>>53476479His name being Red has nothing to do with Charizard.
As you can see in gen 1 artwork Red is depicted as choosing Bulbasaur whereas Green is depicted with Charmander/Charizard (the opposites of their names) and canonically Red ends up with all 3.
But even though Charizard may be the most well liked that doesn't mean Charmander is. I think if you ask most people specifically about the first stages they will say they prefer Bulbasaur or Squirtle over Charmander.
But one way or another it had to be either Bulbasaur or Charmander as #001 considering Red/Green version. Personally yes I do think Bulbasaur is more fitting as #001. It stands out more, has the more creative design, and embodies the main themes of evolution, nature, and wildlife better than the other 2. In the same way it makes sense that the starting area in many games is a grassy field not a volcano it also makes sense for grass types to be the first starters in each dex.
