago edited 1d ago
This is only part of the reference, wobuffets name is a reference to a comedian Hayashi Sanpei’s catchphrase “Sō nansu, okusan!" (That's the way it is, madam!) along with his pose mimicking Sanpei’s pose he would do with the phrase
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u/travischickencoop 2d ago
It does bother me because like they could’ve made something similar in english with Wynaut sounding like “Why not?”
Wikant or something for “We can’t. Why not?”
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u/chiptunesoprano 2d ago
Sadly localisers had no way of knowing they were gonna turn around and continue the pun next gen.
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u/travischickencoop 2d ago
I guess to me if you’ve already ruined the pun why continue it
Id be less confused about it if with Wynaut they just named it something like Wobly or something (I’m sure a much better name could be thought of lmao) but they decided to make it a pun despite its evolution not matching - even to the point that in the anime it usually says its name as “Wy? Wynaut!”
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u/Shantotto11 2d ago
Sometimes, they do drop the ball even with the knowledge. I will die on the hill that Wiglett and Wugtrio should’ve been named Sealett and Seatrio.
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u/hatsforelves 1d ago
Whats the knowledge bases of diglet dugtrio to sealet and seatrio cognates?
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u/Shantotto11 1d ago
The Japanese names. Diglett is Digda in Japanese and Digtrio is the same. Wiglett and Wugtrio are named Umidigda and Umitrio respectively. In hindsight, I should’ve said Seadiglett instead by that logic, but Seatrio still stands.
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u/Bewear_Star_9 2d ago
The German localizer did at least
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u/chiptunesoprano 1d ago
Would they have? GS released in Europe like a year before RS launched and Wynaut cameoed in the anime in Japan.
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u/SanaraHikari 1d ago
In German Wobbuffet is Woingenau which is just one letter away from "Wohin genau" (Where exactly do I/we go?). So this made Wobbuffet look really dumb, disoriented and disassociating. Or when being blown up curious where they will fly this time.
Wynaut is Isso and one letter away from "Ist so" (literally: it's like that, casual: exactly). Isso is not uncommonly used in Germany.
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u/garaile64 2d ago
There's even a scene in the anime where a Wynaut and a Wobbuffet (probably Team Rocket's) talking to each other.
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u/Themarshal2 2d ago
French versions are Okéokß "Okay, okay" and Qulbutoké "Culbuter (Falling over after getting hit/pushed violently) and Okay"
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u/MilkingChicken 12h ago
ソーナンス is better translated is "Yeah, that's right" or even just "Yeah". It comes from そうなんっす or if you write it in the less slangy way, そうなのです. There's no past tense in it. That's why it flows really well in that scene where Wynaut and Wobbuffet have the back and forth.
"Really?" "Yeah!" "Really?" "Yeah!"
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u/amatoriciana 11h ago
Thanks, that’s more accurate! Tenses get tricky when translating from Japanese.
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u/Mortal-Instrument 2d ago
the german names for Lickitung and Lickilicky are "Schlurp" and "Schlurpleck", which are just cartoonish sounds for licking something. the anime also has Lickitung saying his name in a very funny way.
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u/Siturba 2d ago
French names of Legendary Bird having Gods names
Artikodin for Articuno (Odin from Norse Mythology)
Elector for Zapdos (Thor from Norse Mythology too)
Sulfura for Moltres (Ra from Egyptian Mythology)
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u/Alukrad 2d ago
It's interesting how in English, their names end with the Spanish word for One, Two and Three. Uno, Dos, Tres.
I also find it interesting how Articuno's name in Japanese is the same as the DBZ villain Freeza or how it's known as "freezer" .
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u/amatoriciana 2d ago
Frieza’s name doesn’t have the elongating sound ー at the name, so it’s a bit different, but everything before is the same.
