A Ship by any other name

This blog is going to feel a little bit circular, as it returns to information already covered in Gods and Goddesses in particular and to the general idea of sexist language in sci fi.

I was really surprised when I looked up the names of spaceships in McKenzie’s Sci Fi Dictionary. I was specifically looking at spaceships, not maritime ships, but I was still expecting to see lots of female names. There is a maritime tradition that ships are female and often have female names. This tradition does not extend to Space Opera.

The categories of names I found were :
• Legends – heroes, creatures, swords etc. from Greek, Roman and Celtic mythology.
• Abstract nouns – ideas and concepts valued by sci fi.
• Places – cities, rivers and battle grounds, usually American, rarely African or Asian.
• Famous People – mainly Western, but no over-riding profession dominates.
• Colours – Red, blue, silver, gold, black.
• Animals – Eagles, Falcons, Dolphins, Mythological flying horses.

Names from Legends:

The largest category of ship names come from myths and legends, with a strong Western bias.
There are only seven female names used here are: Andromeda, Artemis, Aurora, Demeter, Diana and Hera. These are mostly the stronger, warrior goddesses from Graeco-Roman mythology. Aurora is used in Stargate for an Ancient ship that destroyed itself to stop the Wraith and in Buck Rogers for a ship that lured men to their deaths. Ariel is the only lesser deity. There are no love or nature goddesses: no Aphrodite, Persephone, Venus (one space station), Maeve, Moon Lady, Kwan Yin, or Indian goddesses.


Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda); Apollo (Stargate Atlantis: First Strike/Adrift); Apollo, The (Babylon 5: Endgame);Argo (Starblazers); Argonaut (Heroic Age); Argosy (Andromeda, Pitiless As the Sun/Tom Corbett Space Cadet :The Vultures of Space); Ariel (Bujold: Warrior’s Apprentice); Aries (The Next Generation: Identity Crisis/2001ASO); Ark, The (Guyver Bio-Booster Armor); Artemis (The Next Generation: The Ensigns of Command); Artemis, RMMS (Weber: Honor Among Enemies); Aurora (Stargate Atlantis: Aurora/Buck Rogers: Planet of the Amazon Women);
Daedalus (Stargate Atlantis: The Siege/The Daedalus Variations);Damocles (Babylon 5: Between the Darkness and the Light); Demeter (Buck Rogers in the 25thCentury: Space Vampire); Demetrius (Battlestar Galactica: The Ties That Bind); Diana (Battlestar Galactica: Razor);
Excalibur (Crusade); Gilgamesh (Sagan: Contact); Hera (The Next Generation: Interface );
Icarus (Matrix Reloaded/Babylon 5: Revelations); Icarus 1 (Sunshine); Icarus 2 (Sunshine); Jupiter 2 (Lost in Space); Jupiter 42 (Tripping the Rift); Jupitoris (Zeta Gundam); Mercury (Battle Beyond the Sun ); Neptune S.E.R.P. (Android); Orion (Space Patrol 1966/Stargate Atlantis: Inferno);
Pegasus (The Next Generation: The Pegasus/ Battlestar Galactica: The Living Legend/ Battlestar Galactica: Pegasus/Resurrection Ship ); Phoenix (The Next Generation: The Wounded); Prometheus (Deep Space 9: Second Sight/ Stargate Atlantis/Battlestar Galactica: Black Market/ Babylon 5: In the Beginning/ Unreal Mission Pack 1 : Return to Na Poli ); Proteus (Lost in Space); Proteus 911 (Nemesis, Game, 1987)
Rama (Clarke: Rendezvous with Rama); Rama II (Clarke: Rama II); Rama III (Clarke: The Garden of Rama); Sirius (Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet/Weber: On Basilisk Station);
Titan (Star Trek: Nemesis/Titan A.E.); Valkyrie (Titan A.E.); Wrath of Achilles (Andromeda: The Knight, Death and the Devil); Zephyr (Zephyr/Battlestar Galactica: Fragged/Lay Down Your Burdens); Zeus (Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet/Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within); Zeus I (The Martian Chronicles: the Expeditions); Zeus II (The Martian Chronicles: the Expeditions); Zeus III (The Martian Chronicles: the Expeditions); Zeus 2 (Jupiter Moon);

