The Official Name-Pronunciation Guide

[perplexingpool]

Vivillon is VIV-i-ahn

: Sawk; SOCK

Made me laugh

 

[TrueSoprano]

Might as well add my two cents.

I've studied French diction, and I can tell that a lot of the new Pokemon should be pronounced keeping French pronunciation in mind. For example:

Vivillon: ['vivijɔ̃]
Floette: [flo'ɛt:tə] (the schwa at the end should be very lightly pronounced)
Gourgeist: the French way would be ['gurgaest], but ['gorgaest] is also correct since it's based on "gourd". I believe Geist is from German, which explains the pronunciation.
Furfrou: ['fʌrfru] since fur is based on the English word, but just for fun, the French pronunciation would be ['fyrfru].
Not based on French but:
Aegislash: this one's complicated since there are disputes on the correct way to pronounce æ, but I just say ['id͡ʒəslɐʃ], and having the first syllable be [e] or [ɛ] probably wouldn't be considered incorrect.

Not gen VI related, but Zweilous should be ['tsvaeləs], not ['zvaeləs], since the evolutionary line is based on German numbers. Z is always pronounced [ts] in German.

(EDIT: text looks weird because I was copypasting from an IPA keyboard)

 

[DynamoDuskull]

Alright, so I did some researching on Pokemon name origins, and I think I got the pronunciations for Gen VI mons. I looked up the words the Pokemon got their names from, and if possible, watched the XY anime pronounce the Pokemon that have their names the same in Japanese (Dedenne for example).
These are all guesses though, but as someone who tries to pronounce Pokemon right, these are probably very close:

1. Chespin (CHESS-pin)
2. Quilladin (QWILL-uh-din)
3. Chesnaught (CHESS-not)
4. Fennekin (FEH-nih-kin)
5. Braixen (BRAYKS-in)
6. Delphox (DELL-fox)
7. Froakie (FROH-kee)
8. Frogadier (FROG-uh-deer or frog-uh-DEER)
9. Greninja (greh-NIN-ja)
10. Bunnelby (BUN-nuhl-bee)
11. Diggersby (DIG-ers-bee)
12. Fletchling (FLETCH-ling)
13. Fletchinder (FLEH-chin-der or fleh-CHIN-der)
14. Talonflame (TAL-in-flame)
15. Scatterbug (SKA-tur-bug)
16. Spewpa (SPYOO-pa)
17. Vivillon (VIH-vee-yon)
18. Litleo (LIT-lee-oh)
19. Pyroar (PYE-ror)
20. Flabébé (fluh-BAY-bay)
21. Floette (flo-ETT)
22. Florges (FLOR-jiss)
23. Skiddo (SKIH-doh)
24. Gogoat (GO-goat)
25. Pancham (PAN-cham)
26. Pangoro (pan-GOR-oh)
27. Furfrou (FUR-froo)
28. Espurr (ESS-per)
29. Meowstic (mee-OW-stick)
30. Honedge (HONE-edge)
31. Doublade (DUH-blade or duh-BLADE)
32. Aegislash (EE-jih-slash)
33. Spritzee (SPRIHT-zee)
34. Aromatisse (uh-roh-ma-TEESE)
35. Swirlix (SWIRL-licks)
36. Slurpuff (SLUR-puff)
37. Inkay (INK-kay)
38. Malimar (MAL-luh-mar)
39. Binacle (BYE-nuh-kull)
40. Barbaracle (bar-BARE-uh-kull)
41. Skrelp (SKRELP)
42. Dragalge (druh-GAL-jee *like saying 'drug algae'*)
43. Clauncher (CLAWN-chur)
44. Clawitzer (claw-WIT-zer)
45. Helioptile (hee-lee-OP-tile)
46. Heliolisk (HEE-lee-oh-lisk)
47. Tyrunt (TYE-runt)
48. Tyrantrum (tye-RANT-trum)
49. Amaura (uh-MOAR-uh)
50. Aurorus (uh-ROAR-us)
51. Sylveon (SIL-vee-on)
52. Hawlucha (haw-LOO-chuh)
53. Dedenne (deh-DEH-nay)
54. Carbink (CAR-bink or car-BINK)
55. Goomy (GOO-mee)
56. Sliggoo (SLIH-goo or slih-GOO)
57. Goodra (GOO-druh)
58. Klefki (KLEF-kee)
59. Phantump (FAN-tump)
60. Trevenant (TREH-vuh-nent)
61. Pumpkaboo (PUM-kuh-boo)
62. Gourgeist (GORE-geist *rhymes with 'heist'*)
63. Bergmite (BERG-myte)
64. Avalugg (AH-vuh-luhg)
65. Noibat (NOY-bat)
66. Noivern (NOY-vern)
67. Xerneas (ZURR-nee-us)
68. Yveltal (ee-VELL-tall)
69. Zygarde (ZYE-gard)

