Nickname: Difference between revisions

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Nicknamed Pokémon still say their species name as their [[cry]] in the anime instead of their nickname. For example, [[Sparky]] still says "Pikachu" and variants of it.
Nicknamed Pokémon still say their species name as their [[cry]] in the anime instead of their nickname. For example, [[Sparky]] still says "Pikachu" and variants of it.


Ash's mother, {{Delia}}, calls her {{p|Mr. Mime}} by the nickname [[Mimey]]. She also gave several of Ash's [[Alola]] Pokémon nicknames in ''[[SM024|Alolan Open House!]]''.
Ash's mother, {{Delia}}, calls her {{p|Mr. Mime}} by the nickname [[Mimey]]. She also gave several of Ash's [[Alola]] Pokémon nicknames in ''[[SM024|Alolan Open House!]]'' and ''[[SM142|A Full Battle Bounty!]]''.


A {{m|surf}}ing {{p|Pikachu}} called [[Puka]] appeared in ''[[EP067|The Pi-Kahuna]]''.
A {{m|surf}}ing {{p|Pikachu}} called [[Puka]] appeared in ''[[EP067|The Pi-Kahuna]]''.
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In ''[[SM099|We Know Where You're Going, Eevee!]]'', {{an|Lana}} nicknamed the {{p|Eevee}} she caught [[Sandy]].
In ''[[SM099|We Know Where You're Going, Eevee!]]'', {{an|Lana}} nicknamed the {{p|Eevee}} she caught [[Sandy]].


In [[SS011]], [[Renji]] has a {{p|Magnemite}} nicknamed (Japanese:フランソワーズ Françoise).
In [[SS011]], [[Renji]] has a {{p|Magnemite}} nicknamed (Japanese:'''フランソワーズ''' ''Françoise'').


===In Pokémon Origins===
===In Pokémon Origins===

Revision as of 12:30, 20 February 2020

292Shedinja.png The contents of this article have been suggested to be split into Text entry in the Pokémon games.
Please discuss it on the talk page for this article.
A Bulbasaur being nicknamed "Bulbagarden"

A nickname (Japanese: ニックネーム nickname) is a name given to a Pokémon by its Original Trainer. Every time a player catches, hatches, or is given a new Pokémon in a core series game, he or she is able to nickname the Pokémon to a maximum of six characters in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese and twelve characters in Western languages (five and ten, respectively, prior to Generation VI). In addition to the games, nicknamed Pokémon have also been shown in the Pokémon anime and several manga series. Nicknames serve as a means of personalizing one's Pokémon, and distinguishing them from other individuals of the same species.

In the games

Players are given the option to nickname their Pokémon immediately after receiving them in any manner, such as receiving it from an NPC, hatching from an Egg, or capturing in a Poké Ball. The only way to change a Pokémon's nickname is by taking the Pokémon to a Name Rater, and the Name Rater will refuse to change the nickname of a Pokémon if the player is not that Pokémon's original Trainer.

In Generation V and VII, tapping the Pokémon's sprite on the nickname screen replaces the currently entered text with the Pokémon's species name. In Generation VI, this replaces the currently entered text with the Pokémon's current nickname, or its species name if it has not been nicknamed.

Limits on nicknames

Comparison of the same English Mewtwo in Japanese and English Generation III games

In Generation I to V, nicknames have a maximum length of 10 characters in Western languages and 5 characters in Japanese and Korean. Starting in Generation VI, nicknames have a maximum length of 12 characters in Western languages and 6 characters in Japanese and Korean.

These characters are in turn limited by the character palette in the games, which varies between game languages. The characters available have expanded over the generations: in Generation I it was impossible to use numbers in nicknames, while later generations allowed both numbers and non-alphanumeric symbols.

In Generation I, a name consisting of only spaces can be used. In subsequent generations, this is treated as entering no nickname: a newly obtained Pokémon will use its species name, and a Pokémon at the Name Rater will keep its current name.

Pokémon can only have their nickname changed by their original Trainer; if an outsider Pokémon cannot be moved to its original Trainer's game, it cannot be renamed at all. If an outsider Pokémon is taken to a Name Rater, he will say the name is "perfect" and refuse to change it. The game checks the original Trainer name, gender (Generation V onward), Trainer ID number, and Secret ID (Generation III onward). The only exception is Generation IV, in which only the Trainer ID is checked.

In the Generation III games, a Pokémon named in a Western game traded to a Japanese game will have its name rendered in fullwidth characters, making it impossible to display the full name if it is longer than five characters.

