User:Maxim/BW English Name Predictions
After much hesitation, I decided to predict the names of Pokémon Black and White characters. I was asked for that by different people. So, if people like my predictions, I feel obliged to carry on. While I may not like BW Pokémon (even though they don't annoy me that much, I still think this is the worst generation), I'm fine with most characters. However, I'm bored of predicting every single CoTD name. I think I'll predict only game characters and the most major anime characters. I also decided to predict the town/city names.
I decided to start from scratch, along with the new era. For older predictions, please see User: Maxim/Dub Name Predictions.
Characters
Pokémon Black/White 2
Japanese Name | U.S. name prediction | Reason | Actual name | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Homika | Stryke | From Strychnine, a poisonous substance (used as a rat poison, for example). It is also what she is named after in Japanese (kinda). Also, sounds like a guitarist nickname. | Roxie | Not very Poison-like but I like it. |
Shizui | Deuter | From Deuterium, AKA heavy hydrogen. With oxygen, it creates the so-called heavy water. |
Marlon | Don't mind. Works better than my prediction anyway. |
Achroma | Never predicted | Had no good idea for him. And even if I had one, I wouldn't be able to submit it because of Bulbapedia closure. | Colress | Meh, obvious pun and not a real name. But still better than keeping "Achroma". |
Hugh | Never formally predicted | Revealed before I could submit it. But I DID expect his English (and romanized) name to be Hugh. "Hue" was just some user's educated guess but I just KNEW that his name wouldn't be spelt "Hue". | Hugh | Couldn't be anything else. |
Kyouhei | Renson or Sonny | Both from "resonance". | ||
Mei | Nancy | From "resonance". | ||
Banjirou | Avalon | Tough one. "Ava" is from "guava", starts with an "A" like Alder. Lame prediction, I know. | ||
Tetsu | Ferris (courtesy of Chaolong) |
Chaolong predicted the perfect name for him. Not only it refers to ferrum (iron, that's what "Tetsu" means), it also references the Ferris Wheel (one of the places where he's met). No one will think up anything better, so I'm just agreeing with Chao's idea. | ||
Ruri | Jade | No good lapis lazuli puns, so I just tried with another stone. |
Pokémon Black/White
Japanese Name | U.S. name prediction | Reason | Actual name | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tōya | Clark | From "clear" (if Japanese name is indeed based on 透 tō, transparent). | Hilbert | You know what? I even like these names. They might not be the greatest choices for player characters but I'm not gonna hate on them. |
Tōko | Clarice | Same as Tōya. | Hilda | Also, I like them a tad better than Blair & Whitlea. Really. |
Cheren | Cheren or Nigel | I love the name Cheren, as it comes from Slavic languages (and I'm Polish). But it probably still sounds "too Japanese" for whiny NoA translators. So, I've got an alternate prediction - Nigel, which of course comes from Latin niger. | Cheren | Good. But I think it should have either been kept along with Bell(e) or changed along with Bianca. Cheren and Bianca don't make a good mixture. |
Bel | Bell or Alba | Again, keep the Slavic-derived name (in my favoured spelling) or use a Latin-derived one. | Bianca | I've thought about this name but I found it a little too obvious. Well, the name itself is okay but doesn't play well with Cheren. It should be either two Slavic or two Romance names, IMHO. |
Professor Araragi | Prof. Cedar | Because "Prof. Yew" sounds unacceptably ugly to me. | Professor Juniper | At least it's not Yew, at everyone was telling me. Very unexpected but I like it. |
Makomo | Dorothy | From the root dorm- for "dream". | Fennel | I know it makes sense but I don't like the name. Doesn't sound feminine at all, not even humanoid. Not really a name I'd call my daughter. |
Shōro | Ramona | She's Unova's Box System operator, so her name shuld derive from a computer technical abbreviation. Ramona comes from RAM, obviously. | Amanita | WHAT?! It's a mushroom! A poisonous mushroom! Not really something I'd call my child. But she was named after a mushroom in Japanese too (which is no excuse, though). |
N | N | Do I have to explain? | N | ... ... ... ... ... ... |