 

[Codraroll]

^Well done, but I disagree about Helioptile (I think it's four syllables, not five) and Zygarde (Two syllables, not three). Those look a little like typing mistakes.

 

[DynamoDuskull]

^Well done, but I disagree about Helioptile (I think it's four syllables, not five) and Zygarde (Two syllables, not three). Those look a little like typing mistakes.

The 'tile' in Helioptile is complicated. Most people consider words like 'tile' and 'smile' to be one syllable, but depending on the dialect, it can sound like two, so that's where I got conflicted.
Zygarde was a mistake that I fixed, thanks pointing that out.

 

[meowmixmax]

Not sure if it has been mentioned but the Archeops pic on the list is a Whimsicott for some reason.

 

[ShatteredSummers]

For Bronzong, isn't it BRON-zong (emphasis in first syllable), and not "bron-ZONG?"
Emphasizing the last syllable makes its name sound weird.

 

[KeldeoJustified]

Is pidgeot supposed to sound like midgit with a p?

 

[Monsoon]

Ray-Kway-zah ?
In Britain it's Ray-Kwar-zah (as in quark sound)
Pronunciation depends on region, having a "correct" list seems pretty pointless

 

[TrainerSplash]

Just letting you know that Arceus has 2-3 official pronunciations

 

[scoobydoobydrew]

Am I the only one who pronounced Wormadam as "wur-MA-dam"? Like, you know, because it's a female, I thought it was always based on the word "Madame" as in French (I think English has it as well, though rarely used).

 

[PikachuCandyツ]

: Scizor; SIZ-or (for the love of Arceus here’s how to say it)
Rock, Paper, Scizzors ;_;

 

[11pikabro]

Thought I'd bump this in preparation for whenever an English trailer for the new movie with

vol-CAY-nee-on
and
Mah-gee-AR-nah (or Mah-GEER-nah...that pronunciation was too flowing for me to accurately hear)

comes out, as well as in preparation for the incoming Pokémon to be announced or when possibly a new official Pokémon database with pronunciations is released.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also, as I was watching some English dubbed anime, I heard some Pokémon names pronounced:
(confirming)
Heliptile---Hee-lee-OP-tile
Frogadier---Frog-uh-DEER
Braixen---BRAYKS-in
Sliggoo---SLI-goo

(movies)
Diancie---Dye-AN-see (I think it's Dee-AN-see in Japan)
Hoopa---HOO-puh

and oddly enough
Ski-DOO, not SKI-doh.
Suddenly, we have a missed opportunity for this Pokémon's Shiny color being blue. "Blue Skiddo, we can too!"

