The Minish Cap already has two names for its unique race of tiny people: the “Minish,” and the “Picori.” The former is their true name, while the latter is a name used by the Hylians.
To complicate things further, Nintendo initially had other names in mind for the secretive species.
According to page 273 of The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia, “The design for the minuscule race was mostly complete from the initial sketches, but the name of the race was not decided until later.”
The book then states that, early in the naming process, the development team had considered calling the creatures “Chilorians.” I quite like this name, for whatever reason, but I have to admit that “The Chilorian Cap” sounds like a bit of a strange title — but then, maybe that’s because I’ve already had 15 years to get used to the word “Minish.”
Another idea was much more on the nose: “Tiny People.” I don’t think the team would have ever settled on this as the official name of the race, but I could see this replacing “Picori” as a more mysterious name that the Hylians would use when referring to them.
The term “Minish” is a clever one, possibly deriving from the words “diminish” and “minuscule” which befit their small size. Perhaps someone smarter than me could send us a suggestion as to what may have inspired the name “Chilorian” — the best I’ve got so far is a combination of a Mexican pork dish and Marty McFly’s car.
