How to Name a Sci-Fi Spaceship

Get The Outer Wilds new Artbook here and support Spacedock!
bit.ly/OWSpace...
Spacedock delves into the fine art of naming spaceships.
THE SOJOURN - AN ORIGINAL SCI-FI AUDIO DRAMA:
www.thesojourn...
BECOME A CHANNEL MEMBER:
/ @spacedock
SUPPORT SPACEDOCK:
www.patreon.co...
MERCHANDISE:
teespring.com/...
Do not contact regarding network proposals.
Battlezone II Music by Carey Chico
Spacedock does not hold ownership of the copyrighted materiel (Footage, Stills etc) taken from the various works of fiction covered in this series, and uses them within the boundaries of Fair Use for the purpose of Analysis, Discussion and Review.

[@Spacedock]

Get The Outer Wilds new Artbook here and support Spacedock! bit.ly/OWSpacedock

[@90lancaster]

Nemesis & Ark

[@90lancaster]

Talon (from Farscape)

[@90lancaster]

Have you ever seen "Once Upon a Time space" 'H' ? It a very old French Co Production quasi-anime (though more French than Ulysses 31 - speaking of which "The Odyssey" is a thing isn't she. Anyway the reason I mention it is that it has space ships made to look like ocean life - thinks like sharks (way before the 1990's did it - though maybe the Flying Submarine counts). I would say "vehicle names" can have meaning in other senses - that just space ships see anything made by Gerry Anderson.

[@csudab]

it IS one of the best games ever!

[@ectior]

NGL this is I think the only sponsorship I’ve ever clicked. Outer wilds knows how to make my brain tingle in that special way

[@StormSpotter342]

Gotta give props to the UNSC from Halo naming one of their fast-attack ships the "Two for Flinching"

[@NightBeWheat]

And "Bum Rush"

[@wildranger5833]

UNSC "Say My Name"

[@aidanlela4872]

Disliked how short the halo section was, UNSC Say My Name, Long Night of Solace, In Amber Clad. Even The Mantles approach makes sense when you think about jt. The mantle dictated advanced species to have stewardship over lesser ones. The forerunners embraced this. Hence the flagship was an embodiment of forerunner will and enforced peace. Hence mantle’s approach

[@marlonmendoza1668]

Say my Name is a good one

[@GunRunner106]

UNSC Tokyo Rules & UNSC Queen Ann's Revange II

[@TheCyberGoblin]

And then there's the Pirate ship name list in Stellaris, featuring such gems as: Your Female Parent, Deathtrap, Disgrunted Worker, What Sorcery Is This. My personal favourite is the My First Ship II

[@boingthegoat7764]

Never played Stellaris but I am stealing those names

[@battleoid2411]

My First Ship II is amazing

[@KungfooBucket]

Culture: Ultimate Ship The Second

[@yetanother9127]

My favorite has to be "Inconspicuous Asteroid".

[@anamericancelt6534]

That is "The Unsinkable II" of starship names.

[@spartan078ben]

Ive always loved that "we cant call it the Enterprise" "WHY NOT?!" scene from SG1. In the bloopers she probably said "Because its copyrighted!"

[@gamesandstuff127]

That and the Navy Called dibs.

[@jacara1981]

Its not that theres a copyright (as ships named Enterprise have been around for more than 300 years). The issue is Star Gate Command is a US military branch. During the shows run there was already a ship named Enterprise (CVN-65) so they actually couldn't use it as it was already in use.

[@stvdagger8074]

@@jacara1981 The existence of CVN-65 Enterprise in the USN didn't stop NASA from calling the prototype shuttle OV-101 Enterprise

[@gamesandstuff127]

@@stvdagger8074 NASA isn't in part of the Military.

[@jacara1981]

@@stvdagger8074 NASA isn't a branch of the US military.

[@bretsk2500]

To be fair, SG1 was set in present Day, and for its entire run, USS Enterprise CVN-65 was an active commisioned warship. The Star Trek gag was just gravy. Carter had a legit military reason they couldn't call Prometheus Enterprise.

[@hellacoorinna9995]

"We're Airforce, not swabbies, Sir"

[@michaelnielsen3152]

"Because copywrite, sir."

[@seanbigay1042]

Also, the crew might insist on the First Officer's undergoing plastic surgery round his ears and eyebrows. 😂

[@kenalbus]

Layers, I love it. XD

[@VigilanteAgumon]

@@hellacoorinna9995 And yet, the joint Air Force-NASA Space Shuttle prototype was called "Enterprise."

[@janmelantu7490]

The _Weeping Somnambulist_ is recognized as cool in-universe. “If I have to board one more ship named after some kid or girl who got left behind after a magic weekend on Titan, I might just shoot some people for general lack of creativity.”

[@ElJorro]

I love that line!

[@old-worldghost3451]

"Named it after a goldfish "😂

[@Vinemaple]

I don't get the reference, but the ship name is creepily cool in a sort of "WTF is the story behind THAT?!" way

[@aceofspadesguy4913]

@@VinemapleIt’s from The Expanse. Main characters needed a disguise for their ship (which they’d stolen from mars), line was from an extremely bored Martian customs officer who liked the name.

[@Vinemaple]

@@aceofspadesguy4913 Thanks. But what was the "some kid or girl who got left behind" reference?

[@mitwhitgaming7722]

I always love when you can tell which fictional manufacturer made the ship by its designation. Something that Star Wars kinna has with the YT series.

[@Sovreign071]

As a writer, the real trick is ballancing the magic triangle of Cool/Practical/Meaningful names. For example, calling a disguised Q-Ship The Deception or Mask, manages to completely throw off the narrative, as the reader's suspended disbelief is cut loose to plumet to its death. But, calling it something like the Guppy or Carp brings uo further questions about ship naming conventions in that world. Which COULD work for worldbuilding, but not when it's parked next to an identical looking ship that's named after a place.

[@ZakCrimsonleaf1]

Another trick is coming up with different naming themes from different factions. The reader doesn't have to know all the intricacies, but you do. In the same way that in WW2, American battleships were named after States, Japanese battleships were named after feudal Japanese provinces, you can build a little subtle cultural cues into your writing. In Star Wars, they discuss this very thing, an X-Wing pilot correctly tags a ship claiming to be a freighter from Contruum as under a false flag because he's from that world and tells the squadron that virtues (the freighter is broadcasting as Contruum's Pride) are reserved for capital warships, transports are named after beasts of burden or rivers. There's also in-universe debate over why the Emperor gave his Star Destroyers and other ships such nasty names (Iron Fist, Agonizer, Venom, etc).

[@Tomyironmane]

A Q-Ship should be named after some obscure corporate bureaucrat. At least, that's the name she's wearing this month.... her real name may be something different.

[@hellacoorinna9995]

​@@Tomyironmane The S.S. _Rodham-Clinton_ ?

[@Vinemaple]

"...as the reader's suspended disbelief is cut loose to plummet to its death." Sir or madam, you are my favorite person in the entire world at this very moment. That was brilliant and I am going to steal it shamelessly, because this does happen way, way too much.

[@jfangm]

Merchant ships having different naming conventions makes sense, since they are named by their individual owner. So a Q-ship named "Guppy" would be perfectly at home alongside a sister named "Methuselah."