In the 1.0 release of the English versions of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the nickname flag of Japanese Pokémon is not set when they evolve, so the Pokémon's species name will be adjusted accordingly (e.g.: Pichu's Japanese species name is ピチュー and the player nicknames it PICHU, then trades it to an English version and evolves it, causing its name to become PIKACHU). However, since the English games still render the name in the Japanese font, an evolved Japanese Pokémon that has a name longer than five characters will cause a crash while attempting to load the Pokémon List or send it out to battle (in the aforementioned case, the game will try to render it as PIKACHU instead of PIKACHU). This was fixed in the 1.1 release by adding an additional check to the name function used during evolution so that the Japanese Pokémon's name is not altered, effectively treating it as if it were a nickname. The European releases and subsequent Generation III games also have this check.

In Generation IV and later games, non-nicknamed Pokémon with a language of origin different to their current game will update their name to their current game's language upon evolution.

In Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD, a Shadow Pokémon cannot be nicknamed if it has not been purified. Immediately after this happens, the option will be given. Wild Pokémon caught from a Poké Spot in Pokémon XD can be nicknamed as they are normally in the core series.

From Generation V onward, the game will recognize when a nickname is profanity, and will not allow the player to use this as a nickname. The Generation V games contain an internal list of censored words which only censors case-insensitive matches. The Generation VI and VII games use the Nintendo 3DS system's built-in filter, which uses regular expressions to censor a wide range of attempts to circumvent it. If a Pokémon transferred via Poké Transfer has a nickname that would not be permitted to be entered in Generation VI, the Pokémon's nickname is removed and it uses its species name instead.

In Generation V, nicknames the player enters can only contain up to 4 numeric characters. In Generation VI and VII, nicknames the player enters can only contain up to 5 numeric characters. However, Pokémon transferred from previous generations can violate these limits, and their names will not be changed upon transfer.

Starting in Pokémon Sword and Shield, if a traded Pokémon doesn't have a nickname, the player can nickname it, though the nickname cannot be changed afterwards.

Outcomes of nicknaming

Nicknaming Pokémon rarely has any effect on gameplay, and is simply an element of customization that players are free to use or ignore. However, there are some cases where nicknames have some small effect on the game.

In Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2, nicknamed Pokémon are sometimes colored differently to non-nicknamed Pokémon. This coloration is not the same as being a Shiny Pokémon. This feature has not been included in any later games.

In Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, if the player has given a previously caught Pokémon a nickname at the Name Rater's house, the Hoenn TV network will sometimes report the nickname chosen. The host will always commend the player on his or her choice of name, even if the player decides to leave the Pokémon's name as it was. When records have been mixed with another save file, the television network may report on the other Trainer's choice of nicknames.

In Generation IV, Pokémon with nicknames deemed "inappropriate" may show up in Battle Videos as Pokémon without a nickname: a Staraptor named inappropriately would have its nickname reverted to "STARAPTOR". It is unknown if this censoring is automatic or done on a case-by-case basis by Nintendo employees. From Generation V onward, instead there is profanity filter applied when attempting to nickname Pokémon or when transporting them using Poké Transporter.

In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, there is a Medal awarded for having nicknamed Pokémon 10 times.

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, a BuzzNav program called The Name Rater Show tells a Pokémon's fortune based upon the first letter of its nickname. Additionally, one of the requirements for encountering Regigigas at Island Cave is having a nicknamed Regice that was caught in these games in the party.

Non-player characters and nicknames

NPC-nicknamed Pokémon are somewhat rare, and almost never encountered in battles. However, all Pokémon acquired from in-game trades have nicknames, as well as all Pokémon used by NPC Coordinators, with the exception of Wallace's Milotic in Generation VI. Likely to emphasize the color change effect, most of the Pokémon encountered in Pokémon Stadium also have nicknames. Team Rocket's nicknamed Pokémon have numbers in their nicknames (which was impossible on hand-held games at the time).

In Black and White, the player can trade a PetililW or CottoneeB to Lass Dye for the opposite Pokémon in Nacrene City. If the player returns to her after defeating Ghetsis at the end of the game, they can battle her, and she will use the player's former Pokémon, now fully evolved. If this Pokémon was given a nickname by the player before being traded, it will appear with the nickname in this battle, marking the first time in the main series that the player can battle a nicknamed Pokémon used by an NPC.

In Black 2 and White 2, due to NPC and player switching one of their Pokémon in PWT's Mix Tournament, it is possible to fight a nicknamed Pokémon if the Pokémon chosen by opponent had a nickname.

In Pokémon Sun and Moon, Lillie carries around a Cosmog she calls "Nebby". While battling against it after it evolves into either SolgaleoS or LunalaM, it is not nicknamed, and upon catching it, the player is given a chance to nickname it.

Nicknames for the player

050Diglett.png This article is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Needs info from USUM

In Pokémon X and Y, the player is referred to by a nickname by Calem/Serena, Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor. The player can choose from three suggestions (based on the first two characters of the player's name if playing in Japanese or the first character if playing in other languages) or enter a nickname of their own choice. For example, in English a male player named "Calem" could choose from "Li'l C", "C-Meister", "Big C", or entering their own nickname.

