What are your best / favourite ship names?

Archvillain

Archvillain
I accumulate ships very slowly and browsing my fleet on Inara, I realized I was enjoying seeing some of the names I had given them over the years (Not surprising because they were named by someone with similar tastes to me...)

It got me wondering what ship names you all have that just feel right to you. I bet there's a huge range.
For some reason I like my own ship names to feel like something you'd see on an actual (ocean) ship or fictional spaceship (plenty are just names from fictional ships), and/or something that suits the ship or an animal it resembles. I know that won't appeal to everyone, but that's also why I'm interested to see other people's own fav ship names. Some of my ships:

The United Worlds - Imperial Clipper named after the (clipper?) tallship of the old TV series The Lost Islands
Scorpio - Anaconda named after the Blakes 7 ship that I suspect the E-D Anaconda was partly inspired by. (If you're curious about the effect of Blakes 7 on Elite, this came out a few years before 1984 Elite, and of course one of the lead actors has done a voice pack for Elite).
Nightwing - A fast black Imperial Courier with glowing bat decals on the wings from the halloween pack
Silverfish - Not entirely the bugs, but ok a little bit the bugs. It's a shiny Dolphin.
Big Rig - enormous Type-9 flying-factory mining-ship.
Black Pearl - As in Pirates of the Caribbean it's a very fast ship and completely black. It's an Orca so it looks like a pearl too.
Turtledove - Alliance Chieftains look like a flying turtle...
Abomination - Raider ship-kits were inspired by the Reavers of Firefly. This is a ship with the exterior decked out to appear as a Reaver, an action described as an abomination by the Firefly crew when they were forced to do that.
(Was previously Comete Cuivre (AKA "The Copper Comet"), a two-seater spaceship from 1920's pulp fiction)

Hmm, 2001 Space Odyssey was obviously another big influence on Elite, and I just realized I don't have any 2001-inspired ship names ...yet! :D
While I'm at it, something appropriate from Carl Sagan should be on the list too.

What are some of yours?
 
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Bigmaec

Bigmaec
All my Carcosa ships are named after HP Lovecraft works...

LRV Lurking Fear
LRV Miskatonic
LRV Polaris
LRV Dagon
LRV Color out of Space
LRVs Nctosa & Nctolhu (my FdL twins)
LRV Beyond
LRV Unnamable
LRV Celephais
LRV The Hound
LRV Hypnos
LRV Silver Key
LRV Ex Oblivione
LRV Outsider

My IDA ships are all named [IDA] Pleiades ***
where *** differs by ship type, my T9 is Pleiades Heavy, my PvP ship Pleiades Sentry, my AX ship Pleiades Shield, and my Anaconda is Pleiades Rising.
 

Stiehl9s

Stiehl9s
Im digging those Lovecraftian names! Well done

Mine are a mixed bag

Sidewinder - Gotengo
Cobra MK3 - Judas-0ne
AspX - Gloom Cabal
FDL - Grim Ruin
Python - Starscream
Eagle MK2 - Clutch
Type 10 - Onslaught
Chieftan - Warpath
Krait MK2 - Akula Prime
Anaconda - Necromancer
Corvette - Empty Throne
 

Riverside

Riverside
Each ship I named was given it's name from using it & getting to know it's character. If nothing comes to mind after a few days of use I'll usually sell it. Some ships I have bought & sold several times before they endeared themselves to me, some still have not.

My favourite name is probably my CG blockade running Cutter, "The Golden Goose" (ie pirate me, don't just kill me). I have a second Cutter hull used for repairing stations & big haulage, called "Bait" for similar reasons.

The Corvette I took to Beagle point (legacy engineered, now retired) was named the "Wayward Wanderer". I built a replacement with current engineering, simply called "Number Two". It was only intended as a testbed hull but I didn't need the cash so parked up the old hull & my in-game friends now generally recognise "Number Two" as my armed explorer ship and ask about "Number One" (ie The Prisoner TV show) so I kept the name ;)

For years I have had a pair of Pythons, one a CZ tank that got me to combat Elite in 2015, simply called "Thug", and a mission runner called "Transaction". I've since built a few more mission running Pythons that are stored where they are needed. One is "Misdirection", another is called "Lard" because I originally bought the hull to max out medium pad cargo space for a cargo mission.

I have a racing eagle called "Zip" (haven't used it in ages), and my main CZ/RES FDL is called Velcro. One of the only running themes in my ship naming is fasteners. Bolt, nut, button, stuff like that. I have over 60 ships, most of them have been named whatever came to mind when using them.