Goetis? Getis? Gaytis? Dennis? | Arcus | Latin for rainbow, a mysterious and ancient-sounding name. | Ghetsis | Uh, just corrupted spelling in a bizarre way. I guess they didn't want to change the chants... |
Vio Ryokushi Giallo Rot Sumura Asura |
Ingvar Virgil Flavian Ruben Auron Carlisle |
From indigo From viridis (Latin for green) From flavus (Latin for yellow) From ruber (Latin for red) From aurantia (Latin for orange) or aureus (golden) From caeruleus (blue). Why just Latin? It's the ancient language, so I find it the most fitting. Also, Latin always gives best puns for normal-sounding Eastern names. |
Zinzolin Ryoku Giallo Rood Bronius Gorm |
WAT.TA.FUK?!?! I am speechless. "Mido" would work better, if they wanted it to be Japanese. Oh, well... Just corrupted spelling. Oh. Like this one. Uh... Sounds random. |
Nobori | Aston or Upton | From the word "ascend" (which is 上り nobori in Japanese. 上り下り noborikudari means "going up and down"). Upton is an obvious choice for him but I can't find any down-based counterpart. | Ingo | Didn't expect that, I like the name. |
Kudari | Desmond | From the word "descend", counterpart to Nobori. | Emmet | Not bad. Though I'm not sure about the name's etymology ("emit" sounds far-fetched to me). |
Gaidō | Hyde | Rhymes with "guide". Changed after Corn (whose name I predicted to be Hyde first) was revealed to be named Cress. My previous prediction seemed to be kinda politically incorrect. | Clyde | Ah. So close, yet so far. Hyde would've been better. |
Bourgeoir Family Drake Susan Quadona Zillion Trish Mile |
Duefeller Family: Draco Susan Donna Gilles Trish Miles |
I'm sure that their surname will be Something-feller. Probably something battle-related, so I came up with Duefeller. The names are alikes, but they'll most likely end up being something completely random (Drake shouldn't be kept because of Elite Four Drake). | The Riches Draco Susan Clairdonna Zillion Trish Miles |
Why so obvious? Come on. That's so uncreative. Draco! Knew it! ... Silly name. But sounds kinda posh, so it works. Idiotic name to keep, IMHO. ... Oh yeah! This one letter DOES make a difference! |
Dent | Verry or Woody | Verry from the word "green" (Verde in Spanish and Italian), Woody is obviously from wood, as he's the Grass Leader. I don't believe that they'll keep Dent, as they'd have to keep all three, as they make the pun together. And I'm sure that NoA wouldn't want a character named "Corn". | Cilan | I've got mixed feelings. Not at all a name I'd give him. I just hope they won't give plant-based names to all Gym Leaders and Elite members. Really, when NoA tries to imitate Japanese naming, the results are really, really ugly. Think your own mind, NoA! |
Pod | Ross or Burt | Ross from Italian rosso, red. Burt from burning. | Chili | Chili? It's just as bad as having a character named Corn. So, it seems that they're mimicking the Japanese plant pattern after all. That's not good, the names will be strange and will lack originality. |
Corn | Hyde | Couldn't find any good Blue-derived name. Hyde is from hydro-, prefix for water. Also, a very badass name. | Cress | Oh! I've got a namesake... kinda. Cress is short for Crescentius, which happens to be my Confirmation name! EPIC! |
Aloe | Regina or Reggie | From the word "regular". I don't see a reason that Aloe should be left out, it's not a nice name and the translator aren't that fond of plant names. | Lenora | Sounds like a Polish washing powder name (Lenor). Could have been worse, but I'd really prefer Regina or Vera. |
Kidachi | Carter | After Howard Carter, a famous archaeologist. Also, together with Regina, it gives the name of Regina Carter, a jazz musician (this is similar to his Japanese name, which gives Kidachi Aloe combined with his wife's name). | Hawes | Out of all names based on archeology, why this one? |
Arty | Colbert or Arty/Arthur | Colbert is from coleopter. But they could keep Arty as well (or Arthur, as this is the full version of the name), as it refers to arachnids and to the fact that he's an artist. | Burgh | GOT HAGGER??????? |
Kamitsure | Amber | The word "electricity" itself derives from Greek word electron, meaning "amber" (because it was first discovered while experimenting with an amber). Also, Amber sounds very similar to ampere and can refer to a yellowish color, representing electricity. Hence, I think this is just a perfect name for a female Electric-type leader. Also, I don't think that NoA will be THAT uncreative to call her "Electra", as almost everyone else thinks. |
