I don''t know a great source book on naming boats and by the time most names appear in print or on a website they are already over used.
When I have to name a boat I try to think of what that boat means to me. I often get an image in my mind and then try to understand how that image applies to the boat and also how I can define that relationship in one word. I am very superstitious about changing the name of a boat and so look at ways of working around the name that is already on the boat. I try to think if an existing name has meaning in my life.
I like names that have some whit or whisdom. For example there used to be a racer- cruiser called ''Typee'' on one side and ''Type A'' on the other.
I like names with a story around them. There is boat that used to sail out of Annapolis that was called ''Aunt Jean''. It turned out that Aunt Jean passed on and left the owner some money that he used to buy the boat. On the boom it said "Where there''s a will...." and on the battle flag was a tombstone and ''R.I.P.'' Aunt Jean was supposedly a cool old girl and would have actually enjoyed all of this.
Many people look to traits of the wind, or desciptions of freedom (I''ve always liked the name ''Galivant'') or the sea. People often look to mythology; Greek, Roman, Norse, or American Indian. Or, to characters from literature, Shakespere (Puck has always been a favorite), and Don Quixote (L.F. Herrreschoff''s boats were usually characters from Don Quixote) being very popular. There are boat names drawn from the Stars or from weather. It is thought to be appropriate name a boat for one''s wife or children (My folkboat was named Diana for my first wife, both long gone and sometimes still missed). Images from the world of ballet used to be pretty common. Images of flowers used to be common (Cotton Blossom, Rose of Shannon or my current boat ''Rugosa'' (a type of rosebush) for example) I am not big on lewd or gag names which seem more popular on power boats but seem to show up on sailboats as well these days. I don''t mind a joke if there is a little bit of whit to it such as the Trawler named ''Quits''. When the retiree owner was asked he''d always say,"I had worked all my life but one day I just decided to buy a trawler and call it ''Quits''"
Fast animals (''Tigress'' for example), sea creatures (''Turtle'',''Snapper'', Porpoise'',''Dorido'')birds (especially seabirds)(''Lark'', ''Hawk'', ''Petrel'' were quite common at one time.) often inspire boat names. Things that suggest speed (''lighting'') or sports or weapon images (''Javelin'' or ''Saber'' or ''Sprint'') for example. You some times see names that reflect some modern technology item (I raced on a boat called ''Fast Forward >>'')
You often see combinations of words (my family''s boats when I was growing up were named ''Windrift''.) Sometimes names comment on the size of the boat like ''Imp'',''Pixie''or ''Titanic''. There are names that suggest friendship with the boat (''Amigo'' was common for a while) Race boats tend to have more Xtreme names (''Phycho Killer'', ''Hot Ruddered Bum'', ''Taxi Dancer'') while names out of nature are more common on cruising boats. Sometimes poetry itself inspires a name, (The name ''Rage'' typically comes from the Dylan Thomas poetic line which reads something like, "Rage, Rage against the long dark night" which means to struggle to be alive and don''t die without a fight. Or "Without Feathers" which is a pun on the Emily Dickinson line to the affect of "Hope is a great feathered thing".) Which of course brings us to human traits, (''Hope'', ''Joy'', ''Rapscallion'', ''Inspiration'', ''Freedom Won'') or heros of sailing (''Slocum'', ''Hornblower'' ''Magellan'' have graced many a transom)
Anyway, if you have any poetry in your soul, that ought to get your juices flowing. What ever you do, don''t rush. Get a feel for the boat and what she means to you and the name will come to you the way the lost name of a seldom thought of childhood friend one day just appears upon your lips.
Good night,
Jeff