In the table below, <char> represents the first character of the player's name (<chars> represents the first two characters).

Language Male Female
Japanese <chars>タロ <chars>-taro
<chars>やん <chars>-yan
<chars>P <chars>-P
<chars>っち <chars>-tchi
<chars>ーな <chars>-na
<chars>りん <chars>-rin
English Li'l <char>
<char>-Meister
Big <char>
Li'l <char>
Lady <char>
<char>-kins
French P'tit <char>
Mister <char>
Sieur <char>
P'tite <char>
Miss <char>
Dame <char>
German Mini-<char>
Monsieur <char>
Lord <char>
Mini-<char>
Madame <char>
Lady <char>
Italian Super <char>
Mr. <char>
Magico <char>
Super <char>
Lady <char>
Magica <char>
Spanish Peque <char>
Super-<char>
Mr. <char>
Peque <char>
Super-<char>
Lady <char>
Korean <char>군 <char>-gun
<char>돌이 <char>-dori
미스터 <char> Mister <char>
<char>양 <char>-yang
<char>순이 <char>-suni
스위트 <char> Sweet <char>

List of characters

Generation I

Nicknaming I.png
Western versions
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Space:  
  • Multiplication symbol: ×
  • Parentheses: (, )
  • Colon: :
  • Semicolon: ;
  • Square brackets: [, ]
  • Pokémon abbreviation: PK, MN
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Question mark: ?
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Slash: /
  • Decimal point: .
  • Comma: ,
German versions
  • Letters with umlauts: Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö, ü
Japanese versions
  • Hiragana (excluding を)
  • Katakana (excluding ヲ)
  • Yōon: , , , , ,
  • Sokuon: ,
  • Kana with dakuten (only ka, sa, ta, and ha-column kana)
  • Kana with handakuten (only ha-column kana)
  • Chōonpu:
  • Space:  

Note: Internally, no distinction is made between the hiragana へ he and the katakana ヘ he and their variants, or between the hiragana り ri and the katakana リ ri.

English, French, Italian, and Spanish*
Nicknaming German I.png
German
Nicknaming Japanese I.png
Japanese

Generation II

Compared to Generation I, gender symbols were removed from the Western versions, while the space and semicolon were also removed from the German version. The kana を / ヲ wo, small vowel katakana, question mark, and exclamation mark were added to the Japanese version.

Nicknaming II.png
Western and Japanese versions
  • Question mark: ?
  • Exclamation mark: !
Western versions
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Slash: /
  • Decimal point: .
  • Comma: ,
  • Multiplication symbol: ×
  • Parentheses: (, )
  • Colon: :
  • Square brackets: [, ]
  • Pokémon abbreviation: PK, MN
English, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean versions
  • Space:  
English, French, Italian, and Spanish versions
  • Semicolon: ;
German versions
  • Letters with umlauts: Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö, ü
Japanese versions
  • Katakana
  • Hiragana
  • Yōon: , , , , ,
  • Sokuon: ,
  • Chōonpu:
  • Small vowel katakana: , , , ,
  • Kana with dakuten (only ka, sa, ta, and ha-column kana)
  • Kana with handakuten (only ha-column kana)

Note: Internally, no distinction is made between the hiragana へ he and the katakana ヘ he and their variants, or between the hiragana り ri and the katakana リ ri.

Korean versions
  • Hangul
  • Hangul jamo
English, French, Italian, and Spanish*
Nicknaming German II.png
German
Nicknaming Japanese II.png
Japanese
Nicknaming Korean II.png
Korean

Generation III

Compared to Generation II, the ability to type digits, gender symbols, and ellipsis were added to all versions. The ability to type the multiplication symbol, parentheses, colon, square brackets, and the Pokémon abbreviation were removed, while the ability to type single quotation marks was added to the Western versions. The semicolon was also removed from the English, French, Italian, and Spanish versions.

Double quotation marks were added to the English, Italian, and Spanish versions. Double guillemets were added to the French version. The space, the uppercase and lowercase letters ä, ö, and ü, and double quotation marks were added to the German version. Uppercase and lowercase Latin alphabet letters, small vowel hiragana, fullwidth period, interpunct, double and single quotation marks, and slash were added to the Japanese version.

