Why Should You Name a Boat?

Naming your boat is a nice tradition that probably started with Vikings, the fierce seafaring conquerors. To them, each vessel was a living entity, and to ensure its successful voyages, they gave them cool ship names, like Huggin’s Wave Steed (Huggin was one of Odin’s ravens) or Skidbladnir in honor of Freyr, the god of fertility and abundance. 

However, if all this traditional approach to boat naming isn’t a convincing enough reason for you to give a unique boat name to your vessel, an actual requirement by the U.S. Coast Guard may be reason enough. However, the legal obligation only applies to commercial boats.

In a nutshell, naming your boat isn’t purely an odd tradition and a captain’s outreach to the gods for good luck. So yes, you should absolutely name your boat! But mostly because it’s fun. If you’re keen to know what the rules of naming your boat are and how to come up with good boat names, continue reading our next section, where we will be discussing just that. 

How Do You Come Up With a Unique Boat Name?

Before thinking of witty boat names, you should probably get acquainted with the standard (though not official) rules of boat naming: 

• Keep it short and sweet. The length of a boat’s name should be no more than 33 characters. 
• Give it female vibes. Traditionally, ships are given female names, so why not name it after a special woman in your life? 
• Make it meaningful. Ships are often named to reflect their owner’s favorite things or hobbies. 

Now that you know the rules and limitations of cool boat names, here are a couple of pointers on how to come up with a unique and witty boat name: 

• Use puns and homographs (words with multiple meanings). Why not name your boat Reely Nauti or The Reel Deal? Funny boat names have been on the rise for quite some time now, and we absolutely see the appeal!
• Seek inspiration from pop culture. It is absolutely acceptable to name your boat after songs, movies, and famous people. Let’s say, The Boatfather? Anything that floats your boat!
• Entertainment is the key. Some of the best boat names that we’ve seen stick to the funnier side of things, so think about that when coming up with your own funny ship names. 

By the way, there’s one more thing you might need to know before deciding on boat names funny or not—it is considered bad luck to rename your ship! So best choose a witty boat name that you certainly like. If a need to rename it arises, a sort of purging ceremony must be done beforehand. 

So, if you need a bit more inspiration before coming up with cool boat names of your own, continue checking out the submissions on our list. And if you’d like to share your boat name ideas, please do so in the comments!