 

[The_Emperor]

On pokemon Battle Revolution, I cannot remember how Arceus is pronounced I think it's either Arse-see-us or Arc-ee-us

I'm pretty sure Pidgeot is pronounced Pidge-ee-ot with the last part rhyming with Yaht

 

[BlueSkiddo]

I'm sorely disappointed in Game Freak's inability to recognize the fantastic opportunity they had with skiddo

 

[D_what]

On pokemon Battle Revolution, I cannot remember how Arceus is pronounced I think it's either Arse-see-us or Arc-ee-us

I'm pretty sure Pidgeot is pronounced Pidge-ee-ot with the last part rhyming with Yaht

Just checked, it's pronounced arse :( Which makes me sad, because, like, arse. Bleh. Besides, archangels, arc, it's a pretty noble syllable :(

My friend pronounces Scizor as "siz-OOOR", like a shorter but emphasised ooo-er sound. Makes me flinch. But it's better than Sky-zer or Ski-zor. (I have a habit of pronouncing it as SiZOR, short on the sci and slight emphasis on the OR to differentiate it from the word scissor. IMO over emphasising the other end would make it sound kinda like Caesar.

I don't think I'll ever get into the habit of calling Dialga Dee-al-ga. "Die" as in "Diamond" is too entrenched. Mind you, I was mispronouncing Suicune and Raikou for YEARS and was able to correct it recently. (Soo-i-soon and Rye-cow, never felt all that comfortable with either so their actual pronounciations were easy to get used to.)

 

[The_Emperor]

Just checked, it's pronounced arse :( Which makes me sad, because, like, arse. Bleh. Besides, archangels, arc, it's a pretty noble syllable :(

My friend pronounces Scizor as "siz-OOOR", like a shorter but emphasised ooo-er sound. Makes me flinch. But it's better than Sky-zer or Ski-zor. (I have a habit of pronouncing it as SiZOR, short on the sci and slight emphasis on the OR to differentiate it from the word scissor. IMO over emphasising the other end would make it sound kinda like Caesar.

I don't think I'll ever get into the habit of calling Dialga Dee-al-ga. "Die" as in "Diamond" is too entrenched. Mind you, I was mispronouncing Suicune and Raikou for YEARS and was able to correct it recently. (Soo-i-soon and Rye-cow, never felt all that comfortable with either so their actual pronounciations were easy to get used to.)

I laugh so hard when i hear the arse-ius pronounciation. I tend to pronounce Dialga as Dee-al-ga and I believe Skiddo is pronounced Sky-dough

 

[H1dd3v]

To be quite honest with you a TON are wrong. Let me fetch some examples from the list.
I'm not talking about minor phonetic typing errors, mainly wrong syllables or emphasis.
Also, some are debatable and multiple canon pronunciations exist (example: DUG-trio or dug-TRI-o).

Pidgeot - PID-jit pid-JEE-ot
Nidoran - nee-door-ANN NEE-door-ann
Jigglypuff - jig-lee-PUFF JIG-lee-puff
Arcanine - ar-kuh-NINE ARK-uh-nine
Mantine - MAN-teen MAN-tine (I mean...)
Suicune - SWEE-koon SOO-ie-koon
Breloom - BREH-loom bre-LOOM
Exploud - eks-PLOWD EX-ploud
Barboach - bar-BOCH BAR-BOATSH
Rayquaza - RAY-KWAY-zuh ray-KWAH-zuh (Anime and Pokédex got it wrong, based on a pun on Quasar. Also, makes simple sense this way.)
Hippopotas - HI-pow-puh-TOS hippo-POT-tus (Where did you get this from?)
Skorupi - sku-ROO-pee skoh-RUP-ee
Yanmega - yan-MAY-guh yan-MEG-uh (Basic pronunciation of the word Mega)
Uxie - YOOK-see UHK-see
Azelf - AZ-elf a-ZELF
Phione - fee-OH-nay fee-OHN
Cofagrigus - KOF-ah-gree-gus kof-ah-GREE-gus
Escavalier - ES-KAV-uh-LEER es-KAV-ahl-yay (Basic pronunciation of the word Cavalier in French)
Ferrothorn - fer-OH-thorn FER-ro-thorn (FERro means iron buddy)
Beheeyem - BEE-hee-ehm B.E.M. (Bug Eyed Monster (No emphasis, maybe a slight H))
Thundurus - THUND-er-is thun-DUR-us

I'm really, genuinly surprised how you got Scizor, Houndour and Hydreigon right. Although they seemed natural to me since I was a kid. Especially Houndour.

