How do you name your ships

[Rath]

I usually go for kerbal a that have died in the line of duty (I have lots of those) for space craft or bird names for airplanes. So, what do you name yours?

Edited March 15, 2015 by Rath

[RainDreamer]

I name them based on how they look, and/or what they do, and/or a theme related to their function. If I don't have any of those inspiration, I will go back to functional names.

For example:

One of my lander has a huge black heatshield on top of it, designed for reentry to Kerbin. I named it Blackcap.

For one of the orbital telescope, I called it Star Watcher.

The name of my comsats will have to do something with the transmission of sound, such as Echo, or Whisper.

My basic crew transport capsules are called OCTV-[version number], stand for Orbital Crew Transport Vehicle.

But if it comes to naming existing vehicle, I have a system to allow me to look at a ton of stuff at once and know where they are, what they are, and why they are there.

[Kibble]

I name my rockets and upper stages after sounds dogs make - like Yip is my light launch vehicle, Grr is my super-heavy launch vehicle, and Awoo is my high-energy upper stage. If specific programs need a really cool cosmic name, they are named after stars in Canis Major, like Furud 6 was my first orbit around the Moon

[Camaron]

All of my names are normally astorlogically based or astrophysically based in some way some examples of my craft names have been:

Antares (An interplanetary cruiser)

Andromeda (A MAMMOTH Fuel container ship)

Rigel (An interplanetary cruiser)

Quasar (A Fuel container ship)

Neutron Star (A Fuel container ship)

Gravity Shift (An asteroid capturer)

Terranova (A versatile modular lander)

Supernova (An interplanetary cruiser)

Red Giant (An interplanetary cruiser)

Scorpio (An asteroid capturer based on ion engines that had a distinctly scorpion-like tail)

[Flixxbeatz]

Depends, whatever stuff will pop out of my head. Will either be:

-Some made-up or real stuff that sounds cool (Xeldarius, Yssivar, Epikon, Hoag, Bahamut)

-Acronym of its purpose (PolSat, SatLayerXpress, KerboSat, M.O.M.S, F.R.A.I.L)

-Mission location (Minmus, Munshot, Project Luna)

-Marks (Disaster Mk.1, Disaster Mk.2)

-According to class:

- - -Oni-class interplanetary ships (Oni, Mephisto, Baal, Diablo, Lucifer, Satan, Dajjal, Asura, Apollyon)

[Rainbowtrout]

Letters represent major changes, and numbers are minor changes. Fixing small things does not warrant a change. Then, I name the crafts based on what they look like/do.

For example, 4C Beluga would be a MK 3 jet, designed for cargo transportation on Kerbin

[Overland]

I usually go for a kerbalised eqvillent of something in mind when I built the original vehicle.. which lately are just all trains..

Carriage numbers mostly.. but originally based in honour of the australian Landliner buses which kind of looked like a train on land rather than rails..

hence the first train was LL1001x experimental vehicle.. it followed a full class set upto LL1009..which sadly included horrific loss of kerbal life.. eg.. only a new class was established and redesigned following a catastrophic failure rather than a better design upgrade

the later trains envolved into lookalike realworld diesels in kerbal space part form .. thus KS-3 for my RS-3 road shunter and KTP-44 as a reference to a NSWGR 44 class diesel electric of which she has a passing resemblence

as for simply naming though.. im really hoping someone could make a mod where we could use flip-dot type mini matrix display that we could install on the side/front of things in radial fashion.. name, class number.. kerbal honour too.. vs just naming the tag.. something that'd show up proudly with the GUI off.. that'd be awesome

[jarmund]

My ships are normally a conglomerate of different subassemblies some of which are generic, and some are purpose built.

The landers are normally an example of the latter, due to specific requirements in terms of heat shield, chutes, delta V required, and life support. For example:

Dres Lander 2b (Dres Lander was the purpose of the original design, 2 being the second revision, and the b is normally some variation, for example an additional docking port for this particular mission).

This is normally combined with a fairly generic transfer stage:

Interplanetary Mothership 2b (Again, purpose, revision, and some variation)

All of this is strapped onto a launcher platform:

Kalinin MK3 (Normally named after its looks, with a revision number... and yes, a stack of orange tanks somehow makes me think of old soviet-era nuclear reactors)

However, when this is all bundled together and ready to launch, i rename it all, normally something that resembles the mission, purpose, or looks. Examples include:

Icarus - Close pass to Kerbol

Leviathan - Sinking into the oceans of Eve

Kim Jung - Some suborbital probe thing that was only going to trasmit some science and then explode

Dodo - A winged contraption that i knew would fly horribly.

Ewok Partyvan - My laythe expedition. I've always liked to imagine that Laythe has Ewoks.

