What’s in a boat’s name? The inspiration behind naming a vessel

Colours, weather, music and even films and TV programmes are all popular when it comes to boat names, but there are certainly a few surprising ones too...

Blue Moon - one of the most popular boat names in the USA
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The world’s 10 most popular boat names of 2018 were recently revealed by The Boat Owners Association of The United States. Sadly, Boaty McBoatFace didn’t make the cut, but there were plenty of creative ideas on the list.

When you dig even further into how people choose names for their boats, it turns out some of the best names are the most unconventional. Insure4Boats have surveyed their policyholders to find out what they call their vessels. Here are some of the interesting findings this research has uncovered.

 

Colours

Colour-themed boat names are the most popular, according to the insurer’s results.

As you might expect, blue tops the colour chart. Out Of The Blue is the most popular choice, followed closely by Bluebell, Blue Mist and Blue Thunder.

Black, on the other hand, isn’t a very popular colour when it comes to naming a boat. Only 13% of the colour-themed boat names included the word ‘black’, with Black Pearl the winner.

Despite white being a popular boat colour, it seems very few people are keen to include it in their boat’s name – 5%, to be exact.

 

Weather

Again, there are no huge surprises here. Weather-related boat names are very common, with mist at number one. The most popular mist-themed boat name is simple, effective and does exactly what it says on the tin – Misty.

Other common weather-related boat names are Snowgoose, Four Winds and Cloud Nine. However, we’re not too sure about the thinking behind Rainy Lady.

Seasons also feature prominently – the pick of the bunch include Summer Breeze, Summer Wine and Autumn Bliss.

 

Wildlife

When it comes to wildlife, most boat owners name their vessels after birds. This appears to be a metaphor for ‘flying’ across the water (think Kate Winslet’s iconic scene in Titanic, in which she stands dangerously close to the ship’s edge).

Kingfisher tops the bird boat name chart, which also features such imaginative entries as Bluebird and Wild Goose.

Dragonfly is another highly popular boat name, possibly because dragonflies live in water and have long bodies. Hopefully, these vessels are slightly less slender and delicate than a dragonfly when it comes to tackling strong winds, though.

 

Music

Several boat owners have called their vessels Dignity, seemingly in homage to the classic Deacon Blue track of the same name. In fact, someone has even gone as far as to name their boat after the Scottish pop rock band!

It’s A King Of Magic, Daydream Believer and All You Need Is Love are among the other song-based boat names. As for musician-based names, there are boats called Bee Gee, Bo Diddley, Nirvana and Stormzy. Talk about an eclectic mix!

 

TV and film

Would you have associated the TV show Happy Days with a boat? No, neither would we, but this is a popular boat name. As is Scooby Doo, after the famous American animated series which once featured a hilarious boating escape scene. Red Dwarf, Breaking Bad and The Good Life are among the other notable TV show references.

In terms of films, The Great Escape makes an appearance, as does One Fine Day, after the romantic comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. There’s even a boat named Bubba Gump, in reference to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company from Forrest Gump!

 

Literature

The satirical Joseph Heller novel Catch 22 is the most popular book to name a boat after. Perhaps surprisingly, this trumps the name Swallows and Amazons, after the series of sailing novels written by English author Arthur Ransome.

Our personal favourite was Life of Si, a play on words of the Yann Martel novel Life of Pi about an Indian boy stranded at sea, which was recently adapted into a Hollywood film.

 

The best of the rest

When it comes to genders, female names lead the way, and the most popular female boat name is Grace.

Of course, not every boat name requires a clear rationale. Some choices are, shall we say, quite random, and the logic behind them is best known to the boat owners.

Nutty tart, Saggy Pants, Bass-turd and Blankety Blank, are just a few of the gems we discovered – answers on a postcard for these ones, please!

 

Furthermore, we’re delighted to reveal that one of the boats is called Boatymcboatface. This tops off what we hope you’ll agree is a fascinating insight into how people choose names for their boats.