The Art of Naming Pokémon: Morphological Creativity in English Translation

As one of the most globally popular games, Pokémon captivates players with its imaginative universe, where the names of its creatures play a critical role in gameplay. So, translating Pokémon names are considered significant for players to understand, thus enhancing the capacity of the characters they are playing. Therefore, this study investigates the morphological creativity of English Pokémon names, designed to be transparent and informative. The concepts of proper-name translation and transcreation are adopted as the study’s analytical framework. A dataset of 836 Pokémon names was analysed. Ten naming strategies were identified: blending, compounding, derivation, repetition, abbreviation and initialism, clipping, borrowing, phonetic alteration, wordplay techniques, and onomatopoeia. These strategies do more than merely label the Pokémon; they provide insights into a Pokémon’s physical traits, abilities, and types, enhancing player engagement and strategy. Blending, borrowing, and derivation dominate balancing innovation with familiarity, while less common techniques such as clipping and abbreviation may diminish name complexity. Overall, this study highlights how English Pokémon names reflect the franchise’s core values of creativity, playfulness, and cultural resonance, contributing to its enduring global success and informing broader discussions on linguistic creativity in media translation.