Ship Naming

It depends on the size attributes and crew of the ship. Also depends on the cultures present in your setting.

If your ship is crewed by one or two people and it was theirs from the start, then it's likely that the character might use the name of a tough or wild woman from their past like Lady Jane, or if they are savage brutes with no mercy then something like Reavers Joy may come up.

If he's a bit of a fop then Gossomer Merriment, or Romantic Vagabond.

A crew who went to piracy after war and who particularly hates a group might make such a comment via the ship name (say a group of British facing off against Muslims in the crusades might take Crusaders Glory as a name). Or might Use a monarch or patrons name King Richards Hammer.

Predators crossed with awe inspiring things, like the Millenium Falcon, would be your run of the mill names. Nebula Viper, ect

Or simply two terms for space objects. Void Star.

Mythology, Angel of the Oort Cloud, Fafnirs comet.

I say this in all seriousness, and with nothing but full respect, but I rather like the sound of your handle for a pirate ship.

The Roving Jack.

I think it works.

It comes from one of my favorite irish folk songs.

"I'm roving jack of many a trade, many a trade of all trades and if you wish to know my name they call me Jack of all Trades."

It suits my mentality fairly well. I'm always looking to learn a something new, though the other implication is alos some what true. I tend to know a little about a lot but not really a lot about one thing. Hence the old saying Jack of all trades master of none.

But there are schools of thought that see that as an advantage.

as for the original topic, yes that might fall into the mythology catagory. Jack of all trade, roving Jacks, Lady luck, The Favored bold (fortune favors the bold).

The Favored Bold. I actually rather like that :) I was thinking of going down something to the effect of a word play to do with luck anyways. So, these are some nice alternatives. Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

the Wanderer

if you scroll down to the bottom of this Seventh Sanctum page, there are two ship name generators to give you some ideas
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/index-name.php

Relentless. Silent Storm. Maverick. Aquila (latin for eagle). Unsung Intruder. Suaviter et Fortitor (latin for sweet and strong). just a few suggestions i thought of, hope you like!

bleh double post, sorry

The sci-fi Grand Master of awesome spaceship names is Iain Banks. Check out this list for inspiration:

http://www.saunalahti.fi/~mjhuur1/projects/banks/ships.html

Problem is, Banks' style is so distinctive, an attempt to copy him would probably sound like just that. Still, they're really cool.

Ship naming in SciFi really boils down to two things - the character of the character who named the ship, and what you want to say about the ship.

If you want the name to designate the own as a good guy / bad guy then you'd go for an appropriate sounding name. If you want to have the name say "this ship is part of that group" then you'd use a name fitting for that group. A federation ship from Star Trek wouldn't be name Klokk'Tah, would it? Likewise, a Klingon ship wouldn't be named "Benevolent Hope".

On the other hand, if the name of the ship does not come up very often, then you might want to go for a more flamboyant or whimsical name. If the "king of space" (for lack of a better term) in your story was called Bob, then they might name the ship "Bob's Big Toe". Or "Bob's Nemesis" or "Hammer of Bob" depending on whether the ship was for or against Bob.

However, since you say that it's a pirate ship, then the captain would probably want a name that was in keeping with his (or her) style. Someone who craves renown (like Jack Sparrow) would name the ship something memorable that rolls off the tongue. Just put two words together in different combinations until you find a pairing that works. Someone who wanted to strike fear into their victims would go for a more aggressive name. Someone who wanted to avoid detection would change the name of the ship often, maybe even a different name at each port in order to avoid getting caught.

I'm really into naming ships after famous people or places. Like naming a ship Gettysburg or Frank. Dipping into mythology and history is where I get ideas for things like ship names.

name it after some sort of ancient god, like the Oden or the Serapis. Names like that always sound good and menacing ;)

A big part of the name of a ship should be how important the ship is to character. If the characters jump from ship to ship and only use them as a means of getting from one place to another then any name will do.

If the characters feel the ship is very important to them or if the ship is a character itself then the name should have a profound meaning tied into the story.

Quick examples Luke Skywalker never named any of the ships he tore through the galaxy in. On the other end Captain Malcolm Reynolds called his ship "Serenity" because that was a life altering episode for him.

I whole heartedly agree with Brahe. I really like the naming that Banks gives to his ships.

I've heard that there is a naval belief that if a ship is renamed, then it is cursed. Does anyone know of this? Apparently there are circumstances where renaming is acceptable. I would appreciate any insight.

I have heard of the superstition about renaming a ship brings bad luck. Could only find a brief mention of it at

http://www.steppingintobooks.com/JRogers%20Pirate%20School/N3-Superstiti...

Then again sailors have alot of superstitions which could possibly be brought into a sci fi story

I believe it is acceptable to rename a ship which is captured during battle. Mostly to signify the new alligence the ship has. You find this done alot during the American Civil War.