Nicknaming III.png Nicknaming English Colo.png
Nicknaming Italian Colo.pngNicknaming Spanish Colo.png
Nicknaming English XD.png
Nicknaming Italian XD.pngNicknaming Spanish XD.png
All versions
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Space:  
  • Digits
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Question mark: ?
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Slash: /
  • Ellipsis:
Western versions
  • Period: .
  • Comma: ,
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Single quotation marks: ,
English, Italian, and Spanish versions
  • Double quotation marks: ,
French versions
  • Double guillemets: «, »
German versions
  • Letters with umlauts: Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö, ü
  • Double quotation marks: ,
Japanese versions
  • Katakana
  • Hiragana
  • Yōon: , , , , ,
  • Sokuon: ,
  • Chōonpu:
  • Small vowel kana: , , , , , , , , ,
  • Kana with dakuten (only ka, sa, ta, and ha-column kana)
  • Kana with handakuten (only ha-column kana)
  • Period (fullwidth):
  • Interpunct:
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Single quotation marks: ,
English, Italian, and Spanish*
Nicknaming French III.png Nicknaming French Colo.png
Nicknaming French XD.png
French
Nicknaming German III.png Nicknaming German Colo.png
Nicknaming German XD.png
German
Nicknaming Japanese III.png Nicknaming Japanese Colo.png
Nicknaming Japanese XD.png
Japanese

Generation IV

Compared to Generation III, the ability to type the colon, semicolon, parentheses, tilde/wave dash, at sign, percent sign, plus sign, equals sign, ten shapes, music note, cloud, umbrella, snowman, four faces, sleeping symbol, and two arrows were added to all versions. The multiplication sign, division sign, fullwidth comma, halfwidth period, comma, and hyphen-minus were added to the Japanese version, while the interpunct, number sign, and asterisk were added to Western and Korean versions.

Double quotation marks, the uppercase and lowercase letters à, ç, é, è, ù, and û, and the lowercase letters â, ê, ë, î, ï, and ô were added to the French version. The right double quotation mark (”) and ß were added to the German version. The letters à, é, è, ì, ò, and ù were added in uppercase and lowercase to the Italian versions. The inverted exclamation and question marks and the letters á, é, í, ñ, ó, ú, and ü were added in uppercase and lowercase to the Spanish versions.

Compared to Generation II, the ability to type uppercase and lowercase Latin alphabet letters, digits, exclamation mark, and question mark were added in the Korean versions.

Nicknaming IV.png
All versions
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Digits
  • Space:  
  • Comma: ,
  • Period: .
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Colon: :
  • Semicolon: ;
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Question mark: ?
  • Parentheses: (, )
  • Ellipsis:
  • Interpunct:
  • Tilde/wave dash: ~
  • At sign: @
  • Percent sign: %
  • Plus sign: +
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Slash: /
  • Equals sign: =
  • Shapes: ◎︎, ○︎, □︎, △︎, ◇︎, ♠︎, ♣︎, ♥︎, ♦︎, ★︎
  • Music note:
  • Sun: ☀︎
  • Cloud: ☁︎
  • Umbrella: ☂︎
  • Snowman: ☃︎
  • Faces: neutral face, happy face, sad face, angry face
  • Sleeping symbol: zz
  • Arrows: ⤴︎, ⤵︎
Western and Korean versions
  • Number sign: #
  • Asterisk: *
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Single quotation marks: ,
French versions
  • Letters with diacritics: À, Ç, É, È, Ù, à, â, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, ù, û
  • Double guillemets: «, »
German versions
  • Letters with umlauts: Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö, ü
  • Eszett: ß
  • Double quotation mark:
Italian versions
  • Letters with diacritics: À, É, È, Ì, Ò, Ù, à, é, è, ì, ò, ù
Spanish versions
  • Letters with diacritics: Á, É, Í, Ñ, Ó, Ú, Ü, á, é, í, ñ, ó, ú, ü
  • Inverted exclamation mark: ¡
  • Inverted question mark: ¿
Japanese versions
  • Hiragana
  • Katakana
  • Small vowel kana: , , , , , , , , ,
  • Yōon: , , , , ,
  • Sokuon: ,
  • Kana with dakuten (only ka, sa, ta, and ha-column kana)
  • Kana with handakuten (only ha-column kana)
  • Chōonpu:
  • Period (fullwidth):
  • Comma (fullwidth):
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Multiplication sign: ×
  • Division sign: ÷
Korean versions
  • Hangul
  • Hangul jamo
English
Nicknaming French IV.png
French
Nicknaming German IV.png
German
Nicknaming Italian IV.png
Italian
Nicknaming Spanish IV.png
Spanish
Nicknaming Japanese IV.png
Japanese
Nicknaming Korean IV.png
Korean

Generation V

Compared to Generation IV, only the at sign has been removed from Western and Korean versions. The uppercase letters Â, Ê, Ë, Î, Ï, Ô, and Û were added to the French version, while the ability to enter the katakana ヴ vu was added to the Japanese version.

