Trainer/Rival Name Traditions

[Meowth City]

I have been wondering this for a while, so I thought I would create this thread to see what people think. I want to know if there is a pattern when it comes to naming your trainers and rivals in Pokemon games.

Do you...

• Use your real name
• Use the official name (i.e. Red, Gold, Ethan, Hilbert, etc.)
• Name them after someone you know (maybe like)
• or something else...

For rival names, do you...

• Use immature names like douchebag xD
• Name them after someone you know (might hate)
• Use the official name (i.e. Blue, Silver, Lyra, Hilda, etc.)
• or something else...

For example, here are mine:
[trainer name ------- rival name]
Yellow: Ash --------------- Gary
Silver: Sparky ------------- Rin
Diamond: Pucci (Girl) ------ Devon
SoulSilver: Bellini (Girl) ----- Rouge
Black: Handel (Boy)

 

[DasBoot]

For my rival, I just name him a normal or dumb name.
As for me, when I name my character, I just name him after my real name. But when I choose a girl, I name it the female version of my real name. (Which you'll probably never know.

 

[GoldNinja]

I name the main character as myself and my rival will be someone I've hated or disliked x) I've never used any ridiculous names, I haven't even thought of that :0

 

[Hejiru]

I used to name my player some variation of my own name or middle name. Now I just use my Internet name (Hejiru)

My rival I usually just give whatever the canon name is.

 

[Chibi_Muffin]

I call myself my real name. The rivals, however, I name according to personality:

Pearl: Tommy
FireRed: Harvey (to be embarassing)
SoulSilver: Marco

 

[TheEpicGoomba]

I name the playable character my name and the rival character his official name.

 

[Kalosian]

The first time I played Blue, I had no idea what to name my player and the rival, so they just got random names. After that, I used my real name for the first playthroughs in Silver and Crystal, but got tired of that, the main reason being that I do not like my real name. In third generation, I used the same name for three of the five games, which led to much confusion. I did not do the same in fourth generation, went with a different name for the player in every game, the same goes for the rival. As for the names, I just use what is on my mind at the moment unless I have planned the name before I start the game, this goes for both the player character and the rival.

 

[Skull-Kid]

For myself, I either use my real name or the name of the game e.g. my character would be called Ruby in Pokemon Ruby.
For my rival, I name him/her stupid names like "Cheese" or his/her official name.

 

[rpgvillian]

the rival is always dumba**, because it just barely fits in the word box, and:

Dumba**: come on kyler, if you're late I'm fining you 1 million dollars! Whoops! forgot my bag!

 

[Meowth City]

The first time I played Blue, I had no idea what to name my player and the rival, so they just got random names. After that, I used my real name for the first playthroughs in Silver and Crystal, but got tired of that, the main reason being that I do not like my real name. In third generation, I used the same name for three of the five games, which led to much confusion. I did not do the same in fourth generation, went with a different name for the player in every game, the same goes for the rival. As for the names, I just use what is on my mind at the moment unless I have planned the name before I start the game, this goes for both the player character and the rival.

You have just describe me perfectly, haha.

Bonus points to anyone who can guess the meanings behind my names (READ THE FIRST POST) if you can, haha!!

 

[Lulu_used_SunnyDay]

I used to change my trainer name every time, just for fun ( I went from Stella to Nessie....). Only once, in ruby, I used May, the actual trainer name.
Now I use either my internet nickname or Ludo, which is an abbreviation of my actual name.

The rival........I always used either the actual one or one of the alternative ones shown in the name selection, if I like them more.

 

[Djqubi]

Dddddddddddddddd.... Just kidding. Always their real names.

 

[Neekerisanni123]

I name the main character after myself.

The rival's name is usually Douche or something like that.

 

[Danny1221]

Always my own name and for the original 3 games R/B/Y or the remakes the rival is called Gary as that is who the sprite is off.

 

[AmusedMilk]

Always my own name.

 

[RaZoR LeAf]

Always my own name and for the original 3 games R/B/Y or the remakes the rival is called Gary as that is who the sprite is off.

Er, Gary is based off the sprite. Red and Green came out before the anime.


My main character is always called Dan, my rival is always named after someone I know, not necessarily someone I dislike. In my current game, the rival in Heart Gold is called 'Parker' after my work mate's surname.

 

[PKMN Trainer Rex]

For me its usually my name, but if I feel like it I'll choose a different name.

For my rival it's just a regular name, nothing dumb or mean just a regular name.

 

[Nibbles4Ever]

I always name my character my name and my rival Cj.

 

[aclover]

Trainer: my name (or aclover if i'm doing a short pokédex filler.)
Rivals: either my friend's name or their official Names In HG I called him Silver --it's Tradition!

 

[UltimatePokemonExpert]

I always give my character my real name, Andres. The rival is usually named after a friend of mine. Since I can't name the rival in this game, I couldn't call them Evan.