The longest Pokémon name is a four-way tie. Crabominable, Squawkabilly, Brambleghast and Poltchageist all have 12 letters. The shortest is a two-way tie: Muk and Mew have three letters each. Many websites name only Crabominable, but this page counts every name on pokee.si.
All figures come from the 1,025 names in our data and the respellings, which are the "say it" guides under each name. When a name has a space or a hyphen, we count letters only, unless we say otherwise.
The longest names
Four names reach 12 letters.
| Pokémon | Letters | Say it | Gen | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crabominable | 12 | krab-OM-ih-nuh-bul | 7 | Hear it |
| Squawkabilly | 12 | SKWAW-kuh-bil-ee | 9 | Hear it |
| Brambleghast | 12 | BRAM-bul-gast | 9 | Hear it |
| Poltchageist | 12 | POHL-chuh-gyst | 9 | Hear it |
Crabominable comes from Generation 7, and the other three from Generation 9. If you count every character including spaces, the answer changes. Then 14 names have 12 characters, because Brute Bonnet, Flutter Mane, Slither Wing, Sandy Shocks, Iron Jugulis, Roaring Moon, Iron Valiant, Walking Wake, Gouging Fire and Iron Boulder join the four above.
One level down, 23 names have 11 letters. They include Fletchinder, Corviknight, Meowscarada and Dudunsparce. Fletchinder is the longest in Generation 6. Crabominable stands alone at the top of Generation 7.
A side note on a limit you may have seen in the games. Bulbapedia says that nicknames you type are limited to 10 characters in Generations I to V and to 12 from Generation VI, in Western languages. That limit is for nicknames, not for the names of species.
The shortest names
Two names have three letters.
With 4 letters: Abra, Seel, Onix, Jynx, Natu, Xatu, Ho-Oh, Aron, Uxie, Sawk, Axew, Snom
How long is a typical name?
Most names fall in the middle. The average is about 7.6 letters.
| Letters | Pokémon |
|---|---|
| 3 | 2 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 50 |
| 6 | 165 |
| 7 | 267 |
| 8 | 242 |
| 9 | 181 |
| 10 | 79 |
| 11 | 23 |
| 12 | 4 |
Seven-letter names are the most common, with 267 of them. Pikachu has seven letters, so it is typical.
Names by syllables
A syllable is one beat when you say a word, like "pi-ka-chu". We count syllables from our respellings, so a name with a space counts all its words.
Two-syllable names are the most common, with 456, and three-syllable names follow with 419. Then come 124 with four syllables. Only 16 names have a single syllable, and 10 have five.
One syllable
Gloom (GLOOM), Seel (SEEL), Muk (MUK), Jynx (JINKS), Mew (MYOO), Ralts (RALTS), Spoink (SPOYNK), Spheal (SFEEL), Shinx (SHINKS), Throh (THROH), Sawk (SAWK), Klink (KLINK), Klang (KLANG), Skrelp (SKRELP), Snom (SNOM), Klawf (KLAWF)
Five syllables
| Pokémon | Say it | Gen | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nidoran♀ | NEE-doh-ran FEE-mayl | 1 | Hear it |
| Feraligatr | fuh-RAL-ih-gay-ter | 2 | Hear it |
| Alomomola | uh-loh-muh-MOH-luh | 5 | Hear it |
| Crabominable | krab-OM-ih-nuh-bul | 7 | Hear it |
| Oricorio | or-ih-KOR-ee-oh | 7 | Hear it |
| Togedemaru | toh-geh-deh-MAR-oo | 7 | Hear it |
| Regieleki | REJ-ee-eh-lek-ee | 8 | Hear it |
| Meowscarada | mee-ow-skuh-RAH-duh | 9 | Hear it |
| Iron Jugulis | EYE-ern JUG-yuh-lis | 9 | Hear it |
| Fezandipiti | fez-an-dih-PEE-tee | 9 | Hear it |
Iron Jugulis has two words. Nidoran♀ counts five because our respelling adds the word "female". The longest single words are Feraligatr, Alomomola, Crabominable, Oricorio, Togedemaru, Regieleki, Meowscarada and Fezandipiti.
Names with spaces, hyphens and symbols
Most names are one word in plain letters. Some are not.
| Pokémon | What is unusual | Say it | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Mime | a full stop and a space | MIS-ter MIME | Hear it |
| Farfetch'd | an apostrophe | FAR-fetcht | Hear it |
| Porygon-Z | a hyphen | POR-ih-gon ZEE | Hear it |
| Porygon2 | a number | POR-ih-gon TOO | Hear it |
| Nidoran♀ | a female symbol | NEE-doh-ran FEE-mayl | Hear it |
| Nidoran♂ | a male symbol | NEE-doh-ran MAYL | Hear it |
| Flabébé | two accents | flah-BAY-bay | Hear it |
| Type: Null | a colon and a space | TIPE NULL | Hear it |
| Ho-Oh | a hyphen | HOH-oh | Hear it |
| Mime Jr. | a space and a full stop | MIME JOON-yer | Hear it |
| Jangmo-o | a hyphen | JANG-moh-oh | Hear it |
| Kommo-o | a hyphen | KOM-moh-oh | Hear it |
| Sirfetch'd | an apostrophe | SUR-fetcht | Hear it |
| Wo-Chien | a hyphen | woh-CHEN | Hear it |
| Tapu Koko | a space | TAH-poo KOH-koh | Hear it |
| Iron Valiant | a space | EYE-ern VAL-yunt | Hear it |
In all, 43 of the 1,025 names have something besides plain letters. 28 have a space, 9 have a hyphen, and only 3 use a character outside the English alphabet: Nidoran♀, Nidoran♂ and Flabébé.
Most spaced names come from Generation 9, where the Paradox Pokémon often have two words, like Iron Valiant or Roaring Moon. The Tapu guardians from Alola also have two words. To hear the odd ones, use the audio links.
Which letter do names start with?
Every letter of the alphabet starts at least one name.
| First letter | Names | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| S | 135 | Squirtle, Spearow, Sandshrew |
| C | 86 | Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard |
| M | 79 | Metapod, Meowth, Mankey |
| G | 66 | Golbat, Gloom, Golduck |
| P | 65 | Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot |
S wins by a wide margin. The fewest start with X (3), Y (6), Q (7) and U (7). X is rare, and all three X names, Xatu, Xerneas and Xurkitree, are said with a Z sound. Our pronunciation guide shows how to say each.
Play with the names
Try saying the longest names out loud, then check yourself with the audio. Say the Name is a game that plays a name and asks you to find the Pokémon. For tips on tricky spellings, see hard Pokémon names for parents, and how to pronounce Pokémon names has the official corrections. Names also change between languages, which Pokémon names in other languages explains.