[@ShyDMs]

A rebel ship called the "return to sender" sounds very fun to me

[@ShyDMs]

A ton of world buildings in it's context. Rebels were attacked, they won, they took the ship and now they're using it

[@squirrelg5135]

Can I use this in a story I'm trying to write? It's an awesome name 😀

[@VallornDeathblade]

A world killer ship named "To whom it may concern".

[@ryancarter2959]

Lore aside Return to Sender goes so hard for a warship name

[@Reaper-wh9di]

It would be funny if said rebel ship was formerly from the opposing faction, gives the name more depth in my opinion.

[@Hakon_Strauss]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's Galactic Fleets Battleships definitly have the best names: GSS Daring, GSS Audacity, and GSS Suicidal insanity Just awsome

[@1FatLittleMonkey]

It's DA referencing (then exaggerating to ridiculousness) the kind of ship names popular in the Royal Navy. Dauntless, Fearless, Victorious, Warspite, etc. (Daring and Audacity are actual Royal Navy ship names.)

[@anderasandersen495]

Naming the ship as Kamchatka and making it a torpido boat tender is one of my favorite thing to doo in any sea of space campaight. Although not many get the joke. The ships motto: "do you see torpido boats? "

[@SlinkyTWF]

"And then things got worse..."

[@scottfw7169]

For some reason the place name Dogger Bank comes to mind. Off to play in Google to find out why my brain might be doing that.

[@t75044]

Just don't get upset if the rest of the fleet throw a massive party to celebrate the ship getting destroyed

[@joselitostotomas8114]

A fan of Uncle Drach I see.

[@t75044]

@@joselitostotomas8114 Very much so

[@jamesthemuchless]

Truth and Reconciliation is an absolutely phenomenal name for a scary warship. There is something about making a good thing sound sinister (sinisterizing, if you will) that just hits the ship naming spot.

[@williamalfonso1373]

The Reconciliation is you DYING. lol

[@jamesthemuchless]

@@williamalfonso1373 reconciled... to your MAKER!!!

[@Marylandbrony]

Truth and Reconciliation almost screams "Natives coming back to in the name of justice" but that might just be because i'm being exposed to that use of phrase in the CFL right now. Although ships being named after "Real world politics at the time" would be an interesting video.

[@robothunter]

For me, the name "Truth and Reconciliation" really speaks to the fact that the Covenant see themselves as on a moral and sacred mission

[@Vinemaple]

I remember one of the cool things from my first attempt at a science-fiction universe, from my teenage years, was that the Evil Human Empire had force-projection warships named after people like Ariel Sharon and Stephen Bioko. And the mod I wanted to create for _Escape Velocity_ had the next class of Confederation capital ships continuing the "Ex-" naming convention, but with more disturbingly inappropriate names like "Exsanguinator," as they turned to more and more brutal means to try and stamp out the Rebels.

[@Tzryylon5]

In the indie game Avorion, my flagship is the massive warship "And Silence Rang Out". I named her that because of the deafening silence that follows her final volley of torpedoes in combat. It's also a grim reminder not only to myself but to any who'd dare attack me that, if we go through with the fight, no matter who wins, the outcome is the same.

[@ODST_Parker]

There's two that stand out in my mind here. Halo and The Clone Wars. While the former is the often wordy and overly poetic names that we've all come to love, the latter is short, simple, and often very generic. I love both the same, as I can appreciate the classics as well as the bold and unique. Names like Pillar of Autumn, In Amber Clad, Forward Unto Dawn, those are seared into my brain as badass examples of a great naming convention, as are the lesser known ones like All Under Heaven or Say My Name. Even the Covenant have some wonderful ships in the list as well. Shadow of Intent, Cleansing Fire, Long Night of Solace, and Pious Inquisitor just to name a few. On the other hand, the names of Venator class cruisers (some of them serving as Jedi flagships) have such simple names as Resolute, Liberty, Endurance, Redeemer, Steadfast, and of course, the Negotiator. They don't have a lot of nuance to them, not much beyond the surface, but there's nothing wrong with a simple word that describes a simple thing.

[@freshFerdinand]

I love the how the naming conventions from the Venators carried on to the later Star Destroyers but in a twisted way with names like Accuser, Agonizer, Conquest, Interrogator, Malice and of course the Devastator, like sometimes you want to cry out "Agonizer? Was puppy rapist too on the nose?"

[@ThePCguy17]

Even better, the lack of nuance in the naming of the Clone Wars ships helps illustrate both the rushed nature of their construction and christening, as well as the utter lack of nuance in the republic's "we're good they're evil" civil war that allowed Palpatine to lead them all around by the nose. Like, yes, the people you're fighting are either droids or genuinely evil, but the planets supplying them with resources? Not so much. And yet there was like one episode where diplomacy was even _attempted_ in the whole show. "Negotiator" indeed.

[@CMTechnica]

God I love the names of the Covenant ships. So damn beautiful

[@IamMeHere2See]

What I love best about the UNSC is that the names can be translated into other human languages without losing the poetry inherent in the name.

[@ODST_Parker]

@@IamMeHere2See That might have been a consideration of the naming in the first place, since the UNSC is effectively worldwide for Earth and at least some number of its colonies. Same might be said for the Covenant, though I'd honestly love if some ship master scoffed at the "human" name, because something was lost in translation.

[@jordantm16]

Single word names are great for ship CLASSES: 'Resolution/infinty/Acclamator class' etc. But the most memorable ship names are the ones that are quirky or unusual. My personal favourite: the two UNSC Orion class assault carriers: "Speak Softly" and its sister ship: "Big Stick"

[@RorikH]

Pro-Tip: Name 3 sister ships "Eeny" "Meenie" and "Mo" so that your enemy will be too distracted trying to figure out where "Miney" is to counter your tactics.

[@erikschaal4124]

If my setting had "Pike" class corvettes and "Shot" class frigates, would that be to on the nose?

[@3Rayfire]

How about twin ships named "Fire At" and "Will"?

[@ecthelionofgreg8573]

In the real world, classes aren’t usually named separately from the ships, but generally just take on the name of the first ship built to those specs. So since the first of the newest design of US aircraft carriers is USS Harry S Truman, the future vessels built with that design will be known as Truman class. In other words, identifying the class of a vessel is saying “this ship is built very similar to this other ship.”

[@AnonymousVenator]

​@@erikschaal4124Would be pretty cool

[@Libarate17]

The great thing about Rocinante is that in the book the name catches Detective Millers eye. And thats how he tracks down Holden. So its the perfect name for Holden's ship and it actually pushes the story forward too.

[@patrickfalcon8107]

Love the “steed of an idiot” line lol. Makes me think of that line in Nemesis Games: “What did you do?” Fred asked. “There was a button,” Holden said. “I pushed it.” “Jesus Christ. That really is how you go through life, isn’t it?”

[@logion567]

​@patrickfalcon8107 so glad that scene was in the show!

[@kevingriffith6011]

A piece of advice I've given a lot of my friends when it comes down to naming things: The name doesn't matter all that much, as long as it's not *aggressively stupid*. The things the ship/character will do will elevate the name far more than agonizing over the perfect name. Without all the context of Star Wars at it's back, Darth Vader is just some menacing-sounding nonsense.

[@Brasswatchman]

Except in Dutch. Where it literally means "Dark Father."

[@DomWeasel]

@@Brasswatchman Except it doesn't, because the Dutch word for dark is 'Donker' and while father is indeed 'Vader' in Dutch, it's pronounced 'fah-der', not 'vay-der'.