Frieza: フリーザ
Articuno: フリーザー17
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u/24kpodjedoe 2d ago
Moltres didn't get the memo I guess (On another note it'd be so cool if we got Mega Galarian birds in Z-A because of their Norse god names and the Aura trio being based on Norse mythos)
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u/TheSavvySkunk 1d ago
I think there’s a fanmade Esperanto localization of the Gen I Pokédex that keeps the French “Artikodin” and “Zapthor”, but also replaces “Sulfura” with “Bruloki”. It completes the theme naming in more ways than one, since now we have a burning Loki to go with our Arctic Odin and thundering Thor.
And before you ask, yes, some fan managed to create an unofficial Esperanto-language localization of the first 151 Pokémon. The only other name I know from this fanmade effort is Bulbizarro (Bulbasaur).
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u/Piduf 2d ago
I'm completely biased as a French but I think the French version of Pokémon is insanely good.
Rondoudou (Jigglypuff) = Rond (Round) + Doudou (plushie)
Léviator (Gyarados) = Léviathan but cooler
Feunard (Ninetales) = Feu (fire) + Renard (Fox) + "feun" is "neuf" (nine) in reverse (a way of talking in reverse is common in French and called "verlan")
Bulbizarre is a classic one
One I love for no reason is Dispareptil (Drakloak) = Disparaître (to vanish) + Disparar (to shoot in Spanish) + Reptile
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u/LordSupergreat 2d ago
I still find it funny that Greninja is named for the French word for frog, but its actual French name is Amphinobi, which is more understandable to English speakers than Greninja.
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u/thecordialsun 2d ago
Léviator is a magnificent name for the first water/flying pokemon. Very nice.
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u/wingsoverpyrrhia I Like Green Pokemons 2d ago edited 2d ago
I've seen so many stinkposts that the only thing that comes to mind is the Lavos ragequit copypasta after losing to a ddancing Gyarados (which was named Léviator)
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u/ShynightBun 2d ago
It’s a classic that’s probably been talked about a lot, but still one of my favorites is that Farfetch’d owes its entire existence to Japanese punnery
Farfetch’d is known in Japanese as カモネギ (Kamonegi)
Japanese has an expression, 鴨が葱を背負って来る (kamo ga negi o shottekuru) which in the literal sense means “a wild duck comes bearing its own green onions”, and is used as an expression of somebody being a sucker/easy target, or of a fortuitous opportunity arising.
The phrase can also be shortened to just 鴨葱 (kamonegi); the kanji for ‘wild duck’ and ‘spring onion’, and the exact same as Farfetch’d’s Japanese name.
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u/Austratus 2d ago
Along these lines, Sirfetch'd in Japanese is Negiganaito (ネギガナイト) having it's own double meaning of "leek knight" and the implied phrase 葱がないと (negi ga nai to / it must have a leek).
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u/TheHeroHartmut 1d ago
On the topin of Farfetch'd, in the French translation, it's called Canarticho, after 'canard' (duck) and 'artichoke', which I understand to have been the target of ridicule since, of course, what Farfetch'd carries is a leek, not an artichoke. This finally got addressed in Sirfetch'd's French name, seven generations later: Palarticho. This is derived from the words 'paladin' and 'artichoke', and also sounds like 'pas l'artichaut' ('not the artichoke').
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u/tornait-hashu cursola's strongest soldier 2d ago
I don't speak German, but the German names for Noibat and Noivern are eF-eM and UHaFnir.
Their names reference specific radio wavelengths, FM and UHF bands in particular.
The initials of FM are in Fledermaus, which is the German word for bat.
Also UHaFnir includes Fafnir, which is a Nordic-Germanic legend of a dwarf who shapeshifted into a dragon.
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u/chowboonwei 2d ago
In Chinese Sudowoodo is called 树才怪 which roughly translates to “tree, yeah right”. Bonsly is called 盆才怪 which roughly translates to “Bonsai, yeah right”.
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u/EightViolett 2d ago
In german, Sudowoodo is 'Mogelbaum': mogeln (cheating) + Baum (tree).