Famous People


Although most of the famous people here are Western, The range of occupations is less discriminatory. There are leaders of various types, writers, scientists, a film director , the founder of modern nursing and a courtesan. Out of 16 names there are only two females. The Nightingale is a hospital ship and the Madame de Pompadour is a plot device linked to the real woman. Women in this category are relegated to caring roles, with no strong women represented.
Alexander, The (Babylon 5: Severed Dreams); Asimov (Babylon 5: Believers/The Lost Tales: Over Here); Churchill, The (Babylon 5: Severed Dreams); Crazy Horse (The Next Generation: The Pegasus ); Dante (Silent Bomber); Einstein (Red Dwarf: Back in the Red); Eisenhower (Space Above and Beyond: Sugar Dirt ); Fleming (The Next Generation: Force of Nature ); Ghandi (Deep Space 9: Defiant/The Next Generation: Second Chances); Kobayashi Maru (Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan); Madame de Pompadour (Doctor Who: The Girl in the Fireplace); Nightingale (Supernova); Noah (Lexx: Dutch Treat/Yo Way Yo); Raman (The Next Generation: Interface ); Tolstoy (The Next Generation: The Best of Both Worlds); Yamamato (Starblazers);
(I have included Noble as an abstraction but it could be from the scientist, and also Noah who may not be considered historical by some people.)

Values and other abstractions


This category includes virtues which sci fi values, as well as words reflecting the nature of the ship. Some of these names are used by real maritime ships on Earth, reflecting real use.

Avenger (The Empire Strikes Back); Clarion’s Call, The (Andromeda: The Knight, Death and the Devil ); Defiant (Deep Space Nine); Destiny (Stargate Universe); Earth Star Voyager (Earth* Star Voyager); Eightfold Path (Andromeda: D Minus Zero); Enterprise (Star Trek); Invincible (Space Above and Beyond : Sugar Dirt ); Legendra (Starblazers); Liberator (Blakes’ 7); Noble (The Next Generation: Interface ); Paradise (Smith: Planet of Treachery);
Ranger- 1, 2, 3, 4 ( Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers); Searcher (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century); Sentient Graha (Andromeda: Una Salus Victus);Serenity (Firefly); Stargazer (The Next Generation: The Battle/Bloodlines); Star Runner (Silver Sun); Titanic (Doctor Who: Turn Left); Valiant (Doctor Who: The Sontaran Strategy /Dogstar/ Deep Space 9: Valiant); Victory (The Next Generation: Identity Crisis); Voyager (Star Trek: Voyager); Wanderer (Mystery Men of Mars); Wayfarer (Weber: Honor Among Enemies);

So what is valued? - Travelling, winning, fighting against injustice, calling others to fight injustice, striving, accepting what is laid out for you, being remembered.

Where on Earth?


Place names regularly crop up as spaceship names, generally American ones. Deep Space Nine tried using river names for the ships owned by the station, which was a change. I’ve included Thermopylae as a place, even though it was a famous battle, as it is not mythological, and it fits with Saratoga and Valley Forge which were also the sites of battles. Bodega Bay does not appear to be real, but it reflects real places, and a Conestoga is a covered wagon which was made in that town.
Berlin, (The Next Generation: Angel One); Bodega Bay (Unreal Mission Pack 1 : Return to Na Poli ); Byzantium, The (Doctor Who: The Time of Angels); Clarkstown, The (Babylon 5: Severed Dreams); Conestoga (Enterprise: Terra Nova); Excelsior (The Next Generation: Interface /Star Trek III); Ganges (Deep Space 9: The Siege); London (Blakes’ 7: Spacefall); Melbourne (The Next Generation: 1 1001 1001 ); Michigan (Space Above and Beyond : Sugar Dirt ); Nevada (Space Above and Beyond: Sugar Dirt ); New Eden (Clarke: The Garden of Rama); Orinoco (Deep Space 9: Invasive Procedures); Rio Grande (Deep Space 9: The Siege); Saratoga (Space Above and Beyond); Seneca Falls Shuttle( Earth Final Conflict: The Forge of Creation); Thermopylae (Andromeda : Angel Dark, Demon Bright); Trieste (The Next Generation: 1 1001 1001 ); Valley Forge (Silent Running/Roughnecks: The Hydora Campaign); Wellington (The Next Generation: Remember Me); Yellowstone (Deep Space 9: Melora ).