[@HeatRaver]

All words are nonsense without context.

[@battleoid2411]

UNSC Two For Flinching is an amazing name for anything with multiple MACs

[@Johnny_Cameron]

Craig Alanson deserves a mention for his Jeraptha ship names... For example the Heavy Cruiser : "Come Over Her and Say That Again"... Or the Stealth Frigate :"It was like that when we got here"

[@Penguinius]

Always assumed they were a nod to the Culture and enjoyed them for it.

[@nickburton9366]

I've been assuming he was competing with banks for funniest names in scfi​@@Penguinius

[@alanelizarraras4533]

Let's not forget "the Flying Dutchman" being called that because Skippy is an asshole and wanted to annoy Joe.

[@zeux5583]

Fast Battleships: I am Aching To Give Somebody A Beat-Down And Today Is YOUR Lucky Day How’d That Work Out For You? You Should See The Last Guy Who Tried That Shit Star Carriers Sure Thing Deal Me In You Should Have Thought Of That Before We Left Home Ethics and Compliance Office ships (An intelligence agency) Frigates I'm As Shocked As You Are Will Do Sketchy Things We Were Never Here And my favourite, the ECO light cruiser Rock-Solid And Suspiciously Convenient Alibi Cruisers You Can't Make This Shit Up We Shall Not Speak of it Patrol Cruisers Time Off For Bad Behavior If You Forget Hard Enough It Never Happened

[@Tomyironmane]

"Invisible hand" is clearly a Trade Federation vessel. One notable thing about a name is that you can TRY to give your ship or organization an impressive name, but if it lasts long enough, it won't MATTER what you name it, the name will come to be defined by the ship that wears it. "Enterprise" is a name that is by now so heavy that any ship who gets it has a long, deep shadow to climb out of. Good luck to CVN-80 by the way. And naming a ship Missouri wouldn't sound that impressive had Big Mo not seen more than one great dictator humbled aboard her decks and by her guns, and had New Jersey not been famous as a ship that once sunk an island, and getting the nickname "Black Dragon" by her enemies due to her darker paint scheme and habit of breathing fire... Good luck to SSN-796, by the way. Then there's ships that become bywords for the other reason... like the Zumwalt... or the Kamchatka. I guess where I'm trying to go with this is the fact that you can call it whatever you like, it says more about the people who named it. The ship's reputation will tell no matter what you call it, even if you've named the ship the HMS Pansy (An actual name for a RN Flower Class corvette before it was renamed Heartsease on the slipway). Though in that case, I would suggest not provoking them. Someone WILL take it personal.

[@robbieaulia6462]

That is what I wish a lot of story would do today, make new names and give those name a meaningful identity, not just for ships but just about anything they have in the story.

[@3Rayfire]

You're talking about good luck, but what about Bad Luck? How long will history go before someone has the balls to name a ship Titanic again?

[@trog7986]

You wouldn't happen to be a drach fan would you?

[@brunocesarcerqueira2525]

It's an art, just like creating your Gamer name. I really like the names of prehistoric, mythological or current animals, but with creative mixes.

[@RipOffProductionsLLC]

While it is true that any ship being named after a previous ship is then burdened with the expectation of matching that legacy... that's kind of the point, isn't it? To remind everyone of the long and proud history of their naval institution, be they a member of that institution, an ally, or any enemy who must now face it. I have no doubt that as long as there is a United States Navy, there will be an Enterprise in its service, because why would they ever stop using the name of the most decorated ship of WWII?

[@naomicoffman1315]

One of my game's official short stories introduces a ship called Ice Cream for Breakfast. It's a civilian rock-hopper, and the owner's (at the time) young children insisted on it. Silly? Probably, but you can't tell me it wouldn't happen sooner or later.

[@angusmuir6180]

Now that sounds like an interesting tale. How did children come to own a spaceship?

[@generalilbis]

​@angusmuir6180 I'm not sure if I'm setting myself up for a "whoosh!" moment... but the OP wasn't saying little kids owned the ship, but that the ADULT owner's kids were little when he or she obtained the vessel and insisted on the name be used.

[@angusmuir6180]

@@generalilbis...you know that makes a lot more sense. XD

[@miketangocharlie]

@@angusmuir6180 Your comment reminds me of reading the Starstormers series when I was a kid - it's about children building their own spaceship out of junk to reach their parents on the colony world Epsilon Cool.

[@heliofaros1344]

That reminds me of song titles: Like ich in the sunshine No milk today Monster mash The bird is the word or: Cereal killer Cruncher Sit still Hands on table / deck / blanket

[@redhood1060]

I would say that halo generally having references to Shakespeare is kind of interesting. Midsummer night from fall of Reach Comes to mind. Pillar of autumn is iconic. Mass effect also had some cool names. With the Normandy representing the Galaxy coming together to fight a great evil. Kind of how the world came together on D-Day to fight to Great evil on the beaches of Normandy.

[@pasindudinusha6507]

Was there a ship called Midsummer Night on reach? All I can remember is Long Night of Solace.

[@redhood1060]

@@pasindudinusha6507 is not in the game is in the book.

[@arthuralford]

In Star Trek TOS, Roddenberry used names of actual war ships: Intrepid, Constellation, Exeter, Defiant, Potemkin

[@ZeroDarkness-]

Are TOS movies are part of TOS? if yes then you forgot HMS Bounty

[@EricAkawie]

I always assumed the Intrepid also had a Vulcan name. Or maybe since Vulcans shouldn't have any emotional reaction to a ship's name, using the Human-based name for the ship is logical for diplomatic reasons.

[@FltCaptAlan]

@@ZeroDarkness- And Saratoga, the Miranda disabled by the whale probe, shares the name with the other US fleet carrier to survive the entirety of the Pacific War,

[@seanbigay1042]

​@@ZeroDarkness-I dunno if the Bounty should count, seeing as how she's a Klingon POS 😊

[@seanbigay1042]

Don't forget the class namer, USS Constitution (NCC-1700). Fun fact: It seems half of all Constitution-class ships were lost, not in battle, not through any flaw in the ships or their crews, but through one piece of Twilight Zone BS after another: planet-killing Doomsday Machines, vampire clouds from outer space, the frakking BERMUDA TRIANGLE OF SPACE ... 😅

[@maxhax367]

I love the ship names from Interdependency series "Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby" "No, Sir, I Don't Mean Maybe"

[@Coleo20]

I liked the name change of the Nauvoo in The Expanse to The Behemoth and later Medina Station.

[@Ensign_Cthulhu]

5:02 I haven't seen all of The Expanse, but I've seen the part where he names his ship. "Rocinante. It's Spanish for 'workhorse'." Any well-read viewer would know instantly that Holden's about to get his crew into a shitload of trouble they never signed on for. The golden-age epic Lensman series of novels has the ship known officially as Z9M9Z but also given the name _Directrix_ to indicate her status as fleet flagship and command centre. Her sole purpose is to house a three dimensional CIC tank SEVEN HUNDRED METRES ACROSS, plus all the communications systems needed to command and control the immense fleets (literally millions of _task forces_ ) that she is built to handle.