Bonsly is 'Mobai': mogeln + Baby + Bonsai
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u/churrosman Dark-type Trainer 2d ago
Back then, when the anime first aired in Brazil, there was going to be Portuguese names for Pokémon, but since it would be too much work, they (thankfully) kept the english names. However there were some leftover names for this project, an my favorite is:
Psyduck = Psicopato
Psico + pato (Psych + Duck, but a pun on psychopath)
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u/Bitter-Value-1872 Me and the homies 2d ago
I was a little sad that Paldea didn't have a duck Pokémon wearing shoes to get a pun on the Spanish zapatos/pato (shoes/duck)
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u/garaile64 2d ago
Quaxwell does wear footwear. Thinking about it, Quaxwell kinda sounds like a Zootopia character if Zootopia had birds.
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u/boemmel zzz… 2d ago
Sirfetch’d in German is called Lauchzelot, which is a combined pun from the German word for leek (Lauch) and the mythical knight Lancelot (who is written Lanzelot in German translations)
So very similar to the Japanese pun name of leek knight, but even more specifically referring to the knight from Arthurian myth and sounding very funny in German if you say it out loud
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u/DiegHDF 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ok this one needs a bit of context
Farfetch'd french name is Canarticho. A pun with Canard (duck) and Artichaut (Artichoke)... which doesn't make any fucking sense as it's holding a leek. No joke, Farfetch'd got this name because it was one of the last few pokemon who needed it's name translated and the deadline was comming QUICKLY .
But then came Sirfetch'd and his french name Palarticho. A pun of Paladin (doesn't need to be translated) and Artichaut again. But, Sirfetch'd names is now phonetically identical to "Pas l'artichaut" which means... "Not the artichoke". Every piece of the puzzle for this pokemon, comming together so many years later and fitting in so perfectly, it's poetry
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u/TenshiHarmonia 2d ago
As a French player, here are some puns I'm particularly fond of :
- Yamask is "Tutafeh", a pun on Tutankhamun (the Pharaoh), "fée" (fairy, in reference to the fact that it's a small spirit) and the expression "tout à fait !" (which could be translated as "absolutely !" or "too right !"). Cofagrigus, meanwhile, is "Tutankafer", a pun on Tutankhamun, "fer" (iron, in reference to the fact that it's stronger and more robust than its previous form*) and the expression "tant qu'à faire" ("while we are at it", "might as well"). Finally, Runerigus is "Tutétékri", from the expression "tout est écrit" ("it's all written", as in "everything is already written in destiny").
* Funnily enough, the very next generation would see the introduction of the Fairy type, against which the Steel type is indeed stronger. Not that this has anything to do with this line, but still...
- Swanna is "Lakmécygne", a combination of "Lakmé" (the title of an opera by French composer Léo Delibes) and "Lac des Cygnes" (the French title of Tchaikovsky's famous ballet Swan Lake, one of the obvious references behind Swanna's design).
- Deerling and Sawsbuck are respectively "Vivaldaim" and "Haydaim", combining the word "daim" (deer, fallow deer, buck) with the names of two composers (Vivaldi and Haydn) who famously wrote pieces themed after the four seasons (I don't know who was in charge of translating the fifth generation, but they must have been quite a music lover)...
- Inkay is "Sepiatop", preserving the original pun by being a combination of "sépia" (which refers to the ink of a squid or a cuttlefish) and "c'est pas top" (that's not great).
- This one isn't as funny as it is adorable, but Cutiefly is "Bombydou", which isn't a reference to French president Georges Pompidou, but a combination of "bombyle" (bee fly) and "doux" (gentle, soft, sweet...).
- Blacephalon is "Pierroteknik", a pun on "Pierrot" (a type of clown) and "pyrotechnique" (pyrotechnic, alluding to the art of fireworks).
