[shashekar]

Frivolous or serious?

[Tristis]

In my stories, ship names are serious, but can be ironic. They even have more than one name. There's the formal designation, which isn't so easy to swap in conversations, the "name on the badge," which is what the ship is known as at stations etc., and sometimes a shortened nickname. Ships get nicknames if they have unpronounceable names or names that are too long, or if they have a reputation.

Anal, I know.

What's worse, if the name of an important ship doesn't feel right, I'll catch myself thinking about it over and over. It's stupid to get so caught up in them, but hey.

[Aurian]

Depends on what kind of ship it is. I would imagine "official" ships (military, government, etc) would have serious names.

If there are private spaceships, I could see frivolous names showing up, just like private boats sometimes have silly names like "Lost at Sea" or "Waste of Money"

[shashekar]

I've honestly read too much Banks, as I want to name a warship Just You Wait Until Your Father Gets Home, which is what inspired my question.

[Michael B]

In adventure games my preference is The Dawn Treader. That way the crew can be referred to as Treadies. And yes, it is awful!!!!!:D

[sophiamoniquesm]

Depends on what kind of ship it is. I would imagine "official" ships (military, government, etc) would have serious names.

If there are private spaceships, I could see frivolous names showing up, just like private boats sometimes have silly names like "Lost at Sea" or "Waste of Money"

*Military ships are really interesting!

[Mayreen]

I've honestly read too much Banks, as I want to name a warship Just You Wait Until Your Father Gets Home, which is what inspired my question.

I think this is a great name ;). Would need a 'wacky' story to go with it though. You could get a lot of milage out of 'Just waiting...' jokes and puns.

Admittedly, it does remind me of the end of Titan AE where he wants to call New Earth 'Bob'.

[shashekar]

I think this is a great name ;). Would need a 'wacky' story to go with it though. You could get a lot of milage out of 'Just waiting...' jokes and puns.

Admittedly, it does remind me of the end of Titan AE where he wants to call New Earth 'Bob'.

I'm torn between frivilous and an admittedly cooler-soundly Arabic one. Yad al-Jauza` is my other choice (the Hand of the Central One...which is also their name for Betelgeuse). Nor are they necessarily wacky choices. Think of it as a defense franchise. You pay a fee and agree to play by certain rules (I.E., play nice), but what you do otherwise is largely up to yourself.

[Mayreen]

Ah, I (think) understand what you are aiming at now.
My take on that would be an armada with a central core of warships run by a sort of MoD, with a larger motly group of franchised out warships of varying size and destructive capabilities which are captained by mercs, adventurers, etc... and can be called up into action by the central group when required but mostly go their own way.

Or I could just be making that up, but there's a great story in there!

[zachariah]

I thought about the various ship names of the Culture stories as soon as I read your first post. But remember, they all reflect the Culture's...culture...and that the ships are in fact sentient entities with a warped sense of humour. If yours aren't like that, I'd wager a less-than-serious name will jar with the reader unless there's a damn good reason for it.