Elesa | That's not much better than Electra. Come on, why not Amber? It was perfect and not obvious! |
Yacon | Diego or Clayton | Diego from "digging" (in the ground), Clayton from clay. | Clay | Well, almost nailed. I think that it'd sound better with -ton, still. |
Fūro | Avia or Raven | Avia from aviation, Raven is a bird. | Skyla | Uh, too obvious. Also, isn't it missing a -r on the ending? |
Hachiku | Frederic | From freeze. | Brycen | Sounds like they wanted to call him Bryce at first but realized that it's too similar to Pryce and added a -n on the last minute. The name isn't bad but it's obvious because it has "ice" in it. |
Iris | Iris or Dracia | One of the candidates to be kept. Dracia is in the case they wanted something more draconic. | Iris | I expected some creativity from NoA. While I did consider that they could leave the name be, I'd really rather them to change it. The more Japanese-based the name translations are, the worse they are. It's too early to judge yet but I really hope that NoA's naming doesn't lose its originality. |
Shaga | Conrad | Anagram of "dracon", the word for dragon in many languages. | Drayden | Oh, Drayden, Drayden, Drayden, I made you out of Clay... |
Shikimi | Polly, Alma or Esther | Polly from poltergeist. Alma is a Spanish word for soul. Esther is from esoterical. | Shauntal | It is a real and nice name. But its correct spelling is "Chantal". The variant they chose is unneccessarily overspelled and ugly. I don't like it. |
Gīma | Malcolm or Dwight | From the prefix mal- meaning bad (malevolent = bad-willed). Dwight is from twilight. | Grimsley | Wat? U srs? |
Renbu | Tyson or Faust | Tyson is obvious. Faust is the German word for fist. | Marshal | This one is nice. And I've considered this name too. But Sieg predicted it first so I didn't want to copy after him. |
Adeku | Roderick | I really don't know why. | Alder | This name is... okay. And this is actually wrong, as it fails to show his power and epicness. Characters like him don't get names that are just "okay". They should've come with something more creative, really. |
Anime
Japanese Name | U.S. name prediction | Reason | Actual name | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shooty | Sherman | He's an anime-only character. And PUSA, as we know, is much less creative than NoA. So, I just thought of a similar name. But it's possible that they'll pull another Paul and he'll get an unpredictable name. | Trip | Oh! This was unpredictable! I don't mind the name, though. Also, are they really referencing my favorite Power Rangers season? |
Don George | Don Jorge | "Don" is a honorific used in Romance-speaking country (such as Italy or Spain) so I guess "Don George" sounds awkward to an American person (Don + an English name). I think changing it to Don Jorge will do well. Also, it begins with J (like Joy and Jenny), while in Japanese all three begin with Katakana "ji" (Joi/Junsa/Jooji). Can you notice the pattern? | Don George | Why so uncreative, PUSA? My prediction made really more sense. |
Flint | Flynn or Jasper | There are already two very important characters by the name Flint. So, I hope that they won't use the name once again. It'd be too much. Flynn is a sound-alike and it does just okay as Flint's English name. Jasper in the case they wanted to call him after a stone (his supervisor is named Prof. Seger. Seger is a stone). |
Pierce | Whom is he gonna pierce? Huh... the name's okay (and very unexpected), I think. Just a shame that this character has sunk in the cesspit because of the Japanese earthquake. |
Professor Seger | Prof. Seger | No reason to change, I guess. | Dr. Zager | Oh, it's just corrupted spelling. Also, wow, they made him a doctor. |
Cabernet | Clarabeth | First of all, I don't believe in her recurring-ness (and even if she reappears, she's not gonna be a major character, IMHO). But I've got a reason to predict her name. So many people believe that her Japanese name will be kept in English dub. I, however, don't think so. Cabernet is a type of wine, an alcohol! The fact that they've changed Sommelier to Connoisseur pretty much means that they're getting rid of alcoholic references. So, I really doubt it that PUSA would want a character named after a type of alcohol. Clarabeth is just my lame attempt at something similar-sounding. |