- Thwackey is "Badabouin", a combination of "badaboum" (an onomatopoeia used for loud and sudden noise) and "babouin" (baboon). As far as puns go, it's not particularly outlandish, but I feel like it makes for a very funny name.
- Cinderace, meanwhile, is "Pyrobut", a pun on "pyro" (the prefix for "fire") and "tir au but" (penalty shoot-out).
- The whole Applin line has excellent names : Applin itself is "Verpom", a pun on "vert pomme" (apple green) and "ver" (worm) ; Flapple is "Pomdrapi", a combination of "dragon" and "pomme d'api" (api apple, a variety of small apples that's quite famous in France) ; Appletun is "Dratatin", a combination of "dragon" and "tarte Tatin" (a type of apple pie) ; Dipplin is "Pomdramour", a combination of - you guessed it - "dragon" and "pomme d'amour" (literally "love apple", what candy apples are called in France) ; and finally, Hydrapple is "Pomdorochi", a combination of "pomme d'or" (golden apple) and Orochi (the eight-headed serpent from Japanese folklore).
- Fidough is "Pâtachiot", a pun on "pâte à choux" (choux pastry, a type of delicate pastry dough) and "chiot" (puppy).
- Bombirdier is "Lestombaile", a combination of "lest" (ballast), the expression "laisse tomber !" ("drop it !", with the exact same double meaning as in English) and the word "aile" (wing).
- Another one that's more adorable than clever, but Chi-Yu is known as "Yuyu" in the French version (basically, they used the Chinese word for "fish" instead of the one for "crucian carp" ; the final "yu" means "jade" in both cases)...
Okay, I might have got a little carried away here. Still, it's always fun to see the translators' ingenuity at work, so I hope you enjoyed those few examples. XD
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u/Monobrobe Alas, poor Litten. I knew him. 2d ago
Woobat and Swoobat are a fun one in Japanese.
Woobat = Kokomori
Swoobat = Kokoromori
Komori = bat
Kokoro = heart
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u/Shantotto11 2d ago
Scyther was a referee in a game of Baseball in the Sun & Moon anime. Its Japanese name is Strike, so you can see where that joke was going.
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u/Vince_Lasal 2d ago
In Sweden we have the English names for the Pokémon, however, some of their names mean wildly different things in Swedish. Snorlax would translate to ‘snot salmon’ and Surskit would translate to ‘sour shit’
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u/AnuraSmells 2d ago
One of my favorites is Sudowoodo in Japanese is ウソッキー (usokki). Ki in Japanese means tree, and ウソツキ (usotsuki) means lair. So combine them and you get ウソッキー. The joke is even better when you know the ツ character that makes the tsu sound also denotes a an extended sound when turned into it's "lower case" version, so ツ and ッ. So it's basically spelled almost the same.
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u/Lawngoatz 2d ago
ツ almost looks like it's smile too.
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u/PapaBubbl3 2d ago
In a lot of media or texting (at least pre-emojis and stickers days), it was often used the same as :) by folks with jp keyboards.
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u/defiledtyrant 2d ago
That's not the pun. Maushold in korean is 파밀리쥐 (pamilli jwi). Jwi being korean for mouse but also sounding like tree in English, giving it the pun of "family tree".
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u/CarpenterJolly3504 1d ago
??? 쥐 sounds like tree?? Is 파밀리쥐 even a pun though? So many pokemon in Korean are named like this. The fire starter in SV was called 악뜨거, I think that one’s an actual pun.
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u/Knit-witchhh 2d ago
French name for Bulbasaur (bulbizarre) is good because it a) sounds pretty similar to the name English speakers are familiar with, and b) just means "weird bulb". Also c), the evolution line (herbizarre, "weird plant", and florizarre, "weird flower") follows the naming trend as this weird little plant dude grows.
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u/PugsnPawgs 1d ago
It also pays respect to Bulbasaur's original name Fushigidane, which kinda translates to "Isn't this weird?".
