50,000 Boat Names: From SEA SLUT II to BILBOAT BAGGINS
50k Boat Names
A deep dive into NOAA's AIS vessel traffic data reveals 50,000 boat names packed with nautical puns, dirty jokes, and references to pop culture, literature, and finance. The dataset, sampled from roughly 150,000 vessels, shows that recreational boats dominate, and the names offer glimpses into owners' wealth and professions—from LIQUID ASSETS to LAW DAWG. The interactive browser lets you search and explore the full collection.
These tiny expressions of creativity show up all over public datasets.
- rob74
I can't help but think this article could have used some more polishing. The stats say that there are 101 boats named "Freedom", but if you enter "Freedom" in the search, it shows 48 boats with names including "Freedom", of which however only one is called just "Freedom". That doesn't really add up?!
Also, clicking "Movie/TV" yields a paltry 22 boats, which I think is far too few. E.g. the boat called "USS Enterprise" isn't included. Ok, it could be named after the 1958 aircraft carrier, but I would say the odds are far greater that it was named after the Starfleet ships. Then again, I can understand why "Starlight Express" is included under "Music", but why also all other boats with names containing the word "Starlight"?!
- CSMastermind
This reminds me of a girl I knew in college who worked as a contracter for a book publisher.
I was surprised to learn that one of the most common types of books people submitted were dairies of their sailing. Like, "we sailed to this island and there was bad weather then we sailed to this other island".
Apparently they'd get a manuscript like this once a week or something. Not sure what the market is like for books like that since I don't think I've ever seen one in a book store.
- lewispb
My boat's called Floating Point :)
- xnorswap
The "Boat ownership by income" is interesting, although easy to misread at a glance.
7% of boat owners earning under $25k is of course very different from 7% of people earning under $25k owning a boat.
I'd love to see an actual chart of boat ownership at income levels, it would read quite differently I'm sure.
- Wistar
In the 1980s, a Seattle-area Chinese restaurant owner had a sailboat named Won Ton Sloop. (Or so I was told as I never saw the boat myself)
- olibaw
How is there not one boat named "Sunk Cost"...
- benmorris
That's the public data. I can tell you I've worked in this industry for 20+ years and run probably one of the biggest sites in this space selling boat graphics. The most popular name is actually "Aquaholic" ;-)
- BigTuna
I've always thought Unsinkable II would be a good boat name