Burgundy | It's still an alcoholic reference (not so blatant, though, as the word has some additional meanings) and it's still not a human name. Not the greatest choice, especially for a character who's confirmed to reappear (I still don't think she's gonna become a full-time rival, though). |
Kenyan | Keenan, Kenyon, Kenneth etc. | I don't think that Kenyan is a great name... Keenan and Kenyon (apparently, such name exists) are my attempts at something phonetically similar. However, any name starting with Ken- (Kenneth, Kendrick etc.) can't be ruled out. I'm predicting him because he's confirmed to reappear, but I don't think he's gonna become a regular. | Stephan | Really unexpected. |
Langley | Langley | I'm not fond of the name. It sounds like a placename rather than a person's name. But they've kept much stranger names. So I guess Langley will be kept. | Georgia | Reminds me of a country in Caucasus... But I like it! It's really creative, much better than keeping "Langley" intact. |
Luke | Darth Vader | After... HIS FATHER! Naaah, I'm just kidding. It's out of question that his original name will be kept. | Luke | Only a total idiot would expect something else. And sorry for that unfunny joke. |
Movie characters
Japanese Name | U.S. name prediction | Reason | Actual name | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dread Grangil | Dread Grangil | Having a character named Dread sure DOES bother me but it's probably not bothering PUSA, who have kept "Grings Kodai". However, if I come for some other fitting name for him, I'll add it here. I'd really prefer "Dread" to be changed for the English version. | Damon | Sounds like demon, so kind of fits. But I don't like because of the similarity to Damos. |
Janta | Janta or Janice | The name is on the borderline between "okay as an English name" and "too Japanese to be kept". There's a 50% chance that it'll be kept and 50% chance that it'll be changed to something phonetically similar (like Janice). | Juanita | Oh, an alike. I even like this, plays well with Carlita. |
Carlita | Carlita | This one will be kept, obviously. | Carlita | Yeees! The best spelling! |
Mormont | Ormond | Real name, similar sounding and doesn't sound like Mormon (which really bothers me in his original name). However, this one may be kept too. | N/A | None yet. |
Shade | Sadie | Similar sounding, real name. Also, "Shade" is an awkward romanization, in Katakana it's セード (so a better romanization would be "Sade"). | N/A | None yet. |
Aude | Odie | Analogical to Sadie. | N/A | None yet. |
Towns and Cities
They are all based on cloud names, this seems to be the pattern this Generation. There is no much explanation to my choices - I'm mostly guessing. I'm not fine with all names, some are strange. These names are really hard to predict, hopefully NoA will come up with some nicer names.
Japanese Name | U.S. name prediction | Actual name | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
Kanoko Town | Lacuntra Town | Nuvema Town | Oh, this was first revealed as Italian name. Didn't know this would become English name too! Not bad, although I like its German name Avenitia more. |
Karakusa Town | Cumulant Town | Accumula Town | Almost got it right. |
Sanyou City | Trislucia City | Striaton City | I don't mind... |
Shippou City | Vertegate City | Nacrene City | Nacreous clouds, eh? Not fond of the name, though. |
Hodomoe City | Humisol City | Driftveil City | Not very fond of it. It doesn't bring the right image of this town to my mind. |
Fukiyose City | Cirravia City | Mistralton City | Sounds nice but doesn't keep the cloud theme, does it? |
Sekka City | Altaniva City | Icirrus City | It works, I think. |
Souryuu City | Duplivern City | Opelucid City | Doesn't work. Not only doesn't sound good, it also loses the "double dragon" pun. |
Kagome Town | Opacure Town | Lacunosa Town | Not bad for a mysterious, classical-looking town. |
Sazanami Town | Lentimar Town | Undella Town | It works. I don't mind. |
Kanawa Town | Incustrail Town | Anville Town | Almost had it, as Incus is Latin for anvil (and a cloud type). |