EDIT: These are quite substantial flaws, many others have slight differences such as region dependent syllable pronunciations. I left them out.

 

[FishTurtle95]

I'm really just interested in seeing how people around the world pronounce different Pokémon names, I don't care much what the "correct" pronunciation is. So here are a few I've debated with friends before:

RYE-chew vs RYE-uh-chew
GAR-deh-vore vs GAR-de-vwah
kye-OH-gur vs ky-ROGUE
PHAN-pee vs PHAN-fee
ESS-kuh-veil-yer vs ESS-cav-uh-leer
AXE-el-gor vs ex-CELL-gor
EYE-loom-eyes vs EE-loom-EE-say
SWEE-coon vs swi-COON
ray-KWAH-zuh vs ray-KWAY-zuh
PEEK-uh-chew vs PICK-uh-chew
luv-disc vs loov-disc
guh-LADE vs GAL-ade
need-oh-REE-no vs need-oh-RYE-no
KYE-oo-rem vs KEY-oo-rem
SAL-uh-ments vs suh-LAM-ents
PUP-ih-tar vs PYOOP-ih-tar
GIB-bull vs GUY-bull
KWAG-sire vs KWOG-sire
KO-bull-li-on vs KO-bail-yun
vur-IZ-ee-on vs vur-IZH-un
MAR-eep vs muh-REEP

That's all I can think of right now...

 

[emogal]

To be quite honest with you a TON are wrong. Let me fetch some examples from the list.
I'm not talking about minor phonetic typing errors, mainly wrong syllables or emphasis.
Also, some are debatable and multiple canon pronunciations exist (example: DUG-trio or dug-TRI-o).

Pidgeot - PID-jit pid-JEE-ot
Nidoran - nee-door-ANN NEE-door-ann
Jigglypuff - jig-lee-PUFF JIG-lee-puff
Arcanine - ar-kuh-NINE ARK-uh-nine
Mantine - MAN-teen MAN-tine (I mean...)
Suicune - SWEE-koon SOO-ie-koon
Breloom - BREH-loom bre-LOOM
Exploud - eks-PLOWD EX-ploud
Barboach - bar-BOCH BAR-BOATSH
Rayquaza - RAY-KWAY-zuh ray-KWAH-zuh (Anime and Pokédex got it wrong, based on a pun on Quasar. Also, makes simple sense this way.)
Hippopotas - HI-pow-puh-TOS hippo-POT-tus (Where did you get this from?)
Skorupi - sku-ROO-pee skoh-RUP-ee
Yanmega - yan-MAY-guh yan-MEG-uh (Basic pronunciation of the word Mega)
Uxie - YOOK-see UHK-see
Azelf - AZ-elf a-ZELF
Phione - fee-OH-nay fee-OHN
Cofagrigus - KOF-ah-gree-gus kof-ah-GREE-gus
Escavalier - ES-KAV-uh-LEER es-KAV-ahl-yay (Basic pronunciation of the word Cavalier in French)
Ferrothorn - fer-OH-thorn FER-ro-thorn (FERro means iron buddy)
Beheeyem - BEE-hee-ehm B.E.M. (Bug Eyed Monster (No emphasis, maybe a slight H))
Thundurus - THUND-er-is thun-DUR-us

I'm really, genuinly surprised how you got Scizor, Houndour and Hydreigon right. Although they seemed natural to me since I was a kid. Especially Houndour.

