What's in a Name?

One of the great things about Pokémon is that in some games, they can be given nicknames. This allows them to be given a personal touch that reflects the character of the Trainer that owns them. It's a feature that I use whenever possible, and from my observations, so do quite a few other players/Trainers. My experiences have not been too wonderful in the use of this feature, but I still appreciate and use the feature for the personality aspect.

My naming preferences have changed from one game to another and over the course of time. In the main series once, I've used my friend's names, though I've never personally told them that this was the case. I then transitioned to the use of certain character names from TV shows, though things got complicated as more names were used. After that point, I simply used generic lists of names, common and fantasy; similarly, in Mystery Dungeon I use themed lists different than those of the main series. This might sound impersonal, but the names were selected with some consideration of similarity and attachment. Regardless, in all of these efforts, I rightfully believe that I've made tributes to the names and associations.

Still, I suppose it might be just hard for me to make and give names. Some say it might be as easy as naming real pets (and some Pokémon are indeed kept as pets), but I find this difficult too. I've never really had a real pet that I couldn't call as my own, and the ones I owned were already named by someone else or wasn't my pet to begin with. I feel it's a tough experience associating names in the real and the imagined, yet I feel more comfortable for the latter than I do for the former, even with just names from lists.

It's always wonderful, though, to see the names that others come up and have willingly shared. I've seen names that use archaic vocabulary as well as foreign-language terms, bringing them to a greater light. I wouldn't copy these names directly out of respect for their tribute in using the names, but I admire the spirit. I may just change up slightly the way I name my Pokémon in the future.

The fact that Pokémon can be named in quite a few games deserves commendation, even from those who don't give great names like me. There is a certain amount of respect and tribute in the giving of names when effort is put in. So to answer the question "what's in a name?", it may just be "a lot", depending on Trainers' personalities and attachments in regard to Pokémon, which are appreciable nonetheless. At the least I still have some of both.