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Ok so, all this talk of baby name consultants makes me wonder about the boat-naming industry. Since boat names are generally longer, and often complete phrases, maybe people actually invest as much time naming boats as naming children...?
My father, a sailor, always talked about this boat named Rebecca Lynn and then one day he finally sent me a picture of it: well wouldn't you know. And then when I was in college my dad let me name his fishing boat: Get me away from here I'm dying, after a Belle and Sebastian song and, yes, also referencing the side effects of spending a summer at home after nine months at college under the aegis of free beer. As far as consulting goes, a found a site called namethatboat.com to be helpful if staggering. My top votes there were: My Quota!, Knot Now Kato (??), and uh, Spider Farm.
View the list in exhaustive totality here. And this just in from the Boat Owners Association of the United States:
The top 10 names in America, in order, in 2006 (the latest data available): Aquaholic, Second Wind, Reel Time, Hakuna Matata, Happy Hours, Knot Working, Life Is Good, Plan B, Second Chance and Pura Vida (Spanish for "pure life''). Knot Working, Life Is Good, Plan B and Second Chance made the list for the first time. While witty boat names tend to attract all the attention, said Scott Croft, a BoatUS spokesman, most boats are named for family members or favorite pastimes. After the Sept. 11 tragedy, patriotic names such as Freedom and Liberty were in vogue. BoatUS has tracked boat names for 20 years.
Indeed they have, and you can follow the trends through time here. Check out 2003, where "Mental Floss" made the list! Boats you've named...Anybody? The hypothetical also welcome.