EDIT: These are quite substantial flaws, many others have slight differences such as region dependent syllable pronunciations. I left them out.

i believe you are quite mistaken on a few of these. inflection may differ from person to person but for the most part i'd like to comment on the following

Pidgeot - PID-jit/PID-jee-ott (personally i say the latter) are both recognized. i don't know why you chose to put the emphasis on JEE as i can't imagine a reason it would be pronounced that way
Suicune - SWEE-koon is correct. not sure what you meant by the little ie there but it is not pronounced like chop-suey; it's sui (a reading of the kanji for water) as in sweet
Rayquaza - ray-KWAY-zuh is correct. you say yourself it is based on quasar, which is pronounced kway-zar
Skorupi - sco-ROO-pee is correct. it is a romanization of the japanese name, which is a shortened version of their pronunciation of the english word scorpion, sukorupi(on). like score+rupee
Uxie - YOOK-see is correct. it is the same pronunciation as its japanese name
Phione - fee-OH-nee is technically correct. it is based on a clione (klee-OH-nee) (but i read it fee-OH-nay like the japanese pronunciation)
Escavalier - ess-kav-uh-LEER is correct. i know it's a french word but the pokemon's name is a combination of escargot and the english pronunciation of cavalier (because it's recognized as a word in english already)

i think op's pronunciation of Hippopotas comes from the anime where they say it hippo-puh-TASS but i agree hippo-POT-tus does make more sense, and is the same as the japanese inflection. unfortunately the dub pronunciation has been burned into my brain.
another one i'd just like to share my personal pronunciation of is Aegislash, which i read edge-slash (like the edge of a blade) but i've been informed aegis is from greek mythology regarding a shield and should be pronounced EE-jih-slash
i don't watch the dub but as for Dedenne i say it the same as its japanese pronunciation: de-DEN-nay. i've seen people calling it dead-en which is just wrong.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Gen VII Guesses:
Rowlet: RAHL-et
Litten: lit-TEN
Popplio: Pop-PLEE-oh

 

[D_what]

Gen VII Guesses:
Rowlet: RAHL-et

Why "RAHL" when it's an Owl with "Owl" in it? Unless your dialect pronounces both the same in which case nevermind.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Why "RAHL" when it's an Owl with "Owl" in it? Unless your dialect pronounces both the same in which case nevermind.

That's just the sound I make when I combine the "r" sound with "owl".

 

[Sakura Yakushi]

You have Kabuto's name ALL wrong...Did you ever watch Naruto and see the character Kabuto Yakushi? THAT is how you say Kabuto's name. Not how Nintendo of America thinks it should be said.

 

[Pikachu315111]

Oh yeah, this thread exists.

*shifty eyes*

My interpretations of the Gen VII Pokemon so far:

spoilers

Rowlet: R-owl-et
Litten: Lit-ten
Popplio: Pop-plee-oe
Yungoos: Yun-goose
Gumshoos: Gum-shoo-ss
Pikipek: Pick-kee-peck
Grubbin: Grub-bin
Charjabug: Charge-ja-bug
Vikavolt: Vik-ka-volt
Rockruff: Rock-rough
Komala: Coe-ma-la
Stufful: Stuff-full
Bewear: Bee-ware
Togedemaru: Tog-geh-dem-mar-ru
Mimikyu: Mim-mick-you
Sandygast: Sand-dee-ghast
Palossand: Pal-lass-sand
Mudbray: Mud-bray
Mudsdale: Muds-dale
Minior: Min-ee-or
Cutiefly: Cute-tee-fly
Wimpod: Wimp-pod
Bruxish: Brux-ish
Wishiwashi: Wish-shee-wash-shee
Pyukumuku: Puke-kue-muke-kue
Crabrawler: Crab-brawl-ler
Drampa: Dramp-pa
Turtonator: Turt-ton-ae-tor
Salandit: Sal-an-dit
Oricorio: Ore-ee-core-ee-oe
Fomantis: Foe-man-tiss
Lurantis: Lure-an-tiss
Bounsweet: Bounce-sweet
Morelull: More-ell-lull
Comfey: Come-fee
Solgaleo: Sole-gal-lee-oe
Lunala: Loon-auh-la
Tapu Koko: Ta-poo-koe-koe
Magearna: Maah-geer-nuh

So, how do you pronounce their names?

MOD EDIT: Please be careful when discussing Gen 7 Pokemon as people do not want to be spoiled outside of the SM Subforum!