Nicknaming English V.png
All versions
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Digits
  • Space:  
  • Comma: ,
  • Period: .
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Colon: :
  • Semicolon: ;
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Question mark: ?
  • Parentheses: (, )
  • Ellipsis:
  • Interpunct:
  • Tilde/wave dash: ~
  • Percent sign: %
  • Plus sign: +
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Slash: /
  • Equals sign: =
  • Shapes: ◎︎, ○︎, □︎, △︎, ◇︎, ♠︎, ♣︎, ♥︎, ♦︎, ★︎
  • Music note:
  • Sun: ☀︎
  • Cloud: ☁︎
  • Umbrella: ☂︎
  • Snowman: ☃︎
  • Faces: neutral face, happy face, sad face, angry face
  • Sleeping symbol: zz
  • Arrows: ⤴︎, ⤵︎
Western and Korean versions
  • Number sign: #
  • Asterisk: *
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Single quotation marks: ,
French versions
  • Letters with diacritics: À, Â, Ç, É, È, Ê, Ë, Î, Ï, Ô, Ù, Û, à, â, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, ù, û
  • Double guillemets: «, »
German versions
  • Letters with umlauts: Ä, Ö, Ü, ä, ö, ü
  • Eszett: ß
  • Double quotation mark:
Italian versions
  • Letters with diacritics: À, É, È, Ì, Ò, Ù, à, é, è, ì, ò, ù
Spanish versions
  • Letters with diacritics: Á, É, Í, Ñ, Ó, Ú, Ü, á, é, í, ñ, ó, ú, ü
  • Inverted exclamation mark: ¡
  • Inverted question mark: ¿
Japanese versions
  • Hiragana
  • Katakana
  • Small vowel kana: , , , , , , , , ,
  • Yōon: , , , , ,
  • Sokuon: ,
  • Kana with dakuten (only ka, sa, ta, and ha-column kana and katakana ヴ vu)
  • Kana with handakuten (only ha-column kana)
  • Chōonpu:
  • Period (fullwidth):
  • Comma (fullwidth):
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Multiplication sign: ×
  • Division sign: ÷
  • At sign: @
Korean versions
  • Hangul
  • Hangul jamo
English
Nicknaming French V.png
French
Nicknaming German V.png
German
Nicknaming Italian V.png
Italian
Nicknaming Spanish V.png
Spanish
Nicknaming Japanese V.png
Japanese
Nicknaming Korean V.png
Korean

Generation VI and VII

Compared to Generation V, only the at sign has been removed. The uppercase and lowercase é were added to the English and German versions, while the letters ç, ï, à, è, ì, ò, and ù were added in uppercase and lowercase to the Spanish version. No changes in character availability were made between Generation VI and VII.

Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! use the native Nintendo Switch text entry system. Games played in Western languages or Japanese can use characters from the English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, and Symbol keyboards. Games played in Japanese can also use the Japanese keyboard. Games played in Korean or Chinese have access only to the keyboard of that language and the Symbol keyboard. The only character that cannot be entered from the keyboard is the at sign.

Nicknaming English VI.png
All versions
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Digits
  • Space:  
  • Comma: ,
  • Period: .
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Question mark: ?
  • Colon: :
  • Semicolon: ;
  • Parentheses: (, )
  • Ellipsis:
  • Interpunct:
  • Tilde/wave dash: ~
  • Percent sign: %
  • Plus sign: +
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Slash: /
  • Equals sign: =
  • Shapes: ◎︎, ○︎, □︎, △︎, ◇︎, ♠︎, ♥︎, ♦︎, ♣︎, ★︎
  • Music note:
  • Sun: ☀︎
  • Cloud: ☁︎
  • Umbrella: ☂︎
  • Snowman: ☃︎
  • Faces: neutral face, happy face, sad face, angry face
  • Sleeping symbol: zz
  • Arrows: ⤴︎, ⤵︎
Western and Korean versions
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Number sign: #
  • Asterisk: *
English versions
  • E with acute accent: É, é
French versions
  • Letters with diacritics: À, Â, Ç, É, È, Ê, Ë, Î, Ï, Ô, Ù, Û, à, â, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, ù, û
  • Double guillemets: «, »
German versions
  • Letters with diacritics: Ä, Ö, Ü, É, ä, ö, ü, é, ß
  • Double quotation mark:
Italian versions
  • Letters with diacritics: À, È, É, Ì, Ò, Ù, à, è, é, ì, ò, ù
Spanish versions
  • Letters with diacritics: Ñ, Ç, Ï, Ü, Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, À, È, Ì, Ò, Ù, ñ, ç, ï, ü, á, é, í, ó, ú, à, è, ì, ò, ù
  • Inverted exclamation mark: ¡
  • Inverted question mark: ¿
Japanese and Chinese versions
  • Hiragana
  • Katakana
  • Small vowel kana: , , , , , , , , ,
  • Yōon: , , , , ,
  • Sokuon: ,
  • Kana with dakuten (only ka, sa, ta, and ha-column kana and katakana ヴ vu)
  • Kana with handakuten (only ha-column kana)
  • Chōonpu:
  • Comma (fullwidth):
  • Period (fullwidth):
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Multiplication sign: ×
  • Division sign: ÷
Korean versions
  • Hangul
  • Hangul jamo
English
Nicknaming French VI.png
French
Nicknaming German VI.png
German
Nicknaming Italian VI.png
Italian
Nicknaming Spanish VI.png
Spanish
Nicknaming Japanese VI.png
Japanese and Chinese*
Nicknaming Korean VI.png
Korean