[@Vinemaple]

For those who didn't get the reference after Hujiwanna mentioned it in the video, Rocinante was the steed of Don Quixote, a tragic character from classical Spanish literature. A completely delusional megalomaniac, obsessed with chivalrous glory, constantly causing harm and distress to himself and those around him. And "Rocinante" doesn't mean workhorse, it's a blending of archaic Spanish and Latin, intended to mean "Before the Dawn." If you know this, it's at this point you realize Holden is deceiving his crew. Holden... the name of the protagonist in _Catcher In the Rye._

[@Ensign_Cthulhu]

@@Vinemaple I would have thought that the quote from Nyrath that Hujiwanna put up would have given it away ("tilting at windmills"), but yeah, there might be people watching this who are too young to get the reference. Some of us wouldn't have read Catcher in the Rye either. When I was 16 (in 1987), I asked my English teacher what the fuss was all about regarding that book, and she basically dismissed it as not worth my bother. The same English teacher also used To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath as class texts, so she wasn't exactly being hypermodern.

[@chr0min0id]

_Spaceship McShipface_

[@battleoid2411]

Wow funniest guy ever over here

[@awddwa6544]

it’s over, there is no better name than this

[@roscuro1787]

Shippy McShipface!

[@maciek_k.cichon]

@@battleoid2411 Someone had to type that. It's tradition.

[@fireblade757]

Or spacy mcshipface

[@varundattoo9512]

Definitely love that you espoused the symbolism of Prometheus and used the Stargate example to do it. I always thought the whole 'stealing the fire of gods' metaphor was so good in the Tauri's case, since; they literally went around doing exactly that.

[@Vinemaple]

I love how Stargate fandom has just adopted "Tauri," the derogatory Goaoul'd term for Earth-born humans, and owned it

[@heliofaros1344]

Ta'Ori...and then came the Ori...made me think of a connection

[@robertkephart5890]

I name all my spaceships after Schwarzenegger films. You know you goofed when the terminator and predator are baring down on you. Less so the jingle all the way.

[@nocelebrity6042]

I'd suggest that the "Jingle All the Way" be the one that collects money for some unknown Syndicate.

[@hellacoorinna9995]

The _Jingle All The Way_ would be the most frightening ship of all.

[@anticlaassic]

„Sir, the Kindergarden cop just dropped out of hyperspace!!!“

[@robertkephart5890]

@@anticlaassic put Admiral John Kimble on screen

[@anticlaassic]

@@robertkephart5890 „the true lies lies in space dock over there“

[@CreepingTerror]

The Enterprise / Prometheus gag was exactly the right kind of silly for me.

[@templarw20]

In my sci-fi novel, I poked fun at the Enterprise thing. Big exploration-focused ship about to be launched, and the following discussion. "I don't see why they didn't name it Enterprise." "The committee decided it was too religious." "What? Did they ever watch the show?" "They went to a convention." "... Fair point." In the same story, I have firm naming conventions for ships. The first line are do-anything cruisers that were thrown together for an anticipated threat, and all named after mythical weapons ("Durandal-class," with Excaliber, Kusanagi, Gugnir, etc...).

[@EclecticFruit]

Love that dialogue snippet. Excellent work.

[@quentinking4351]

"They went to a convention." lol

[@commanderdarkwolf2427]

What's your book called?

[@templarw20]

@@commanderdarkwolf2427 Title TBD. Still editing.

[@Vinemaple]

I like the Durandal-class, that's fun. Did you know that Rocamadour tour guides are finally admitting that's not the "real" Durandal stuck in the crevice?

[@dariustiapula]

Halo UNSC and Culture ship names are my favorite. "Pillar of Autumn"/ "In Amber Clad", "Frank Exchange of Words"/"Post Check Loan".

[@darthquigley]

Wasn't that last one from Schlock Mercenary? Which also had some great ship names. Eg. UNS battleplates named after major impact events (Tunguska, Chicxulub), Ob'enn ships all having incredibly pretentious names like Sword of Indomitable Righteousness, and Petey naming all his ships with the initials PD There was also the Very Dangerous Array, which uses torpedoes for interferometry.

[@mcmuffin55555]

The Culture names rule. They scream "We're so fucking powerful, additional posturing with badass names is just stupid." So Much for Subtlety Just Read the Instructions God Told Me To Do It No More Mr Nice Guy It'll be Over by Christmas You'll Thank Me Later Size Isnt Everything Honest Mistake Reasonable Excuse Attitude Adjuster Frank Exchange of Views Resistance Is Character-Forming Another Fine Product From the Nonsense Factory A Momentary Lapse of Sanity Reformed Pacifist Dont Try This At Home Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill I'll Clean It Up Before I Leave Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints

[@williamalfonso1373]

I like UNSC Prowler - Bum Rush . There is also an operation named like that too.

[@kittehgo]

​@@mcmuffin55555 Problem Child and Special Circumstances, all the ship names are just so great.

[@225Reaver]

​@@mcmuffin55555 It's far less "we're so powerful", it's that the Culture's culture (heh) very specifically doesn't glorify violence and war, and thus makes fun of the whole thing. Any Culture Mind who thinks killing is fun and worth glorifying will probably given remote outpost to look after, or possibly be promoted to the Special Circumstances department.

[@alexfranz817]

I actually have naming conventions for ships in my own little universe. Any ship that is built for federal service must have a name that is translatable into an alien language so federalized ships are generally named after Concepts and ideas whereas local ships can be named things like Amanda or shippy mcshipface, but must squawk it's Rudder number when challenged

[@Vinemaple]

This is refreshingly practical!

[@tabxtra7057]

I can't believe there was no mention of The Andromeda Ascendant! Who is a Glorious-Heritage class heavy cruiser.

[@kirk001]

I love how the phrasing just conveys a more specific emotion. "Andromeda Ascendant", "Wrath of Achilles", "Pax Megellan".

[@TheKonkaman]

Came here to say the same, but you beat me to it 😂

[@AdmiralBlackstar]

Gotta love a ship with a first and last name.

[@sticky2784]

@@kirk001 One that always stuck with me was "Clarion's Call". I miss that show.

[@TheVeritas1]

Andromeda Ascendant is one of the coolest ship names ever.

[@johnathan651]

The Archangel from Gundam SEED is one of my favorite sci-fi ships ever! It really deserves it's own ship breakdown video!

[@Prich319]

Then you have her sister ship, the Dominion. based on the names, we can guess the other ships in the class have angelic names like Throne or Seraphim.

[@williamalfonso1373]

@@Prich319 I guess, Bright Noa's ship was called Ra Cailum. From what I take it is Ra who carried the Sun cross the sky, as for Cailum it means dove in latin. So the peace carrier?

[@byron2FZ]

​@williamalfonso1373 before that he commanded the Argama and Nahel Argama, which are named for a Hindu concept (and ofc White Base before them)

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

​​​@@williamalfonso1373 Gundam ships, particularly AEUG or former AUEG heavy federation factions, are often etymologically consistent. Nahel Argama is roughly the New Tradition or New Philosophy. I think you are right that cailum is dove, but ra is up in the air. Katakana doesn't distinguish between 'R' and 'L' so it could simply be "the dove". The interpretation most in-line with Londo Bell branding is that this is a botched attempt at "Mael Caluim", which is secularized to humble follower of the dove (literally Columbo's shaven followers). A servant or messenger of peace. In japanese syllabary, this might be shortened to Ma Cairamu and ra is one stroke off from ma.

[@reaganmonkey8]

I was waiting for a mention of _The Guinevere_ from _The Sojourn_ which, in addition to being mythologically significant, is important to the main character’s backstory.