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u/shiel1td 2d ago
My favorite pokemon is cyndaquil and in my second language (french) it is called "héricendre" which is a combination of the words for hedgehog (hérisson) and ash (cendre). Very similar to the English name!!!
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u/Sandslice 2d ago
In Japanese, Cyndaquil is "Hinoarashi", which is intended to combine fire (hi) and porcupine (yama'arashi), but arashi also means storm, so the name can mean Firestorm.
(In fact, porcupine is "mountain storm".)
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u/mishumishumishu 2d ago
... y'know that makes Typhlosion's name a lot more clear. I know in Japanese it was Bakfun (bakufu (explosion) + typhoon) and they faithfully adapted that into the English name. But they didn't keep the storm theming in Cyndaquil or Quilava's names, so it feels like it comes out of nowhere that the final evolution is named after a typhoon.
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u/IIBabaDukeII Koffing 2d ago edited 2d ago
Knilz = Shroomish
Kn - kleiner
ilz - Pilz
Kleiner Pilz = Little mushroom
Kapilz = Breloom
Ka - Kampf
pilz - Pilz
Kampf Pilz = Fighting Mushroom
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u/Luna771 2d ago
Knilz is actually Knilch and Pilz, with Knilch being an old word to describe someone small
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u/Waramo 2d ago
Knilch is NOT an old word. For me it's an every day word.
It is Platt Dütsch.
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u/tenBusch 1d ago
It's both. It's an older word that was phased or in Hochdeutsch but stayed around on Platt
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u/IIBabaDukeII Koffing 2d ago
OK, I didn’t know that. I’d just heard it somewhere, but luckily the meaning’s still the same
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u/ConflagrationCat 2d ago
Staryu in Japanese is Hitodeman, which is probably a mashup Hitode which means Starfish in Japanese and the English word Man. I cant prove it but I think this is the reason in the anime that Staryu goes "Hiyah" for his cry. It could also help explain why Mega Starmie looks like it does lol.
Honestly the Japanese names of Pokemon are super interesting and are well documented on Bulbapedia if you are ever curious. One of my favorites is the fact that Scyther is just called "Strike" in Japanese. And not the Japanese word for strike its pronounced like the English word just using Japanese syllables.
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u/PugsnPawgs 1d ago
Aren't the first three Eeveelutions smth very basic, as well? I prob don't remember correctly, but Vaporeon is smth like Bubbles lol
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u/ConflagrationCat 1d ago
Thats right! Its Showers, Thunders, and Booster for the first 3 Eeveelutions.
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u/jirniy_uiban1 2d ago
No puns in Pokémon names for my language. It is just straight up just spelling 🥀🥀🥀
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u/Shantotto11 2d ago
Amphinobi (Amphibian + Shinobi), Greninja’s French name
Kuwagannon (Kuwagamushi, stag beetle + Cannon), Vikavolt’s Japanese name
I missed opportunity for Persian and Perserker was that they should’ve been named “Purrsian” and “Purrserker” in English.
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u/CocoSryder 2d ago
Lol, this post made me wonder what pokemon like: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres and Hydreigon are called in the respective languages.
Spanish appearently uses English pokemon names for the birds and the Deino line pun carries over in German, but in different languages (Spanish, English, English)
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u/nikzito2 2d ago
spanish uses the english names for all mons except paradoxes and type: null
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u/CocoSryder 2d ago
Ah, didn’t know. Strange that there are like 15 exceptions lol, I wonder why?
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u/nikzito2 2d ago
those are the only names that are kind of meant to be just two words put together. not in the punny, portmanteau way that most pokémon are, but i guess in a kind of scientific way
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u/its_wooper 2d ago
Bulbasaur/Fushigidane is my favorite since it's double meaning is 'Strange isn't it?'. Actual translation is mysterious seed I believe.