The Colours of Space


The only colours in space ship names I found were gold, silver, white, red, black and blue. Not even an indigo to break the pattern. Patriotism and high value are the order of the day.
Black Gold (Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest); Blue Earth (Teknoman); Golden Galleon (Blackstar); Red Dwarf (Red Dwarf); Silverbird, SS (Red Dwarf: Cassandra); Silver Moon (RJSR); White Star (Babylon 5: Matters of Honour); White Star 14 (Babylon 5: The Long Night ); White Star 16 (Babylon 5: Lines of Communication); White Star 26 (Babylon 5: The Ragged Edge ); White Star 27(Babylon 5: Meditations on the Abyss) nicknamed Maria. White Star 90 ( 1. Babylon 5: The Paragon of Animals 2. Babylon 5: A Call to Arms)White Star Fleet (Babylon 5: Between the Darkness and the Light);

Out of the Menagerie


Ship names often come from birds or animals, particularly the predatory ones, and in one case from a body part. Are we indulging in some ancient desire to ride with these creatures, or just dominating them?
Battlehawk (Terrahawks); Black Dolphin (Five-Twelfths of Heaven); Eagle (Space 1999/Ice Pirates/Spaceballs/); Eagle 5 (Lexx: Lyekka) ; Eagle One (Lost in Space); Konigs Tiger (Legend of the Galactic Heroes ); Le Lapin (Smith: Eclipsing Binaries); Millenium Falcon (Star Wars); Palomino (Black Hole) ; Talyn (Farscape);Thunderbirds 1 and 2 (Thunderbirds 2086); Vulture (Salvage 1);

What star is that?

1
A few ship names are derived from space phenomena like stars and space phenomena. This does seem vaguely logical, and some of these names end in ‘a’ making them sound quite feminine:
Astro Megaship (Power Rangers in Space); Battlestar Galactica (Battlestar Galactica); Comète Cuivre, La (Smith: The Omicron Invasion); Darkside (TFBW); Delta Megaship (Power Rangers in Space); Orbit Jet (Rocky Jones Space Ranger); Proxima (Deep Space 9: In Purgatory’s Shadow); Scorpio (Blakes’ 7: Rescue, Power ); Starcross M.C.S. (Starcross); Vega (Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet);
And the Rest
There is a group of left over names, which include feminine names and names which I have not been able to identify. Brittain could refer to Vera Brittain but equally could be a mis-spelling of Britain. Eureka was the word shouted by Archimedes when he discovered displacement and Maru is Japanese for ship.
And the worst name of all has to go to : Radish.

Auriga, USM (Alien Resurrection); Brittain (The Next Generation: Night terrors); Conventia (Invader Zim); Cygnus (Black Hole); Eureka Maru (Andromeda);
Helva (The Ship Who Sang); Hippaforalkus (Stargate Atlantis: Inferno); Ilea (Jupiter Moon); Moya (Farscape); Linnea Rose (Smith: Getaway World);
Radish (Zeta Gundam); Silvia (The Ship Who Sang); Soyozake (Irresponsible Captain Tylor); Tulip, The (Starhunter);

Space Freighters


These ships follow the same pattern of naming as ordinary spaceships (mind you – they are all Star Trek names). Lalo might sound feminine, but he was a French composer, so that’s a no go. No feminine names.
Abstractions: Erstwhile (The Next Generation: The Outrageous Okona ); Renegade, the (The Next Generation: Conspiracy );
Mythology: Odin (The Next Generation: Angel One);
Famous People : Thomas Paine (The Next Generation: Conspiracy); Lalo (The Next Generation: We’ll Always Have Paris);

What about the Aliens?


Alien ships in the Star Trek universe have completely made up names

Klingon: Hegh’ta (The Next Generation: Redemption); Batris (The Next Generation: Heart of Glory); Bortas (The Next Generation: Redemption); Pagh (The Next Generation: A Matter of Honor); P’Rang (The Next Generation: Manhunt);
Romulan Ships Terix (The Next Generation: The Pegasus);
Andoran: Kumari (Enterprise: Proving Ground)
Ferengi : Kraytor (The Next Generation: Menage a Troi); Sepulo (DS9The Nagus)
Cardassian: Ravinok (Deep Space 9: Indiscretion); Prakesh (Deep Space 9: The Way of the Warrior);
Undefined: Prah Mantoos (Enterprise: Cold Front)

What names are missing?


Famous women: Marie Curie, Indira Ghandi, Benazir Butto, Aung Sun Suu Chi, Hillary Clinton, Queens Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, Catherine; Sally Ride, Valentina Tereshkova, Colette, Virginia Woolf, Agatha Christie………………
Mythology: Gaia, Pachamama, Isis, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Hathor, Rhada, Moon Lady, Queen Mother of the Western Skies, Kwan Yin,
Concepts: Sustainability; Equality; Democracy; Justice; Equilibrium; The Blessing Way; The Tao (the Way); Survivor
Constellations: The Seven Sisters ; Taurus; Sagittarius; Aquarius; Betelgeuse; Virgo………
Painters, musicians, scientists, philosophers, photographers, eco-warriors.
There’s a world of wonderful words out there – Native American Indian tribes, South East Asian place names, African words.. ..Spread your wings.