[@achillesa5894]

Yeah I'm surprised it's not here

[@trigerhappy011]

The "I Don't Fucking Know, You Name It" is a favorite of mine, though a bit obscure.

[@tanewoodley9806]

Not that obscure, I came here to make this comment 🙂 Semper Iratus/Always Angry

[@michaelwanamaker9829]

@@tanewoodley9806 Ah yes, the motto of Admiral King.

[@heliofaros1344]

"Anyway" "As I said Before" "Please don't park here" "Short Answer" "No"

[@aleksandarveseli936]

@@tanewoodley9806 All The Time

[@nicholaswalsh4462]

I like naming ships after people, places, or concepts. Piorun, for example, is a ship name that should eternally find service in any human navy.

[@MalfosRanger]

.. / .- -- / .- / .--. --- .-.. .

[@wyvernbravo]

One ship class name that i really like is that of the hyena droid bomber, because although we don't know of any hyena species in star wars, they're called thst by the creators of the franchise because the way they communicate sounds like a cackle of hyenas

[@lonelystrategos]

"This is the Kiith Somtaaw warship Kuun-lan."

[@HaloEvangelion03]

And they fucking EARNED the right to call themselves a warship!

[@lonelystrategos]

@@HaloEvangelion03 Indeed.

[@UniversalCipher]

Now that's a ship, unlike the surprisingly dull Motherships in HW2 and 3.

[@seldomseenkid7381]

Vastly underrated and easily my most favorite Homeworld game, just brilliant

[@dragonblaster-vu8wz]

I personally like ship names that either have no immediate meaning (just something the author thought was cool) or names that have a reference you can figure out relatively easily. Not everything needs to make sense, it just has to look and sound cool. Even if it would be nice if everything of a sci-fi franchise made sense

[@srbrant5391]

All the pirate starships in my novel get death metal names. My personal favorites are _Spiteful Epitaph,_ _Ahimsa's End,_ _Justified Arrogance_ and _Celebrant of Obscenity._ The other factions have pretty good ones too if I say so myself: The _Runaway Bride,_ _Birdsong at Midnight,_ _Tennessee Lamb,_ and _Saint Grissom's Fire._

[@derbonuspool1274]

Justified Arrogance slaps as a name damn

[@Gerendiell]

You might want to look to Warhammer 40k for inspiration, if needed. Vengeful Spirit, Terminus Est, Conquerer, Litany of Fury, Destiny's Hand...the list goes on.

[@srbrant5391]

@@Gerendiell You have no idea how far ahead I am on that front.

[@srbrant5391]

@@derbonuspool1274 Glad you think so! Though I also like _Heretic’s Fork,_ _Depraved Congregation_ and _Conquest of the Weak._

[@bestsynth4102]

I’d go with a more formalized approach. Science ships: Exploratory (Pioneer, Discovery, Luminary) Frigates: Animals (Orca, Lion, Kestrel, Megacrab) Destroyers: Cities (Cahokia, Samarqand, Irvine) Cruisers: Stars and Constellations (Centaurus, Antares, Ursa) Battleships, Carriers, and Dreadnoughts: Famous figures (Sun Yat-Sen, Hiawatha) or Mountains (Kunlun, Denali, Kilimanjaro) Special ships get random, Culture-esque names (“Get Off My Lawn”, “As Per My Last Email”, “Strongly Worded Letter”) or characters from mythology, or other special names (Enterprise is specifically avoided, because Star Trek tainted it.)

[@weldonwin]

In Sword of the Stars I tended to name ships for their general role, usually with a historical or media reference For example a missile cruiser I named the Archer Class, a command ship I named the Churchill class and a repair vessel I named The Montgomery Scott class

[@P3x310]

In this regard, I like Mass Effect's approach to formalized naming conventions for human warships. As the ME wiki puts it: Dreadnoughts are named for mountains on Earth; cruisers are named for cities on Earth; frigates are named for great battles in human history; and carriers are named after great leaders, artists, and intellectuals from human history.

[@tigermothproductions6838]

I design real ships for a living - my two pieces of advice for naming vessels are: 1) Never ask the public for suggestions. 2) ALWAYS search for the name on urban dictionary before you select it......

[@beingsactual]

Sounds like there's a story behind point 2.

[@alexandercaires5921]

We all know the story of the first one, but I'm really curious on the story of the second. Can you share it?

[@freshFerdinand]

BoatyMCBoatface is great name, so I have to take that advice with a grain of salt and also in the right context Hawk Tua could be a great ship name.

[@battlesheep2552]

U.S.S. Santorum

[@anticlaassic]

Itsy bitsy teeny weeny light grey anti submarine machiney….

[@carlosbalazs2492]

I named my ice transporter the Highwater. It's surprisingly fun to come up with names for ships.

[@P3x310]

Did it have a sister ship called "Hell"? With people in locations needing water having to survive "come Hell or Highwater"?

[@carlosbalazs2492]

@@P3x310 Never thought of that. I'm sure there would be hesitation to call a ship "Hell", because, y'know, who wants to be on a ship named "Hell"? But that has gotten me thinking, thanks for the suggestion!

[@P3x310]

@@carlosbalazs2492 in that case, may I suggest "Hel", after a natural landmark in Poland. Can't blame people for wanting to serve on a ship named after a bit of seaside beauty. And it also makes for two completely unrelated ships with a coincidentally punny names for a duo with a shared duty. Hel and Highwater instead of Hell or High Water.

[@appo9357]

When I made my UNSC frigate in Starfield, I kept with their naming convention with Volley and Thunder.

[@lazyassassin267]

I like ships named after people. Like the Rodger Young from Starship Troopeers. It says a lot about the society that commissioned it. and if you name them after notable people from recent history, in universe, it only serves to flesh out your setting.

[@grzegorzswist]

Its also is very universal. Some of the witty names mentioned here work only in one language.

[@hypothalapotamus5293]

This is the Guy Molinary, registered in Tycho. We are in pursuit of our legitimate salvage rights. Any interference will be met with legal action.

[@0xA9F]

Whatever you do: Warspite never sinks no matter...

[@Archris17]

If humanity ever gets into an inter-stellar war with an alien species, our first or flagship BETTER be called Thunderchild!

[@generalilbis]

​@@Archris17Flagship? Nah...gotta honour the source material and make her something small, fast and armed well enough to do heavy damage but not outright obliterate her target with a full salvo. That's why I love the fact that the first Akira-class seen in Star Trek is the USS Thunderchild at the Battle of Sector 001.

[@anticlaassic]

To be fair: the queen Elizabeth class was pretty well armored and not as fast as other battlecruisers… The Warspite would therefore also fit a proper battleship

[@cmedtheuniverseofcmed8775]

Surprisingly, names can be pretty straightford and utilize history as a motivation. For example, I have warship classes in my story writing where one class of ships (Drone Carriers) named after famous naval aircraft carriers in the past (yes, the Enterprise can be included). Another case is having a class of ships named after famous explorers. Another case is having a class of ships named after moons or famous leaders, etc. We do that right now with our navies as it is. Another case is using famous commanders and ships of the past that reflect the current nature of the ship. For example, I have a case where a ship was built from cobbled together parts and later renamed the Theseus. Another case is a ship called the Rampage based off of Lawson Ramage (Ramage's "Rampage") that managed to use his submarine in daring raids completely outnumbered and outgunned to sink multiple ships at once. History likes to repeat itself and there's nothing run with history being that motivator for your stories, including characters naming their ships in hopes of recreating those successes. :)

[@TheMan83554]

My jump gate builder ship got called The Warpseam Needle. A capital ship sized infrastructure investment to have the construction facilities, storage space, and crew amenities required to fly for months and build one half of a jump gate pair, then resupply and do it again. Representing the weaving of de facto independent and remote colonies into a cohesive whole, able to reliably communicate and share resources. And as a show of governmental might and resource flex. "We can put a mega carrier's worth of resources into an infrastructure package that won't pay off for years and years. What can you do?"

