Grez Bead on Naming Ships

Excerpt from an interview with Tanduan fishing ship captain Grez Bead.

BEAD: "Every self-respecting captain'll name their ship, whether they're pushing water or burning it. 'Course a ship's gotta have a name, it's an ancient tradition. Been 'round longer than those three stars had names. So, naming your ship's important, but what d'you call it? You've got your gods, your historical figures, famous people, someone close to you. Pick one of those and maybe add an apostrophe-S, a descriptor, and a noun; uh, Jim's Silver Scythe. That'll getcha a solid name, but not the most original. Alliteration makes it sound nicer, at least to me. Military'll name their biguns after some important admiral or a city or somethin'. Could also pick an adjective. Heh, some people name 'em after 'emselves."

INTERVIEWER: "KSV Big Bead?"

BEAD: "Ya caught me!" [He raises his hands in mock surrender.] "There's also renaming your ships, maybe after some important event in it's history. Not too common, but some people just don't make up their minds. Humor-based names are also... uh, things. One that comes to mind is ISV Technicality—one o' them old thumpers—it's named that because it's technically an interstellar ship—it hopped around between our three stars for a while towards the start of its service. Oh, and numbering your ships? Just makes people think the last one sunk."