Article by Tor Pinney                                             Back to List of Tor's Tips

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
A Bird's Eye View of Boat Names

© 1990 Tor Pinney - All Rights Reserved

Jaques: I do not like her name.
Orlando: There was no thought of pleasing you when she was christened.
                                                                                - Shakespeare - As You Like It

One phenomenon peculiar to boats and ships, which most of us have always taken for granted, reveals much about mariners. That is the universal custom we have of naming our watercraft. 

The earliest recorded named boats were the Egyptians' Nile River boats, and the tradition of naming boats has flourished since then. Some names have etched themselves indelibly into the annals of human history. Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta are probably the most familiar boat names in America, but one of the earlier sailboats to cruise the Med, Argo, is still remembered for helping Jason bring home the Golden Fleece. Bounty, Titanic, Spray, Calypso - each through its own good or bad fortune has earned its place in maritime folklore.

Just why we name our yachts today is hard to say. Of course, there's the tradition - everyone else does it. And there's the Marine Patrol. They usually insist on something being written on the registration, even if it's "No Name". But mostly I suspect we do it because it's fun. We like to infuse our proud little ships with their own distinct personalities, often reflections of our own. It's a form of self-expression, like the message on a T-shirt, or a vanity license plate on a car, only bigger. A boat's name often provides a bit of insight, too, into the personality, lifestyle, and values of the person doing the naming. 

Whatever our reasons for naming boats, name them we do. There are funny names and cute ones, bold and audacious names and humble ones, too. Noble, proud, joyful, serious, functional, egotistical, ideological, meaningful, and meaningless. Historical, original, and just plain tacky. The sheer numbers of boats and ships, even with the inevitable duplication of names, suggests the staggering number of appellations currently in use around the world. Multiply that by the number of different languages and, well, there must be millions! 

As inventive as the names themselves are the superstitions we attach to them. Barely a century ago, Old World sailors feared it was bad luck to sail aboard a ship with a six-letter name. But if the name had seven letters, the ship was lucky. Even today a lot of people that buy a pre-owned boat are reluctant to change the vessel's name because it's "bad luck." Those fortunate enough to launch a brand new boat, who's original name they have chosen, do so with a "christening" ceremony. This unlikely ritual requires a bottle of champagne to be broken across the bow (usually by a woman, who pronounces "I hereby christen thee ‘so-and-so’"), thus somehow ensuring good fortune to the boat and lending the name an almost divine significance. 

Have you ever looked at a beautiful yacht and then been sorely disappointed when you read the name on the transom? Sometimes we can't help feeling that we could have come up with something much more appropriate had it been up to us. But with so many boats afloat, great names are getting harder to invent. How do you come up with a really good, original name for your boat when all the useable names seem to be taken? 

Well, there are actually lots of places to look for a boat name. Books, for example, both fiction and non-fiction, from which you can pick a favorite character (like Peter Pan or Crazy Horse). In fact, the name of any favorite person is a candidate - Vivaldi, Rocky, or your sweet Aunt Sara. Another place to look for a boat name is in your family or ethnic heritage: La Bamba, L'chaim, Leprechaun, Lagniappe. Flip through a dictionary or a thesaurus for ideas. Try military names: Legionnaire, Trooper, or Scout. Movies (take your pick!) Songs, animals, weather, colors - all are sources for interesting and creative boat names.

Other possible sources (and examples) for boat names are:

Mythology (Pegasus) / Astrology (Scorpio)/ Astronomy (Arcturus) / Religion (Shaolin) / Television (Cheers!) / Nursery rhymes (Rockabye Baby) / Geography (Pride of Newport) / Sports (Home Run) / Biology (Blue Eyes) / Native American (Cochise) / CB Radio (Big Mama) / Brand Names (Liquid Joy) / Liquor (Tia Maria) / Flowers (Yellow Rose) / Other Languages (Ma Chere) / Electronic (Wavelength) / 

A few other categories or feelings to consider are:

Utopian (Endless Wave) / Romantic (Sweetheart) / Celestial (Moonbow) / Patriotic (Old Glory) / Sparkling (Bubbles) / Noble (Valiant) / Mischievous (Incorrigible) / Boring (_____'s Dream)

Books that might be particularly useful in searching for a boat name are The New Age Baby Name Book (Sue Browder, Workman Publishing Company), Let's Name It: 10,000 Boat Names (Corcoran & Hackler, Seascape Enterprises), and How To Name Your Boat (Michael Deer, Western Marine Enterprises). All include many pages of name suggestions, one of which might strike your fancy.

At least as much fun as naming the boat is naming the dinghy, the ship's tender. Some of the best dinks bear names that compliment the mothership's. A boat named Thunder would naturally tow a dinghy named Lightnin' (or Rumble or Thor). Pelican's tender might be Bill. How about Meringue and Foxtrot? Spring Fever and Summertime Blues? Windward and Backward! Dinghy names are sometimes more fun simply because we don't tend to take them so seriously.

One practical consideration: An easily recognizable, English language boat name will be more readily understood when spoken over the radio in US and British waters, whereas an obscure or foreign language appellation must often be repeated and spelled out. One friend named his liveaboard sailboat “Waipipi,” which means “house on the water” in Polynesian. Every time he says it over the VHF, people think he’s joking… or ask, “Why not?”

There is only one certainty when it comes to naming a boat: Most other people won't really like the name you pick. They'll all have "better" ideas. Of course, their ideas won't really be better, just different; as different as people's personalities, lifestyles, life experiences and values are from each other. The only ultimate criterion for your boat's name is that you like it.

Like the song said: "You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself." (Ricky Nelson, Garden Party)

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