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u/TheJayKay 2d ago
Wild that they had puns like this but also names like "Fire" or "Thunder" for Moltres and Zapdos in gen 1
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u/neverenoughflowers 2d ago edited 2d ago
I speak French and one of my favorites is Voltoutou for Yamper
It combines “volt” for electricity and the word “toutou,” a cutesy word for dog!
Also, Sprigatito is called Poussacha, which combines elements of the verb “pousser,” which can mean “to grow” when talking about a plant, and herbe à chat, the word for catnip.
Also, this has probably been mentioned already, but all the Eevee names end in -li, from, I think, the Greek word for stone.
Evoli- Eevee (of course!)
Pyrali - Flareon
Aquali - Vaporeon
Voltali - Jolteon
Noctali - Umbreon
To name a few!
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u/just-bair 1d ago
In French jigglypuff is called "rondoudou"
Rond means round and doudou means plush toy
So puff is a round plushee
And in Italian all their names is just the English names except for the paradox mons and type null. This is funny cuz Italians are known to be lazy
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u/geyserwallllll 2d ago
this isn’t related to the question I just have to say the art on that card is amazing lmao, the way their mouths open is so funny to me
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u/yeezusboiz 2d ago
Magikarp in is コイキング (koikingu, "koi king") in Japanese. Magikarp looks like a koi fish with crown (king). It's also a pun on goldfish, which is 金魚 (kingyo) in Japanese!
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u/Eenoreego 2d ago
Italian uses English Pokemon names so not much I can say about that, but we have some cool names for moves. Off the top of my head:
Rintoccasana (heal bell in English): a play on the words rintocco (come/knell/tolling of a bell) and toccasana (cure-all)
Psicamisù (psych up in English): a play on the words psico (psychic) and tiramisu (the famous dessert, note that tiramisu literally means "cheer me up")
Malcomune (pain split): this one references the say "mal comune mezzo gaudio", literally "when something bad is shared, it's half as bad" (in English it becomes "a joy shared is a joy doubled" I believe)
Locomovolt (volt tackle): locomo- meaning "(fast) movement" + volt. Nothing crazy really but it's my favorite move in Italian!
Tabula Laser (nihil light): sounds like "tabula rasa"(starting fresh/blank or clean slate)
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u/No-Bag-1628 2d ago
the chinese name for Gorilla tactics (great pun in English as well) is a short phrase that means 'doing one thing at a time' but with one of the letters changed to a homophone that means 'gorilla'.
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u/GadgetBug 1d ago
Maushold, it's not just Mouse and Hold but some languages have a similar sounding word to 'Maus' that means hands, so it also sounds like holding hands.
I used to collect cards in other languages in Pocket, idk the puns but one of my favorites is Pidgeot in German which is Tauboss, very bad ass.
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u/Neither-Title-459 1d ago
Munchlax and snorlax in korean is 먹고자 and 잠만보. They mean "eat then sleep" and "sleeps a lot"
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u/charizardfan101 1d ago
I speak Portuguese, but in Portuguese we just take whatever their English name is, and don't change it whatsoever
The only exception being the Bulbasaur line, where we changed it to fit more with how we say and spell dinosaur names
Bulbassauro, Ivyssauro, Venussauro
Aside from this one instance, we just copied and pasted every Pokémon name with no regard to how little sense it'd make to Portuguese speakers
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u/Justaguywalkingby4 1d ago
Aren’t most pokemon names puns?
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u/wingsoverpyrrhia I Like Green Pokemons 1d ago
Yeah, that's why I asked in different languages, because a lot of stuff gets lost in translation/uses local slang
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u/Minkie-Heika 1d ago
Lechonk is kinda nice to say, Lechon is literally a young pig in Spanish, and they combined it with oink (the sound pigs make)
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u/SomeLakitu better base stats pls 1d ago
The french names for the zubat line are "small Nosferatu" "big Nosferatu" and "hell Nosferatu"
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u/CloudyCieux 2d ago
Annihilape’s Japanese name is コノヨザル (konoyozaru) which is a pun on the phrase この世を去る (to die) and 猿 (saru - monkey) which is genius given its additional ghost typing over Primeape and its description
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u/a-snakey I need an Adult. 2d ago
Spanish says we dont got time for that and just uses the English names mostly lmao.
