Pokemon has seen its fair share of wildly designed and named Pokemon. Many, like Vanillite and Magnemite, are modeled after everyday things, and have clear reasoning for their names despite how silly they may be. Other Pokemon are designed to represent ✤real-world animals with slightly altered names, such as Seel and Stantler.
However, there are also many Pokemon whose names just don't make a whole lot of sense. These mistakes in naming can be attributed to a couple of different reasons — the Pokemon's name doesn't match the real-world thing it is based on, the name doesn't make sense with their typing, or their name simply isn't intuitive.
10 Psyduck
Psyduck is a beloved Water-type Pokemon, and because of its name, some fans may be surprised to find out that Psyduck is not Psychic-type as well. Considering it has 'psy' in the name and is known for suffering from perpetual headaches, it's puzzling that it wasn't introduced as a Psychic/Water dual-type Pokemon.
This is a weird choice on the part of the developers, who seemingly could have gone the short distance further to make 🎐its traits better match its typi⛎ng. This is really unfortunate, and just adds another headache for poor little Psyduck.
9 Beedrill
Beedrill is a case of the designers having the right idea, but mixing up the real-world animal that they were trying to represent. Beedrill would fit perfectly if it were instead named Waspdrill, but that doesn't flow quite as well.
Alternatively, the designers could have taken more inspiration from the anatomy of bees. Qui𒀰te a sting to its reputation!
8 Mr. Mime
The Barrier Pokemon, Mr. Mime, seemingly fits its name quite well. Mr. Mime looks and acts like a mime artist, though the confusion comes with the gendered title 'Mr.' This is due to the fact that Mr. Mime can actually be both male and female, with roughly a 50/50 spawn rate between the two.
In this example, the developers made the choice to gender Mr. Mime when it was not really necessary, so to correct this inconsistency we could either replace Mr. with a gender-neutral title, or simply take it out of the Pokemon's name.
7 Passimian
At first glance, it may seem as though Passimian fits its name quite well, but a closer look would tell you otherwise. This Pokemon is modeled after a lemur, but its name includes the word 'simian' — which is more of a reference to monkeys and apes.
This is an understandable mistake, since lemurs and monkeys look so ❀similar, though a Passimian may say otherwise൲ if you ask one.
6 ⛎ 𝓡 Alolan Sandshrew
Alolan Sandshrew's name is one of the most nonsensical, though the developers at Game Freak may not be as much to blame for this one. This is because Alolan Sandshrew is a regional variant of the Generation 1 Pokemon Sandshrew, whose Ground-typing matched its name quite well.
The trouble comes with Alolan Sandshrew's Ice-typing, since this doesn't remain consistent with the inclusion of 'sand' in its name. Instead, the developers could have gone with a different name for the regional Pokemon, like Frostshrew, or alternatively, they could have stuck with its sandy design and differentiated Alolan Sandshrew in another way.
5 Infernape
It doesn't take a zoologist to realize what's wrong with Infernape's name, being the combination of 'inferno' and 'ape.' This blazing hot monkey Pokemon is not an ape at all, based on its small stature and long tail.
Similar to other misnamed Pokemon though, entirely accurate names like Infernomonkey wouldn't have quite a ring to them. On the other hand, taking inspiration from Passimian, the developers could have gone with Blazimian to more closely represent the fiery monkey.
4 Geodude
Geodude's name is the combination of two words 'geo,' relating to the earth or rocks, and 'dude.' In American English at least, 'dude' is typically used when referring to a man. This poses a problem similar to another Pokemon on this list, Mr. Mime, in that Geodude can be either male or female.
To remedy this weirdly gendered name, Geodude could instead be called something like Geobud or Geofist to more accurately represent its design. However, Geodude may be up in arms if we try to change its name, so for now, we'll stick with it.
3 Igglybuff
Igglybuff was added into the Pokemon series as early as Generation 2, though its evolved forms Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff were in from the very beginning. Igglybuff's name was very clearly intended to match the rhyme and rhythm of its predecessors, but does it really make sense?
Jigglypuff looks like a jiggly little pink puffball, hence the name Jigglypuff. Wigglytuff could be described as wiggly and tough, without too much of a stretch. But what exactly does Igglybuff mean? The Pokemon is far from buff and it's unclear what 'iggly' is supposed to refer to if anything at all. Perhaps 'small'?
2 ♎ ꦕ Pidgeot And Pidgeotto
Pidgeot and Pidgeotto aren't inappropriately named at surface level, but when compared it becomes clearer why these two bird Pokemon defy common sense naming schemes. Since the baby form of this evolutionary chain is named Pidgey, with one vowel, you would assume that the middle evolution would be Pidgeot for its two vowels. Wrong.
Pidgeot has three vowels compared to Pidgeotto's four, and appears in a much less threatening stature. This has left many Pokemon fans scratching their heads, and more players end up mixing up the second and third evolutionary forms.
1 Timburr
The problem with Timburr's name is more of a technicality than anything else. This is because its name doesn't represent the Pokemon itself, but rather the piece of wood, or timber, it carries around everywhere.
Though, if Timburr's love for lumber runs so deep that it is always seen carrying some wood around with it wherever it goes, maybe its name fits better than most other Pokemon.