50k Boat Names

From SEA SLUT II to BILBOAT BAGGINS, a heavy dive into AIS alloy information turns up 50,000 vessel names packed pinch nautical puns, soiled jokes, and Tolkien heavy cuts.

A smattering of vessel names recovered successful NOAA's Marine Cadastre information set. Source: NOAA. Visualization: Jon Keegan/Beautiful Public Data.

In the immense water of authorities datasets that I trawl through, I americium ever connected the lookout for moments wherever group definitive themselves, leaving down their ain small datum of personality. 

These mini expressions of productivity show up each complete nationalist datasets. Air postulation controllers take funny names for airplane navigation waypoints. Rejected vanity license plate registrations move up successful authorities centrifugal conveyance databases. The names we prime for our dogs look successful section licensing databases, and the Social Security Administration moreover publishes the astir popular names we springiness our children. And if you ain a boat, you get to sanction that too. 

I went done respective years’ worthy of NOAA alloy postulation information and pulled a sample of much than 50,000 vessel names that were broadcast via Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmitters, which are typically recovered connected larger and commercialized vessels. The postulation of names is chock afloat of clever puns, soiled jokes, and references to TV shows, movies, songs, and mythological figures. These names besides connection glimpses of the wealthiness and professions of the group who ain a boat.   

⛵️🔎 Search each 50,000 vessel names, browse by category, aliases deed random and spot what floats to the apical 👇🏻

Most commercialized vessels 65 feet and complete are required to broadcast their precise location and personality utilizing AIS (which lets maine make these cool maps), but plentifulness of recreational boaters broadcast anyway, by choice. These names were collected from NOAA’s Marine Cadastre “broadcast points” alloy postulation data. NOAA captures AIS information from terrestrial stations on US waterways, truthful immoderate vessel transmitting AIS wrong scope of those stations whitethorn show up successful the information whitethorn show up successful this data, though the immense mostly don’t transmit a alloy name. Boat owners don’t needfully person to taxable these names to NOAA — AIS alloy names aren’t a broad authorities registry of vessel names. Out of astir 150,000 unsocial boats I sampled, only astir 50,000 had names.

There are a batch of different kinds of boats successful this data, but recreational “pleasure craft” dress up astir 43% of the boats, followed by cargo ships astatine 14%. There are besides sportfishing boats, tugs and towboats, rider ships and ferries, arsenic good arsenic subject and hunt and rescue vessels.

About 12% of US households — astir 14.5 cardinal — were estimated to ain aliases co-own a recreational vessel successful 2018, according to a US Coast Guard survey.

So who owns boats successful the US? The latest version study of this survey, from 2018, tells america much astir this group. Of boat-owning households, 82.9% were white, while 0.8% were Black aliases African American.

Boat owners’ lives are reflected successful their vessels’ names. Owning a vessel is not inexpensive — yearly expenses tin tally betwixt $15,000 and $40,000.

That leads to plentifulness of names your favourite hedge money head mightiness slap connected a yacht: LIQUID ASSETS, BLUE CHIP III, PORT FOLIO, TRADE DESK, RISK & REWARD, MUTUAL FUN, 401(PLAY).

Lawyers and judges astatine oversea mightiness usage these names: LAW DAWG, PRO BONO, MOTION GRANTED, CASE CLOSED, OVERRULED, TESTIMONY, NAUT2GUILTY, and DUE DILIGENCE.

And plentifulness of names your expert aliases surgeon mightiness pick: The CADUCEUS is simply a well-known awesome of medicine (though the accepted aesculapian awesome is the Rod of ASCLEPIUS). A neurologist astir apt utilized SPIKE AND WAVE, past there’s SEROTONIN and the fisherman’s favourite feel-good hormone, ENDORFIN. If you telephone the DOC ON THE BAY, ever retrieve to travel your DOCTOR’S ORDERS.

Feeling Knotty

There’s nary shortage of spicy vessel names. You’ll find tons of naughty-nautical wordplay for illustration NAUTI-BOY and GET KNOTTY. There’s LOVE MACHINE 7, SEA SLUT II, and SCREAMING O.

Maybe you’ll spot HOOTER PATROL III, FRISKY LADY aliases THICK CHICK looking for immoderate AFTERNOON DELIGHT.

You tin besides find WET DREAM, WETTER THE BETTER and WET TUSH.

Books

Some captains tie inspiration from a much highbrow root for illustration classical literature: the protagonist of Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, SANTIAGO, Don Quixote’s GOOD OL SANCHO, Mark Twain’s TOM SAWYER (or a Rush reference?) and HUCK FINN II, the Soviet sub successful Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for RED OCTOBER, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol gives america MARLEY'S GHOST, Beowulf’s monster GRENDEL, a motion to Steinbeck’s East of Eden: TIMSHEL, Pushkin’s Eugene ONEGIN, and King Arthur’s vessel PRYDWEN.

As a Tolkien fan, I wasn’t amazed to spot tons of references to The Lord of the Rings: Your favourite wizard GANDALF (aka MITHRANDIR) and his equine SHADOWFAX, and from the realm of the elves LADY GALADRIEL II, RIVENDELL, ARWEN, and IDRIL.

And don’t hide the HOBBIT’s hero, BILBOAT BAGGINS, and his PRECIOUS.

Das Boot

Some celebrated vessels from movie make appearances: Alien’s abstraction freighter NOSTROMO, Steve ZISSOU’s investigation vessel BELAFONTE successful The Life Aquatic, and Jack Sparrow’s BLACK PEARL. Spielberg’s JAWS gave america the celebrated statement “you’re gonna request A BIGGER BOAT.” And personification decided to sanction their vessel aft the German submarine movie DAS BOOT (German for “the boat”).

There’s besides Kubrick’s STRANGELOVE, Christopher Nolan’s INCEPTION, Miyazaki’s SPIRITED AWAY, Dorothy’s RUBY SLIPPERS, and Citizen Kane’s ROSEBUD.

Movie quotes make appearances, too: The Princess Bride’s INCONCEIVABLE, Ice Cube’s statement BYE FELICIA from Friday, and Star Wars fans will admit ALMOST THERE. Names from the Star Wars beingness are everywhere, pinch THE MANDALORIAN, KESSEL RUN, Wedge Antilles’ RED TWO, THE DARKSIDE, and galore characters for illustration CHEWBACCA, YODA, and LANDO.

A three-hour tour

Seafaring nerds of each stripes person besides tapped into their favourite sci-fi titles for nautical inspiration: Doctor Who’s THE TARDIS, Star Trek’s IMPULSE POWER, HOLODECK 3, and Captain Picard’s celebrated statement MAKE IT SO.

Gilligan’s Island featured the vessel down that ill-fated three-hour circuit — the S.S.MINNOW. Other favourite TV shows popped up arsenic good including PARTY OF FIVE, THE OFFICE, UGLY BETTY, HAPPY DAYS, and FANTASY ISLAND.

Festivus for the remainder of us

The TV show I recovered referenced astir often was Seinfeld: You tin find boats named aft Seinfeld characters ELAINE, KRAMER, and THE “HELLO NEWMAN”. Deeper cuts see NO SOUP FOR YOU, MARBLE RYE, Frank Costanza’s SERENITY NOW and FESTIVUS, and MASTER OF MY DOMAIN, a motion to 1 of the show's champion episodes.