[@sci-fyguy7767]

Technically it’s a hovercraft but I like the name: Nebuchadnezzar.

[@GrandSupremeDaddyo]

I think it would have been worth mentioning Helldivers' ship naming. You get the "______ of _______" and have a bunch of words/terms to choose from. You could go badass and have yourself "The Bastion of Vengeance", but maybe you prefer "The Distributor of Family Values".

[@McCheese-xc9ig]

I went with "Patriot of Patriotism"

[@KaijinD]

This is a topic I love thinking about. Ship names mean something, or at least they should. And it's a fine line between deep and trying too hard.

[@davyc412]

Three Body Problem had some great names, for example, "Ultimate Law" and "Natural Selection" were very fitting names for ships during the battle of darkness, where that behave in ways very fitting to their names' meanings with respect to their meaning in the 'dark forest'.

[@anticlaassic]

I bet those were the cool ones reserved for important ships. They had 2000 ships to name!

[@VaticDart]

Rule 1: do not rename your awesome and iconic spacecraft at the end of the series to the Enterprise

[@julias5980]

Ugh, for real.

[@anticlaassic]

Felt more than cheap. Really killed the corpse of that show again for me

[@trog7986]

​@@anticlaassic what show was it? It's not ringing a bell for me

[@yelwinmoisesacostaduarte8915]

where did this happen

[@VaticDart]

This was season 3 of Picard. The Titan was such an awesome ship! And they were talking about a spin off series with it. And then at the end they renamed it to the Enterprise 😖 I was so incredibly mad. I love all the Enterprise variants (except that one) but it is time to leave that name behind in Trek.

[@mittensfastpaw]

This one was just a nice little treat to listen to. All the fun little names we know and love. Like Babylon 5 from my childhood.

[@thakillman7]

Loved the prometheus gag. Also worth mentioning that the next ship in Stargate is the Daedalus, after the famous historical inventor giving Mankind wings and also continuing the fire trend (passing the torch) via Icarus. Prometheus may be a bit tacky but at least it's appropriate, i genuinely do not understand why anyone would willingly name their ship Icarus after the famous tragedy that befell Icarus. It would be a bit like naming your ship Pandora. Or Hector.

[@glitterboy2098]

i've occasionally wondered if Prometheus was a Goa'uld, and if so how he'd take earth naming an anti-goa'uld warship after him. and props to the SGC for mostly continuing the naming trend.. their next two BC-304's after the Daedalus were the Apollo and the Phoenix. though the latter got renamed to the George Hammond shortly before commissioning. something i suspect happened (in setting) in part because someone realized that earth maybe didn't have enough mythology names that weren't goa'uld. it also made the ship conform to the naming of the non-american SGC members ships.. the Korolev and the Sun Tzu. and honestly, as neat as the mythology names were for the first 3 ships, i think the SGC switching to an approach of naming earth's ships after more modern historic figures fits better.

[@freshFerdinand]

@@glitterboy2098 The Phoenix got renamed because Don S Davis died and they named it after his character to honor him.

[@gokbay3057]

Hector was a badass and the real hero in Illiad so him dying tragically really isn't a point against naming a ship after him imo. But yeah a name like Icarus or Titanic is just tempting fate.

[@IAmTheAce5]

There’s a Crimson Skies zeppelin aircraft-carrier called Pandora, that holds onto hope in an alternate history turning to chaos

[@jedigecko06]

Don't forget that the two aircraft carriers welded to the SDF-1 as its arms were the Prometheus and the Daedalus.

[@samhutchison9582]

I'm a fan of the basic US Navy style. Where different classes of ships are named after different Amwrican things. Aircraft carriers now take the name of president's, battleships and larger ships had state names, other classes had city/location names, and so on. It's simple, but it gives the fleet vibe better than the metaphor names do.

[@somethingelse516]

British names are better, Vengeance, Revenge, Valiant, Victorious, Majestic etc

[@gokbay3057]

Naming Carriers after politicians was the biggest mistake the USN ever made. But both Americans and Brits have excellent ship names. Both styles (not that it is really exclusive, British have their city or region name ships as well) have their own merit.

[@69Kazeshini]

Mass effect did this except dreadnoughts were named after mountains, cruisers were named after cities, carriers named after noteworthy people in human history and frigates were named after battles in human history.

[@leonardusrakapradayan2253]

I miss when the US named their carriers after battles...

[@MalfosRanger]

​@@leonardusrakapradayan2253As do I. In a way it integrated the ships into the national myth.

[@-NGC-6302-]

One of my favorite ship names is the Lying Bastard from Ringworld All of its weapons were secondary functions of otherwise innocuous systems like lights and scanning equipment, so it could pass as completely unarmed. I prefer the ones I made up though, which are all two-word combinations that relate somewhat to each ship's main function; the Marrow of Rancor for combat, the Modified Perspicacity for detection, the Algid Circator for policing, the Diptych Palimpsest for data handling, the Lithe Effulgence for fast transport, and the Cogent Syzygy as a space tug. I love uncommon words.

[@2dozen22s]

Halo's ships have some of the best names. Been trying to name stuff similarly tho only have a few ship classes and about 20 names. Aether Shattering, Divine Intervention, Delayed Point of View, Causality Control, Unseen Judgment, No Second Notice, and Retribution Proclamation, are all Iron III class heavy weapons platforms and are the only "good guy" ships with FTL mass accelerators. They are made specifically to defend against a hostile alien threat, so the names are prideful and reflect their intended purpose.

[@Tom-wg5om]

Some of the best ship naming for me cones from Craig Alanson's expeditionary force series. Each alien species has their own dcheme that fit their particular culture perfectly. Especially the gamble happy beetles.

[@JustGem87]

It is a real shame that you mentioned the Expanse in a ship names video and didn't mentions any of the Laconian Empire ships. Heart of the Tempest, Eye of the Typhoon and Voice of the Whirlwind are amazing names :P

[@ZakCrimsonleaf1]

Apparently First Consul Duarte is fond of storm and weather-related motifs, his destroyers are Storm-class if I recall right and also have similar naming schemes. It might even play into how the man sees himself as a force of nature, some great inevitable thing that can't be stopped. Supreme arrogance.

[@commissarcactus1513]

If I remember correctly, Laconia calls their destroyers the Pulsar class, but the resistance refers to them as the Storm class since the first one they encountered was the Gathering Storm. The High Consul loves weather.

[@ZakCrimsonleaf1]

@@commissarcactus1513 That sounds right, thanks for making the correction! I suppose they don't get much weather on Mars besides sandstorms.

[@Vinemaple]

Not very laconic, though

[@commissarcactus1513]

@@ZakCrimsonleaf1 I'm still reading Leviathan Falls, so this is all rather fresh in memory. I don't think the book ever calls attention to it, but I like the detail that Laconians and outsiders use different names for the same thing.