I never change the ID of a hull, they are just whatever the game assigned to that hull. And I've never come up against the swear filter either which is a little surprising given some of the masked examples people post on the forum :)
 

Andy Gee

Andy Gee
My ship names are inspired by tools which were milestones in the development of human mankind.
They also reflect my fine and subtle and refined approach in combat.

Krait - Power Cutter
Python - Nut Cracker
Gunship - Can Opener
FDL - Crowbar
Corvette - Sledgehammer
Cutter - Drain Cleaner
 
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iSteel

iSteel
I usually use names from Sci-fi genre or just something that pops to my mind on the fly. I also rename my ships if I find better name for them. Like my mining Cutter "Roid Digger", not so unique or clever, but sounds okay. I also have currently ships named Razorback, Rocinante, Donnager :)

I have some names that I will use to my favourite ships. The first one is "Helva Song" which has roots to the novel named Ship that Sung by Anne McGaffrey. In these novels the protagonist is a cyborg ship Helva. Currently this name is carried by my never-to-be sold Cobra Mk3, and my current favourite Krait Mk2.

The second name is for my exploration Anaconda, "DeepShip" to honour the SCS DeepShip 86 from the Space Quest 6 game. This name is carried to all the ships with exploration build.

Last but not least comes name from Dragonfall 5 children sci-fi books by Brian Earnshaw. My mom used to read me these books when I was under 7 back in the '70s. Name "Dragonfall" is carried by my starter Sidewinder and my Vulture "Petoveto", which is the ship's name in Finnish translation.
 
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Go'Gen

Go'Gen
"Best Cat Dad Ever" - when buying AspX my copawlot was purring on my lap
"Bad Breathbringer" - when buying Anaconda he was so near I could smell his mouth
"Caprica Seven" - when buying Corvette I was watching Galactica
"Memento Mori" - AX Krait, we must be aware of our mortality before each combat
"Lost Trooper" - Python... something personal
...
 

Sup3rfluiD

Sup3rfluiD
Sidey - Splinter
Eagle - Bottle Rockit
Viper3 - Jack Knife
Courier - Dire Wasp
DBS - Shadow Boxer
Vulture - Hoonikorn
Asp E - Spray
Krait Ph - Slipknot
Krait Mk - Lil' Yeet
FAS - Slum Dunk
FGS - Albatroz
FDL - Hoodlum
Chief - G'Rumble
Challe - Gut Shot
Clipper - Tigg'r
Mambo - Windwalker
Python - Yo Mamas A**
Conda - Tub o'
T10 - Mudguts
Vette - Tantrum
Cutter - Tycho Brah
 

Stinja

S
All non-PvP Ship ID's are "o7 RAT".

Ships are named after their vibe, intent, or something humorous:

Fuel-rat Cobra MK3 = Nominal Sanity
Buckyball Regulation Hauler = Baller Hauler
Anti-gank iCourier = Meep Meep (Road Runner reference)
Fuel-rat DBX = Cool Banana (kiwi slang, and DBX's used to be yellow)
Fuel-rat AspX = Quarian JigglyBumBum (Mass Effect ref)
Fuel-rat Orca = Petunia Incarnate (HHGTTG ref)
Fuel-rat Clipper = Cognitive Paradox
Fuel-rat / DW2 Krait MK2 = Entropy Hoover
Fuel-rat Python = Rusty Sage (ref Soundgarden song, renamed after Chris Cornell died)
Mining Python = Rusty Maid
Xeno FDL = Bug-Buster
Fuel-rat conda = Slot-Banger (ref early docking attempts)
Hauler conda = Slot-Grinder

pus various unnamed ships just holding modules (vette, cutter etc).
 
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Trotsky2112

T
Some of my better names:

Krait mkII = Wyvern
Imperial Clipper = Polarion
Federal Corvette = Moloch
Fer-de-Lance = Cauchemar (nightmare)
Imperial Courier = Hailstorm
Anaconda = Obsidio
Type-10 = Behemoth
Krait Phantom = Voyager
Cobra mkIII = Wadjet

As you can see, I have no particular theme, I just pick what feels right for each ship. Sometimes it takes me the better part of a week to decide on a good one. I'm particularly proud of Polarion, Wyvern, Wadjet, and Moloch.

Maybe I should get a naming theme.
 

Shiro Akai

Shiro Akai
Adder - Nerel
made up name

Hauler - Oddity
for it is one

Cobra mk III - Sarahada
iconic Elite ship, Frontier 25th Anniversary paintjob, docked (mothballed rather) at Colonia. Contributed toward exploration goal while anniversary event was rolling, bought this ship as a shelf queen. Name trnaslates into: Frontier.