Generation VIII

Pokémon Sword and Shield use the native Nintendo Switch text entry system. Games played in Western languages or Japanese can use characters from the English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, and Symbol keyboards. Games played in Japanese can also use the Japanese keyboard. Games played in Korean or Chinese have access only to the keyboard of that language and the Symbol keyboard.


In spin-off series

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: needs all series where it's possible

Pokémon Channel

In Pokémon Channel, the player has the option to nickname his or her companion, Pikachu, once they become familiar enough with each other.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

The exclusive nickname option for Shedinja

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, the player has the option to name the player and their partner and at the beginning of the games, which defaults to their Pokémon. Later in-game the player and partner forms a team which they name, this name cannot be changed in Red Rescue team and Blue Rescue Team but can be changed starting from Explorers of Time and Darkness at any time from the main menu.

Prior to Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, the player can name any Pokémon that joins their team upon recruitment. In Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky and Gates to Infinity, they can also name a Pokémon when it evolves. In Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, Shedinja can be nicknamed at any time, a property unique to it.

In Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, only the player and partner can be named. Their names can be changed at any time, along with their team name, from the main menu.

Other than the cases specifically mentioned, there is no way to change nicknames.

List of characters

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: needs Japanese and Korean characters and WiiWare, images
Rescue Team and Explorers

There were no changes between Rescue Team and Explorers except the positioning of the characters Š and Þ, and Ý and Ÿ which were swapped and þ which were positioned after ž in Rescue Team.

Western version
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Digits
  • Colon: :
  • Plus: +
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Comma: ,
  • Decimal point: .
  • Inverted exclamation mark: ¡
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Inverted question mark: ¿
  • Question mark: ?
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Space:
  • Lowercase letters with diacritics: à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ, ç, è, é, ê, ë, ì, í, î, ï, ð, ñ, ò, ó, ô, õ, ö, ø, œ, š, þ, ù, ú, û, ü, ý, ÿ, ž
  • Uppercase letters with diacritics: À, Á, Â, Ã, Ä, Å, Æ, Ç, È, É, Ê, Ë, Ì, Í, Î, Ï, Ð, Ñ, Ò, Ó, Ô, Õ, Ö, Ø, Œ, Š, Þ, Ù, Ú, Û, Ü, Ý, Ÿ, Ž
  • Eszett: ß
  • Ellipsis:
Gates to Infinity

In Gates to Infinity, space is blank instead of using a bottom square bracket, Ellipsis was moved to after the lowercase letters, and the Single low-9 quotation mark, Left single quotation mark, Double low-9 quotation mark, and the Left double quotaion mark were added.

Western version
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Digits
  • Colon: :
  • Plus: +
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Comma: ,
  • Decimal point: .
  • Inverted exclamation mark: ¡
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Inverted question mark: ¿
  • Question mark: ?
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Space:  
  • Lowercase letters with diacritics: à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ, ç, è, é, ê, ë, ì, í, î, ï, ð, ñ, ò, ó, ô, õ, ö, ø, œ, š, þ, ù, ú, û, ü, ý, ÿ, ž
  • Uppercase letters with diacritics: À, Á, Â, Ã, Ä, Å, Æ, Ç, È, É, Ê, Ë, Ì, Í, Î, Ï, Ð, Ñ, Ò, Ó, Ô, Õ, Ö, Ø, Œ, Š, Þ, Ù, Ú, Û, Ü, Ý, Ÿ, Ž
  • Ellipsis:
  • Eszett: ß
  • Single low-9 quotation mark:
  • Left single quotation mark:
  • Double low-9 quotation mark:
  • Left double quotaion mark:
Super Mystery Dungeon

The only change in Super Mystery Dungeon is that space went back to using a bottom square bracket instead of a blank.