[@0hMax]

The lead ship of the Firefly class is HMS Firefly, followed by HMS Centurion, HMS Comet, and finally HMS Thunderchild. The naming convention for the class changed when war with aliens were declared.

[@ledocteur7701]

I may have gone a little too hard on a few names for the Alphatian Network, the AI faction in my universe : Monolith-class Supercrusader (huge automated capital ship that houses the AI consciousness) : Invictus Pandora’s box (a part of it's navy that is basically the inquisition) capital ships (which each carry a small fleet, which is why most names are plural) : -God hunters -Final judgement -Pestilences -Vanquishers -Scarcities -Deaths -Harbingers -Azathoth (I swear the AI is genuinely the "good guys", it just has certain tasks that require.. more dakka than finesse) Harmony counselors (peace keeping and diplomatic fleets) : -Utopia assemblers -Salamanders -Internuntio + 5 unnamed Pheonix flock (fleets dedicated to the protection of the AI itself and it's industries) : -Worldbearers -Starlifters + 6 unnamed I also had a space station named Icarus, which ends up taking a swim in the star it orbits, but I changed it to the event that led to said swim being called the "Icarus incident" rather than the station itself.

[@lighthousegravyP51]

I am surprised that the name "Maru" wasn't mentioned. As in the Kobayashi Maru (Star Trek) , the Bentenmaru (Bodacious Pirates), and the Eureka Maru (Andromeda).

[@alexandercaires5921]

Which ironically is based on Japanese (and IIRC Chinese) naming conventions.

[@lighthousegravyP51]

@@alexandercaires5921 I know. I looked it up.

[@sidneysun5217]

halo's covenant ship names are some of my favs. mostly because they're words that i just never expected to be next to each other. the juxtapostion makes for very interesting names. eg "Unyielding Hierophant"

[@russward2612]

I always thought a good small freighter name would be "Indigo Void".

[@heliofaros1344]

Golden cow, The Vault, if you want to attract pirates, I'm just a poor boy from a poor family

[@BensBrickDesigns]

I would start world building just to name ships. Honestly, I'd world build just to name anything - rivers, planets, species, robot types...that's just fun stuff.

[@HawkShark]

Awesome video. I do feel like Andromeda deserved a shoutout for their naming schemes. Crimson Sunrise, Million Voices, Midian Breach, Phoenix Rising, etc. They're similar to the Halo names in that they might be trying too hard, but in universe each of their names is a reference to a specific historical event.

[@thecamoginger1965]

The UNSC is the best when it comes to naming their warships like the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, the UNSC Spirit of Fire, or the UNSC Pillar of Autumn

[@battleoid2411]

UNSC names are great because you have like two sides, you have the side that takes the naming seriously and so you have ships like the Heart of Midlothian, In Amber Clad, and Bunker Hill. Then you have the side that recognizes nothing short of a super carrier can hope to last more than a week, so you get names like Do You Feel Lucky?, Two For Flinching, and Say My Name

[@wasabyorechy1585]

Empire from Star Wars is realy subtle in naming conventions with ISD Devastator, Agonizer, Obliterator, Tyrannic, Executrix and SSD Executor, Annihilator, Reaper. Are we the baddies?

[@TotallyNotAFox]

At least they left "Dominatrix" out of the names or otherwise they wouldn't had been taken seriously

[@heliofaros1344]

"Na, we're the good ones, but the others should shut up and join or die"

[@andymac4883]

In fairness to the Executor, for all that the name _looks_ scary it doesn't actually mean the same as 'executioner'. An executor is just somebody who's appointed to carry out a particular task.

[@wasabyorechy1585]

@@andymac4883 Oh ok. English is not my first language.

[@OK-zo3cq]

Ok.... But what about tank names? "Warning shot" "DUI" "Drunk driver" "Cant run cant hide" "To whom may concern" "Student driver" "Smile!" "Problem Solver"

[@Twisted_Logic]

My favorite contribution to my ttrpg group's shared Stars Without Number campaign setting was the sector's ship naming conventions. The idea was that there was a sector-wide registry for ships and no two ships could have the same name, so ship names evolved into being full phrases with a nickname used for expediency. Our party had two ships over our campaigns in the setting: 1. The "The Airspeed Velocity of an Unlaiden Swallow" or "The Unlaiden Velocity" for short. 2. The "One Good Disaster Deserves Another", or "The Good Disaster". We had so much fun coming up with ship names, and if I ever make a spacefaring scifi setting/story for distribution you can rest assured that I'll be reusing the idea.

[@SilvrSavior]

Damn that campaign was so fun.

[@shinyagumon7015]

The Enterprise deserves extra points for being so influential that it had a real life spacecraft (ok an orbiter prototype technically) named after it. Which is extra funny because now the ships in the show are named after at least one ship named after the show. 😅 Personally I'm a big fan of the Halo style or the classic "Name it after a navy ship" approach.

[@4mobius280]

Technically that includes the Enterprise (multiple US navy vessels including two aircraft carriers.)

[@shinyagumon7015]

@@4mobius280 Yes, but I meant that the Orbiter is named in reference to Trek in real life.

[@joshuahadams]

@@4mobius280 USS _Enterprise_ wasn’t the only _Constitution_ Class ship named for a historic one. USS _Potemkin_ NCC-1675, USS _Hood_ NCC-1703, and USS _Lexington_ NCC-1709 are all mentioned or appear in TOS along USS _Enterprise._

[@battlesheep2552]

It took me awhile to realize that since the second NX class was named "Columbia", they were definitely naming them after the space shuttles. Boot strap paradox?

[@joshuahadams]

@@battlesheep2552 and after _Colombia_ was the _Discovery._

[@draco84oz]

In 40k, the Imperial Navy has three main naming categories. First is the traditional names, of which they have a long list, and are assigned to ships made in central Imperial shipyards. Ship names can be reused once the previous ship is destroyed or is MIA for more than 50 years. Names of this kind include Iron Duke, Invidious, Green Lake, Kingmaker etc. The other two categories come from the other ways of ship acquisition - either finding a hulk that can be rebuilt as a ship, or if a smaller planet or shipyard contributes ones. The second naming category is a form of feeling or emotion around the ship - such as His Will, Lord of Light, Flame of Purity etc. The final category is when a high-ranked person has the naming rights, and they name it after themselves or some other famous person: Cardina Xian, Duke Helbrecht, Lord Daros etc.

[@roborogue_]

this was more of 'What some ships are named' more than actually giving much advice on how to name a ship other than "whatever you want"

[@RorikH]

Yeah, there's a lot less science to go over here, and what science there is would fall more under linguistics or psychology than physics.

[@PaperbackWizard]

He talked about why the ships were named the way they are, the logic and themes behind them. Any writer should be able to translate what he said in this video into useful advice.

[@pollall2793]

One of my favorite sci-if book series (Expeditionary Force) has an alien race with some of the funniest spaceships names, for example, “Will do Sketchy Things”, “Parole Violation”, and “Out on Bail”. This is an an alien race of beetle like beings whose entire society is dedicated around gambling…I swear, these books are gems.

[@riccardogemme]

That enterprise bit was amazing!

