# Favourite ship names?



## cyberpunkdreams (Jul 30, 2015)

I know that favourite ships have been discussed (over and over I assume!), but I thought it might be interesting to focus on the names. I know that's hard to separate from the ship itself and the wider context of the narrative in which it finds itself, but still...

I've been thinking about my list and have (with difficulty) narrowed it down to just five:

*Nomad* | _The Stars my Destination_
*The Sky, My Lady, The Sky!* | _Learning the World_
*Sleeper Service* | _The Culture_ series
*Perhonen* | _The Quantum Thief_ trilogy
*Nostalgia for Infinity* | _Revelation Space_ series [last but very far from least]​
Obviously my own thoughts were coloured by the history of the ships for some of them, but there are other ships I'd have put in if this wasn't just about names (_Normandy_, _The White Cat_, _Moya_, I could go on...)

Anyone else want to give it a go?


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## mgilmour (Jul 31, 2015)

Dauntless - EE Doc Smith, The Lensmen
Vesti and Yorktown - Star Trek
Altavia and Alturus - The Mindwars Book 2....still being written! 

I like all of these names because I have a personal attachment to them when I read the books, played a game with my father or have written a novel....I find that names are all about the time, the place and who you are with.


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## Verse (Jul 31, 2015)

Ian M. Banks, Culture ships have the best names.

You can find them all listed in this Wikipedia article, but my personal favourites are:

_*Just Read The Instructions* - Player of Games_

_*Size Isn't Everything * - Use of Weapons_
_*Ethics Gradient* - Excession_
_*Don't Try This At Home* - Matter_
But My all time favourite is the _*Mistake Not ...* - The Hydrogen Sonata. _That being the short name of the ship. It's full name is; _Mistake Not My Current State Of Joshing Gentle Peevishness For The Awesome And Terrible Majesty Of The Towering Seas Of Ire That Are Themselves The Milquetoast Shallows Fringing My Vast Oceans Of Wrath.
_
P.S. *Perhonen* is Finnish for Butterfly. Those crazy Finns.


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## Vertigo (Jul 31, 2015)

I'll second Verse in that I think it's hard to beat Banks' ship names.


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## Rodders (Jul 31, 2015)

Nostalgia for Infinity. - Alistair Reynolds. 

And yes, i'll third Iaian M. Banks' ship names. Wasn't Gunboat Diplomat one of his?


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## Vertigo (Jul 31, 2015)

Okay someone's got to get it right; it's Iain


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## Ray McCarthy (Jul 31, 2015)

Rodders said:


> i'll third Iaian M. Banks' ship names


Best bit of his books really  magic ship names


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## Vince W (Jul 31, 2015)

Without question Banks' ships have the best names.

I'd add:

*Lying ******** - Ringworld
*Angel's Pencil* - The Warriors
*Obler's Paradox* - Slowboat Nightmare
*Oenone* - Night's Dawn
*Melancholia that Transcends All Wit* - The Centauri Device


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## Mirannan (Jul 31, 2015)

I'd add, from Ringworld again, Hot Needle of Inquiry. Completely differently, I'm rather impressed with some real life ship names, the Flower Class corvettes from the WWII Royal Navy. Apparently, there was some hurried discussion and, due to fears of mutiny, they didn't use the name HMS Pansy.


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## Ray McCarthy (Jul 31, 2015)

Hmm... Deadly Nightshade, Wolf Bane etc


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## Rodders (Jul 31, 2015)

Discovery One
Agamemnon


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## cyberpunkdreams (Aug 1, 2015)

mgilmour said:


> I find that names are all about the time, the place and who you are with.



Oh, completely!

And I agree about Iain M. Bank's names... could have a whole thread just for that! My favourite of his are probably _So Much For Subtlety_,_ Grey Area_, _Pressure Drop..._ a few others. On the note of his names, I think it was actually M. John Harrison who started the trend. Some of his ship names in novels such as _The Centauri Device_ are pretty eccentric.

And thanks, I didn't know that about _Perhonen_ - although, of course, it makes perfect sense.


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## BAYLOR (Aug 1, 2015)

*The Furious Abyss   *from the Horus Heresy  novel *Battle of the Abyss*  by Ben counter .


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## TK Greenleaf (Aug 3, 2015)

_Serenity_ (Joss Whedon's Firefly). If I had a ship of my own, I'd name it "Not Without a Warrant"


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## cyberpunkdreams (Aug 3, 2015)

TK Greenleaf said:


> I'd name it "Not Without a Warrant"



Nice


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## reiver33 (Oct 15, 2015)

Event Horizon


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## steelyglint (Oct 16, 2015)

Mr Banks had the master touch when naming his vessels. A certain Mr Asher has shown talent in the same direction. I do like the idea of naming a warship after an executioner, even to giving the 'Jack Ketch' AI a hobby collecting all the forms humans used for capital punishment.

.


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## AnyaKimlin (Oct 16, 2015)

The Odyssey - Ulysses 31. Somehow it was even better for a spaceship.
Moya - Farscape.  It's a bit like a car called Brenda.  (I know she was a being but... if you came to it without knowing that it would be cool)


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## steelyglint (Oct 16, 2015)

AnyaKimlin said:


> The Odyssey - Ulysses 31. Somehow it was even better for a spaceship.
> Moya - Farscape.  It's a bit like a car called Brenda.  (I know she was a being but... if you came to it without knowing that it would be cool)



If Brenda is a Beetle there's a chap I know called Herbie who'd be interested in meeting her. VW needs all the help they can get right now.

.


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## Jeremy M. Gottwig (Oct 17, 2015)

Ditto for everyone who has mentioned a Culture ship, but I have a special affinity for the Clear Air Turbulence (even though it's a bit blah for Banks).


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## thaddeus6th (Oct 17, 2015)

The Righteous Indignation.


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## Kylara (Oct 17, 2015)

I love Oenone. Especially mixed with Syrinx and you have a little collection of water nymphs 
I'm a suckered for those sorts of names. I also love the culture ones and sleeper service has to be rather fantastic.
There is another shop name in Hamilton that I adore but can't for the life of me remember what it is. (too much reading weird things about Shakespeare and much ado at the moment I think!)


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## EJ Heijnis (Nov 3, 2015)

Joshua Dalzelle of the Black Fleet Trilogy came up with "Blue Jacket," which I'd never seen before and I thought was memorable.

Steven Erikson gave us "Willful Child," which always reminds me of The Shining: "A very willful boy. A rather... naughty... boy, if I may be so bold, sir." 



thaddeus6th said:


> The Righteous Indignation.



I loved Bucky O'Hare! I didn't have consistent TV access when I was little (especially cable was a rare treat found only at an aunt's house) so I only ever got to see a few episodes, but boy, did it have an impact. I wanted to be the turret gunner.


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## thaddeus6th (Nov 3, 2015)

I rather liked Toadborg.


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## galanx (Jan 10, 2016)

Ship ships

"Lookfar": Ged's boat in Earthsea
"The Dawn Treader"


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## Droflet (Jan 10, 2016)

_Truculent_: Uncommon Purpose. Cough.


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