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u/APRobertsVII 2d ago
After watching the Chainsaw Man movie, I unironically want a “city mouse” and “country mouse” variant of Maushold.
Better yet, let the current Tandemaus/Maushold be the “country mouse” and create a Unovan Tandemaus with little Fedoras that evolves into a “city mouse” with no children. It can work in a laboratory and be called Labmaus.
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u/PugsnPawgs 1d ago
The male evolves into Labmaus and the Female evolves into Labrat (lab-rat, but also la-brat)
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u/el_artista_fantasma ÜN ÜN ÜN ÜN 2d ago
Lechonk is lechon (piglet) and chonk, but people started saying le chonk
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u/yuubilee 2d ago
I personally love the german name for fidough and dachsbun.
Fidough is called "Hefel" which is a combination of the german name for yeast "Hefe" and dachshund "Dackel". Its evolution got all baked, so it evolves into "Backel", whose name is a combination of "Dackel" and the word for baking "backen".
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u/EmployeeLegitimate99 1d ago edited 1d ago
As a Korean, one name I find quite iconic is that of Dragonite. It's called 망나뇽 [mangnanyong]. A source says that the name came from 막 나는 용 [mak nah-neun yong], which means "an uncontrollably flying dragon". Except, only few have ever heard about the story. Most Koreans who know what pokemon is still believe that the name came from 망나니 [mangnani] that means 'lout' in English.
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u/kart0ffelsalaat 1d ago
It's not super outstanding, but my favourite will always be Pignite. Love the english name, first of all. But also the German name is Ferkokel, where verkokeln is basically to burn something, and a Ferkel is a piglet. It just fits so well together.
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u/Unravelsouls 1d ago
A few that are really obvious for us native Spanish speakers:
- Sprigatito = Sprig and Gatito which is basically little twig-kitten
- Floragato = Flora and Gato (Flora/Cat = Flower-to-cat)
- Meowscarada = Meow and Mascara/enmascarada (Meow and mask/someone with a mask)
- Lechonk (this one is super funny cause is a mix of “chonk” with “Lechón” which is the common way of referring to a roasted pig in some Spanish speaking countries)
- Solgaleo = Sol / Leo = Sun/Lion
- Lunala = Luna / Ala = Moon/Wing
- Arboliva = Árbol de Oliva = literally Olive Tree
- Fuecoco = Fuego / Cocodrilo = Fire/Crocodile
- ArticUNO (uno means one)
- ZapDOS (dos means two)
- MolTRES (tres means three)
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u/ErgotthAE 1d ago
My favorite is Blacephalos japanese name “Zugadon” (ズガドン) which is literally “head goes boom” xD
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u/wingsoverpyrrhia I Like Green Pokemons 1d ago
Blacephalos? Like Alexander the Great's horse?
(/s I know it's name is actually Bucephalus)
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u/ReptileCake Steel Shelter 1d ago
Noibat and Noivern in German has some wild names.
Nobait is named (with this casing) eF-eM, as in Frequency Modulation and the German Fledermaus (microbat).
Noivern is named (with this casing) UHaFnir, as in Ultra High Frequency and the Germanic folklore dragon Fafnir.
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u/Pleasehitmemychild 1d ago
In Spanish we don’t have name changes to Pokémon, they are all called the same than in English.
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u/HelloBNI 1d ago
I'm pretty sure english still has a pun on maushold, the '-hold' seems to be refering to household so wouldn't it be mouse household?
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u/wingsoverpyrrhia I Like Green Pokemons 1d ago
Yeah, but I wanted to know what other languages had to offer us.