[@SuperFailzocker]

The Normandy in Mass Effect is named "Normandy" because the "Battle of Normandy" was a major turning point in WW2. Mass Effect, especially the Alliance Navy, likes to name their ship after historical events, cities or mountains (for example there is a SSV Tokio mentioned (in ME3 iirc) and there are the Kilimanjaro-Class dreadnaughts)

[@TotallyNotAFox]

What I find funny is there is a "Leipzig" - not the first german city I would think of as name

[@mahatmarandy5977]

Depends on the needs of the story and the universe. For instance, in one of my stories I named a ship “Internal Bleeder” because the guy who built it couldn’t stand the pretentious names militaries used. All subsequent ships from his faction had deliberately non-heroic names, such as “The Rat Scabies” and “The Wart.” I did a comedic story - unrelated to that one - where an American starship was named “The USS Monkeyspank” because 500 years in the future, that sounds really cool to them, but we here in the present immediately realize these people have some whacked-out perspectives and priorities [as do their enemies]. For my more realistic space operas, where starships are comparatively few and far between, all he starships are named after angels from various religions (Turns out there’s quite a lot of those, if you look for ‘em) and it immediately sets those ships apart from the far more disparate ‘only local’ ships that can only operate in one solar system. When I did an alternate history series set in a world where the Apollo Program kept going (This was long before ‘For all mankind’ but long after Baxter’s “Voyage”), I loved the random names astronauts used for their spacecraft, which they generally chose themselves, and reflected their own personalities more than anything else. Hence we have American spacecraft from that era named “Spider,” “Gumdrop,” “Charlie Brown,” “Snoopy,” “Yankee Clipper,” “Freedom,” “Liberty Bell,” “Molly Brown,” and of course “America.” So doing a lot of research from that era, I found a few names that astronauts had reserved, but which never got used. Hence, in my story, Apollo 18 and its LEM were named “Coyote” and “Road Runner,” respectively. And in a situation where there wasn’t anything to cull from, I read up on the astronauts and engineers from the period and got a sense of what they thought was cool, so I ended up with a post-Apollo spacecraft named “the Flyby Knight,” which I think is *DAMN* cool. (Conversely, Soviet spacecraft tended to just rotate through the same 8 or 10 names over and over again) In general I dislike the more stolid names given in military fiction, though “Agamemnon” was great, and “Schwartzkopff” (Also from B5) made me laugh.

[@RorikH]

Flyby Knight is indeed an excellent name.

[@mahatmarandy5977]

@@RorikH Thanks, man! I was proud of myself for that one.

[@Lillfot]

Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space series have some kickass names; my favourite being "Nostalgia for Infinity". I really adore the poetry of such names. ❤

[@briankriens5645]

Love the last bit there with the SG1 "enterprise" coming in to save the day! Needed a good laugh :D

[@NestorKYAT]

"Forward unto Dawn" will forever be the coolest ship name, as far as serious ship names go

[@TheWarmachine375]

The Hyperion - a capital ship/mobile headquarters of Raynor's Raiders that had been through thick and thin as it survived the First Great War, Brood War, Second Great War and finally the War Against Amon.

[@dstovell]

The Expeditionary Force books have some amazing ship names (translated from alien languages): "Heavenly Morning Flower of Glorious Victory", "To Seek Glory In Battle is Glorious", "If You Forget Hard Enough It Never Happened"

[@ThraceVega]

Did an Excel spreadsheet for an entire corporate navy owned by a zaibatsu, the Kyoshi Corporate Protection Fleet. Based off IJN naming conventions (provinces, mountains, winds, and waves). That was fun, but a lot of hard work.

[@DycuswasHere]

I tend to name ships after songs I like. All will cry out with joy as the "Girl named Tennessee" flies into action

[@mrdrprof8402]

I've got so many thoughts on ship names! I personally quite like (bungie) halo. Spirit of fire absolutely takes the cake but I think there's a lot to be said for the grandiosity of naming schemes. Covenant go for poetic and flowy names where humanity have martial and heroic ones. Long night of solace and forward unto dawn are some of my faves. I think we can agree regardless that *infinity* is a lazy ass name that the 7 year old who came up with the coolest ship ever decided on. I've been running a lancer game (Sci fi mexha ttrpg) and in that I've been trying to come up with good names for all the vessels. The ship the player merc crew is in is called upon a white horse one of the key factions has this new super weapon on a dreadnought and it's called the inexorable dictum. Space ship naming is cool and fun especially when you don't call your ship HMS Big ship. (oh on the note of tempting fate I always found it werid the ship on Olympus in apex legends that got all fucked up is called icarus)

[@N8Claw]

Personally, I love the ironic namming of UNSC Feeling Lucky. A Marithon-class Heavy Cruizer that flew over the CAS-class Assault Carrier, Day of Jubilation, only to be skewered by its ventral energy projector.

[@RorikH]

Well, that's why they call it the Feeling Lucky, not the Being Lucky.

[@oxenford539]

I always liked "JMC Red Dwarf".

[@ZechsMerquise195]

Another fun, and real-world, aspect is the tendency of crews to choose a nickname for their ship. For instance, the USS Enterprise (both CV-6 and CVN-65) was often referred to as "The Big E". Or the HMS Queen Elizabeth being called the "HMS Me", after a funny incident with a cake being presented to the queen when she first visited the ship. It often reflects the history or accomplishments of the vessel.

[@DanielSolis]

Because ship names are usually formatted in italic text, I wanted to name a ship _U.S.S. Emphasis_.

[@prof.badfellow9868]

The MCRN has some pretty badass warships with names to match. The Donnager, the Scirocco, the RR Martin

[@GoodOldGamer]

I'm a fan of the Quarian ship Quibb Quibb. 😏🤭

[@battlesheep2552]

I prefer the De'Franz and the Iktomi. Now those are proud ship names

[@CaptainSovereign]

You Have A Ship Named Qwib Qwib?

[@IAmTheAce5]

@@CaptainSovereignoh, here we go…

[@matthewgillies7509]

I play a fair amount of Space Engineers. In that time, I've had exploration rockets I've called "Sojourner", "Thunderbird", "Azure Arrow", "Astral Pioneer", and "Wayfarer". I've also had warships called "Thunderer", "Tempest", "Pegasus", "Perseus", "Sampson", "Jupiter", and "Minerva". My latest iteration in-game was the "Theseus", a hybrid rocket-warship, that can do anything I need it to do, and go anywhere I need it to go, while fighting off many enemies. The name was a deliberate choice (and a nerdy joke), as I figured it would be getting a lot of repairs and receiving a lot of replacement parts.

[@ATRStormUnit]

In my eyes, a spaceship name which is kinda overused is Hyperion.

[@犬まにまに]

I also like names taken from actual places, famous battlefields, or famous people, which gives the spaceships a nice nostalgic feel, connecting the spacefaring human race to their home planet, Earth, and the stories of their ancestors.

[@brokeneyes6615]

“Protagonist Ship One”

[@byron2FZ]

I really like the naming scheme the Systems Alliance have in Mass Effect. Frigates are named for historical battles, Cruisers for cities (namely ones on Earth but I imagine that could change in time), Dreadnoughts for mountains (mainly Earth ones save for the Olympus Mons) and Carriers after historical figures (from Einstein to General Davis Jr of the Tuskeegee airmen). It does have some weird choices however, like the SSV Hong Kong being a Frigate named after the WW2 battle of Hong Kong rather than being a Cruiser.

[@JerichoDeath]

I usually go with British Navy ship names or constellations. My main ship names in Star Trek Online are the Imperieuse and the Cassiopeia.