Krait Phantom - Samboya
ancient slavic female name

Fer-de-Lance - Fleur du Mal
the Flowers of Evil. Originally I maned that my Chiss Imperial Agent in SWTOR and re-used in ED. After I saw the name on ship I realised that my FDL is named Fleur Du maL.

Mamba - Hkei Mi E7
self given birthday present. Last year when I had birthday I also got Exploration and Trading Elite + passed 1B milestone. As a gift i bought myself Mamba. Hkei Mi means "twins" (my birth sign) E7 is 37 with 3 being mirror flipped - my age then.

T-9 - Narayana
hindu deity, patron of traders. At least one of.

Krait mk II - Archdruid Yersaraai
homage to my WoW main character

Anaconda - Kongou
a nod to main villain of Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio: Ars Nova

Corvette - Kiryuin Ragyo
a nod to main villain of Kill la Kill. I adore both music themes associated with this character.

DBX - 8T-88
name taken from a droid that appeared in SW: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II

Vulture - Ayanami Rei
name of a character from Neon Genesis Evangellion. I expect to die a lot while trying to learn combat and this name fits perfectly, given who Ayanami was in that anime (especially that part how she sees herself).

Asp X - Elune Adore
very unimaginative attempt to get a star reference. Elune Adore is Night Elf greeting (WoW)

Python - Swarożyc
ancient slavic deity, also name of a large steam tug boat I intend to build one day as an RC.

Courier - <currently nameless>


Clipper - Harime Nui
another nod to Kill la Kill, another villain, this time minor one but man, that one was pretty messed one.

T-7 - <currently nameless>


Chieftain - <currently nameless>


Gunship - Nag Woede
used Google translate, something with wrath, can't recall what it was. Output probably is Netherland.

Cutter - Takao
another nod to Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio, this time lovely Cruiser.

As you can see I have quite messed up naming scheme. I take from various sources, mix themes. Some are trivial, some have deeper and obscured meaning. If the name fits the ship (imo), ship gets one.
 

CMDR GRAEME COWELL

CMDR GRAEME COWELL
don't know about best I have a lot of pun and silly names, My main is trying not to take himself to seriously I don't want to get a big head, start thinking im a big wheel in the galaxy.
I'm not a Duval, or a Mahon, I'm just a rocket jockey so without further ado:

C0WBELLS (Main) smuggler, and sometime-pirate
ASP (green): ASP ARAGUS
KEELBACK (orange): ANNOYING ORANGE
KEELBACK (trader, gery) BIG BONED BETTY she ain't pretty but she gets it done
COBRA (smuggler) BOOTLEG BETTY


My Alt is a WAY more serious minded individual:

KEELBACK (rescue) DSRV APOLLO
CHIEFTAIN VELITE
IMP EAGLE (recon) THX-1138
T9 (rare trader) HAULIN R's
edit: forgot one
 
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mikekim

mikekim
A couple of Mine..
(Did go through a Latin Translation phase for a while)

USS Valley Forge - Beluga (Silent Running)
Scorpio - Corvette (Blakes Seven)
Heart Of Gold - Cutter (Hitchhikers)
Mus Forti - Vulture (Mighty Mouse - Latin)
Muneris Cursor - Python (Mission Runner - Latin)
Navicula II - Cobra - (Small Ship II - Latin)
Sagitta Contritum - FDL - (Broken Arrow - Latin)
 

clivewil

clivewil
there's too many ships to remember - many are just cash sinks that never move - but a few of my more active ones are:

vulture - Lazy and Unreliable. speaks for itself. it's a good ship though, and is my main ride.
corvette - Not Now, Dammit. for when i don't want to bother with combat.
cutter - Greed. why else would you want to carry 704t in one load?
orca - Sardines in a Can. passenger ship. self explanatory.
sidewinder - Ingrown Toenail. small and painful, but easily removed with the right tool.
python - The Pink Python. schoolboy innuendo humour. my main medium cargo ship. plus several other pythons with suggestive names.
...and to take a leaf out of FD's own book (their NPC called 'Viper') i have an anaconda called 'Sidewinder' and a cobra iii called 'Anaconda'

----> after going through the ship transfer list yesterday i noticed that Sardines in a Can' is a cutter, not an orca. the main orca is called 'Vibrator' because it looks like one. other interesting names i spotted were Chew Toy, Kitty Litter, C--roach, Cuddles, Fluffy, Chubby Locust (a dbx, of course...)

...but my personal favourite, a cobra iii named 'Quince <3 $$$ LOL' - just for the record, i was rich before Quince and did not use that exploit. i was just stirring anyone in the area.
 
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