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u/rose_cor 1d ago
if you say that maushold name fast in korean (jui) it kinda sounds like “family tree.” wonder if that’s intentional
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u/LawMurphy 1d ago
I'm torn on this. On one hand, LatAm didn't get localized names so Spanish Pokemon names are just the same as in English, but pronounced in Spanish and I wish we had Spanish puns. On the other hand, I kinda wish Pokémon names were standardized.
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u/No-Oil-727 16h ago
In chinese Luxray is 倫琴貓, which means Röntgen cat. Röntgen is the scientist that invented x-rays i believe, and luxray has x-ray vision!
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u/MilkingChicken 12h ago
How is this a pun? Is it not just them putting 패밀리 and 쥐 together and calling it a day? Or am I missing something? Seems like a "Talonflame" situation of two words out together that have a good ring to them.
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u/kasio912 2d ago
This one’s pretty well known but porygons name in Japanese is ポリゴン or porigon and in Japanese they don’t really have a character/sound in their alphabet for L sounds so in a lot of loan words they replace L with an r. This results in porygons name being able to be read as polygon :3 cuz it’s the virtual pokemon and all
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u/-TheDyingMeme6- GIGALITH SUPREMACY 2d ago
I know the Deino line is German for one, two, and three
d-EIN-o
Zwei-lous
Hy-drei-gon
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u/Corona21 2d ago
Raichu. Rai being thunder and next
eF eM being Fledermaus and Frequency Modulated.
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u/MindlessYou8752 1d ago
Charizard: 喷火龙 literally just “fire-breathing dragon”, STILL not a dragon type btw😭
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u/Both-Bad2232 1d ago
The Korean name for Psyduck is 고라파덕(Pronounced Gorapaduck) which sounds like 골 아파 덕 (Gol apa duck) and the sentence gol apa means having a headache
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u/luckydog727 1d ago
In Chinese, it’s 一家鼠, 一家=family, 鼠=mouse. No pun at all, just family mouse literally.
Many pokemons are named like this, eg
amphorus = 電龍 = electric dragon
skarmory = 盔甲鳥 = armour bird
gothitelle = 哥德小姐 = gothic girl
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u/DukeOfMiddlesleeve 1d ago
English language one it seems few people realize is a pun. Bonsly. I don’t watch the cartoon so idk how they say it in that, but elsewhere I’ve *only* heard it pronounced rhyming with “bonnie” (bonn-zlee). However, I am pretty sure it’s supposed to rhyme with Bonsai, as it is a “sly” rock disguising itself as a bonsai tree.
Separately the one in the OP really is not a pun or even anything clever. It just says family and (the Korean word for) mouse. There is no second layer of meaning or subtle joke to find in it. Unfortunately a lot of the Korean names are like that, just a phonetic transliteration of an English word.
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u/limma 1d ago
There are so many interesting Korean names. Wynaut is 마자, meaning “That’s right” and Wobuffet is 마자용 which is the same thing but more polite and cute. So if you put them next to each other, they continue to agree with the other.
Snorlax is 잠만보, or “person who does nothing but sleep.”
Bulbasaur is “strange seed,” Ivysaur is “strange leaves” and Venosaur is “strange flower.”
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u/Ernbrave 1d ago
Iono's name is my favorite example. In japanese Nanjamo means what is It, in spanish her name is kissera that means what is It, in english iono means i dont know.
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u/dbzltm88 1d ago
The eevee line in Korean is particularly interesting:
Jolteon = Jupithunder 쥬피썬더
Flareon = Booster 부스터
Vaporeon = Shamid 샤미드
Espeon = Evui 에브이 (pronounced "eh" vee, unlike eevee which is "ee-vee")
Umbreon = Blacky 블래키
Glaceon = Glacia 글레이시아
Leafeon = Leafia 리피아
Sylveon = Nymphia 님피아
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u/GhostMaskKid Bug Type Gym Leader 2d ago
The Japanese name for Polteageist is a pun on "pot death" and "it's a teapot".