Western version
  • Lowercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Uppercase Latin alphabet letters
  • Digits
  • Colon: :
  • Plus: +
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Comma: ,
  • Decimal point: .
  • Inverted exclamation mark: ¡
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Inverted question mark: ¿
  • Question mark: ?
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Double quotation marks: ,
  • Gender symbols: ,
  • Space:
  • Lowercase letters with diacritics: à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ, ç, è, é, ê, ë, ì, í, î, ï, ð, ñ, ò, ó, ô, õ, ö, ø, œ, š, þ, ù, ú, û, ü, ý, ÿ, ž
  • Uppercase letters with diacritics: À, Á, Â, Ã, Ä, Å, Æ, Ç, È, É, Ê, Ë, Ì, Í, Î, Ï, Ð, Ñ, Ò, Ó, Ô, Õ, Ö, Ø, Œ, Š, Þ, Ù, Ú, Û, Ü, Ý, Ÿ, Ž
  • Ellipsis:
  • Eszett: ß
  • Single low-9 quotation mark:
  • Left single quotation mark:
  • Double low-9 quotation mark:
  • Left double quotaion mark:

Pokémon Ranger series

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: needs other languages if different and what is on the third screen

In the Pokémon Ranger series, the player can be named at the beginning of the game.

List of characters

Pokémon Ranger
  • Uppercase Latin letters
  • Lowercase Latin letters
  • Lowercase Latin letters with diacritics: é
  • Digits
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Question mark: ?
  • Decimal point: .
  • Ellipsis:
  • Space: SPACE
Shadows of Almia and Guardian Signs
  • Uppercase Latin letters
  • Lowercase Latin letters
  • Lowercase Latin letters with diacritics: é
  • Space:  
  • Comma: ,
  • Decimal point: .
  • Apostrophe:
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Gender symbols: ,

Pokémon Trozei series

In Pokémon Trozei! the player is named at the beginning of the game and can change this name at any time from the main menu.

List of characters

  • Space: SPACE
  • Hiragana
  • Katakana
  • Small vowel kana: , , , , , , , , ,
  • Yōon: , , , , ,
  • Chōonpu:
  • Question mark: ?
  • Comma (fullwidth):
  • Period (fullwidth):
  • Digits
  • Uppercase Latin letters
  • Lowercase Latin letters
  • Square brackets: [, ]
  • Comma: ,
  • Decimal point: .
  • Lowercase letters with diacritics: à, á, â, ä, è, é, ê, ë, ì, í, î, ï, ò, ó, ô, ö, œ, ù, ú, û, ü, ç, ñ, ß
  • Uppercase letters with diacritics: À, Á, Â, Ä, È, É, Ê, Ë, Ì, Í, Î, Ï, Ò, Ó, Ô, Ö, Œ, Ù, Ú, Û, Ü, Ç, Ñ
  • Inverted exclamation mark: ¡
  • Inverted question mark: ¿
  • Euro symbol:
  • Cent sign: ¢
  • Pound sign: £
  • Exclamation mark: !
  • Question mark: ?
  • Ampersand: &
  • Double quotation marks: ", ,
  • Apostrophe: '
  • Tilde: ~, ˜
  • Colon: :
  • Semicolon: ;
  • At sign: @
  • Underscore: _
  • Plus sign: +
  • Hyphen-minus: -
  • Asterisk: *
  • Slash: /
  • Multiplication symbol: ×
  • Division sign: ÷
  • Equals sign: =
  • Arrows: , , ,
  • Single quotation marks: ,
  • Parentheses: (, )
  • Angle brackets: ,
  • Curly brackets: {, }
  • Bullet:
  • Procent sign: %
  • Note:
  • Japanese postal mark:
  • Number sign: #
  • Flat:
  • Note:
  • Plus-minus: ±
  • Dollar sign: $
  • Backslash: \
  • Circumflex: ^
  • Degree symbol: °
  • Vertical bar: |
  • Infinity symbol:
  • Asterism:
  • Elipsis:
  • Trademark symbol:
  • Copyright symbol: ©
  • Registered trademark symbol: ®
  • Symbols

Pokémon Art Academy

In Pokémon Art Academy, the player selects a name for themselves at the beginning of the game. The player can change their name as well as the name of any card in their album at any time.

The game utilizes the 3DS's keyboard and its limitations. Cards' names can be left blank.

Pokémon GO

050Diglett.png This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: are there any characters that Pokémon GO does not support?

In Pokémon GO, the player selects a name for themselves at the beginning of the game, and can only change it once by going to the settings and pressing Change Nickname.

Caught Pokémon can have a nickname assigned or changed on the Pokémon's summary screen by tapping its name. Nicknames can be up to twelve characters long. Nicknames are not visible to other players. Pokémon GO uses rich text entry, which allows bold tags (<b></b>) and italic tags (<i></i>) to be used; other tags supported by Unity's rich text system are too long to enclose any text.

All text entry uses the keyboard of the device the game is played on.

Pokémon Duel

In Pokémon Duel, the player selects a name for themselves at the beginning of the game.

Names can be up to eight characters long.

All text entry uses the keyboard of the device the game is played on.

In the anime

Lillie's Vulpix, who is nicknamed Snowy

In the main series

As in the games, nicknaming Pokémon is optional. It is very seldom that main characters have nicknamed their Pokémon, leaving nicknaming largely unique to characters of the day. Often, these characters possess more than one of a species of Pokémon, and nicknaming is to provide distinction, such as in Get Along, Little Pokémon. At other times, the nicknames help to drive the plot, like in Wherefore Art Thou, Pokémon.

The only main characters to possess a nicknamed Pokémon are Misty, James, Lillie, and Lana, who have a Luvdisc called Caserin, a Growlithe called Growlie, an Alolan Vulpix called Snowy, and an Eevee called Sandy, respectively. Ritchie, Marina, and Mairin also nickname their Pokémon.

Nicknamed Pokémon still say their species name as their cry in the anime instead of their nickname. For example, Sparky still says "Pikachu" and variants of it.

Ash's mother, Delia, calls her Mr. Mime by the nickname Mimey. She also gave several of Ash's Alola Pokémon nicknames in Alolan Open House! and A Full Battle Bounty!.

A surfing Pikachu called Puka appeared in The Pi-Kahuna.

Liza, a recurring character, nicknamed her personal Charizard Charla.

A baby Lugia nicknamed Silver was featured from The Mystery is History to A Promise is a Promise.

In Delcatty Got Your Tongue, Dr. Abby referred to her Delcatty as Johnny.

In Showdown At Linoone, Kimmy Shoney owned a Linoone that he nicknamed Tokin.

Mairin, a recurring character who traveled with Alain in the XY series's Mega Evolution Specials, has a Chespin nicknamed Chespie. She has also nicknamed her Flabébé Bébé.

Bonnie, a travelling companion of Ash, nicknamed the Zygarde Core who traveled with the group for a while Squishy.

In Unlocking Some Respect!, Ed and Locke own the right and left part of a Binacle, which they called Righty and Lefty.

An Alolan Persian nicknamed Pershie appeared in ‪That's Why the Litten is a Scamp! and All They Want to Do is Dance Dance!, belonging to a Madame.

In Getting the Band Back Together!, DJ Leo has an Alolan Dugtrio, whose heads are nicknamed Jessica, Ashley, and Michael, respectively. However, the Pokémon itself is referred to as just Dugtrio.

In Rising from the Ruins!, Gladion was revealed to own a Type: Null, which was nicknamed Silvally.

In A Dream Encounter!, Lillie nicknamed the young Cosmog found by Ash Nebby.

In Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime?, Acerola has a Shiny Mimikyu nicknamed Mimikins. The same episode also featured a Gengar nicknamed the Greedy Rapooh. It befriended Acerola at the end of the episode and later joined her team.

In the original version of All They Want to Do is Dance Dance!, Anela has an Oricorio nicknamed (Japanese ドリちゃん Dori-chan). In the English dub, it is simply referred to as Oricorio.

In We Know Where You're Going, Eevee!, Lana nicknamed the Eevee she caught Sandy.

In SS011, Renji has a Magnemite nicknamed (Japanese:フランソワーズ Françoise).

In Pokémon Origins

In File 1: Red, after Red chose Charmander as his starter Pokémon, Professor Oak told him he could nickname it if he wanted to. However, Red chose to leave Charmander without a nickname, although he did consider giving it the nickname Sepultura in the Japanese version.

In the manga

Some Pokémon manga series use nicknames as a way to differentiate and individualize Pokémon characters.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

At least two Pokédex holders in each region name their Pokémon. Quite often, the Trainer will nickname his or her Pokémon with a particular pattern, such as how Crystal ends most of her Pokémon's nicknames with the "ee" sound, and Gold ends most of his Pokémon's names with "bo". Several other characters nickname their Pokémon as well; for example, Brock's six Geodude are each named after a number, from "Geoone" to "Geosix".

Unlike in the games, nicknames of owned Pokémon can be changed when the owner of the Pokémon is changed. Examples of this include Mr. Stone's Castform being named Fofo by Ruby, Gurkinn's Gengar being named Garma by X, and Grace's Rhyhorn being named Rhyrhy by Y. Also, nicknames may be removed by the new trainer, as Silver's Kingdra was nicknamed Tat-chan when she was under Green's ownership.

In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 暱稱 Nīkchīng
Mandarin 暱稱/昵称 Nìchēng
Denmark Flag.png Danish Kælenavn
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Bijnaam
Finland Flag.png Finnish Lempinimi
France Flag.png French Surnom
Germany Flag.png German Spitzname
Italy Flag.png Italian Soprannome
South Korea Flag.png Korean 닉네임 Nickname
Poland Flag.png Polish Przezwisko
Portuguese Brazil Flag.png Brazil Apelido
Portugal Flag.png Portugal Alcunha
Spain Flag.png Spanish Mote
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Smeknamn
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Biệt danh


Pokémon training
CatchingNicknamingBattlingEvolvingTradingBreedingReleasing