Albatross - A bunch of large TAC-LS modules with probe core and wings. I haven't flown the actual mission yet, but it looks like hell, and it is supposed to glide into duna and serve as a supply dump for the ones stationed there. It flew suprisingly well during testing.

[tg626]

Acronyms, named for the real world unbuilt concept they are based on, or the Greek equivalent god or goddess of the real world roman god name used ( or vice versa ). Or something silly. My standard rescue a kerbal rocket is called Goget-M for example. My Mir clone is called YAMAS for yet another Mir-alike station.

Oh or a translation. Salute for Salyut. Union for Soyuz. Etc.

[DaPatman]

In my current save, I'm naming all my crafts after different djinn from the Golden Sun series, with the craft's purpose determining which element the djinni it's named for is - Venus (earth) djinn for landers, rovers and bases; Mars (fire) djinn for rockets that aren't intended to be landed anywhere except back on Kerbin at the end of the mission; Jupiter (wind) djinn for planes (both atmospheric and space-bound); and Mercury (water) djinni for boats, satellites and space stations (the last two are because I don't intend to make many boats, and didn't want Mercury to be left out).

[Frostea]

My naming convention is primarily based on values. For example, my first successful mun shot rocket was named Courageous-III and my first Eeloo surveyor was named Faithful-II. It is culture-neutral and I like it like that.

[Vashts]

all my space planes = birds. notable crafts may get unique names. other than that, whatever i can think of off the top of my head.

[Rath]

Ooh, I like the letter/number variant thing

[xXIndestructibleEVAXx]

I come up with a name for a series of rockets based on their purpose, ie "Spirit" then designate a number for the version, ie "Spirit 1" then use another number for order produced ie "Spirit 1-1" and "Spirit 1-2" are mostly the same, but "Spirit 2-1" is different, and "Journey 1-1" is a completely different thing.

[SpacedCowboy]

Yeah, I name them according to the mission or destination. For instance, sent an un-manned probe to Kerbol ,,, called it "Sun spot baby". (credit to Bob Seger)

[Admiral-Helwyr]

I call my Ships after bugs mostly i,e

Wasp : a medium VTOL gunship

Spider mk1 : a eight legged walker

Spider mk2 : this one walks up walls literally

Scorpion : a VERY VERY heavy cruiser in a Kerbol orbit

Or for all my planes I use Phoenix which is appropriate for the reentry effects they often endure

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

1. Start with the next letter of the alphabet and then pick a word that sounds aerospacey: Gullwing, Hawk, Icarus, Javelen

2. Pick a constellation (or mythic person) associated with the job it does: Pices SSTO jetboat, Hermes SSTO UAV

3. Call it what it is: RoverLab, SeaLab, AeroLab

4: Call it what it looks like: Saturn SSTO Booster, or (my favorite) Science Dog 1 and 2

If do single-use ships, name them for the destination: Duna One (usually followed by "Duna One Rescue")

- - - Updated - - -

I come up with a name for a series of rockets based on their purpose, ie "Spirit" then designate a number for the version, ie "Spirit 1" then use another number for order produced ie "Spirit 1-1" and "Spirit 1-2" are mostly the same, but "Spirit 2-1" is different, and "Journey 1-1" is a completely different thing.

oh, and that. (but I use letters) so more accurately:

Gullwing 17d

Hawk 2c

But that's mainly for filenaming the craft.

Once launched they get renamed with the mission code (JEF: Joolian Exploritory Fleet, J5C: Jool-5 Challenge) and a number of how many of those we have now. so we end up with:

J5C Hawk CM

JEF Megatanker Two

Edited March 16, 2015 by Brainlord Mesomorph

[Cirocco]

Usually mythological stuff for my stations and rockets, and suiting adjectives or nouns for spaceplanes. For example:

Munar rockets are often called Luna + a number.

Munar station was Sentinel station

Eve lander was Orpheus (because it was designed to go to hell and back)

A sun-diving probe which I never got around to making was/is going to be called Daedalus with an attached sacrificial probe to be sent into the sun called Icarus (reference should be self-explanatory)

A mothership that I also never got around to finishing would have been called the Argo after the ship used by Jason and the Argonauts.

Spaceplanes:

First ever high-capacity kerbal ferry to LKO was called the Charon after the ferryman who ferries the dead across the river Styx. This is a bit of an exception to the rule because it's a spaceplane with a mythological name, but it's also quite an old design which is no longer feasible (it used the outdated MkIII parts) and was built before the current naming convention.

First long-range spaceplane that could do runway-minmus-runway without refuel was the KSS (Kerbin Space Ship) Dauntless

Second generation long-range spaceplane and the first one to go interplanetary without refuel was the KSS Intrepid.

Kerbin-orbiting space station (probably in kerbin-centric orbit) will be called Home One. Colonization stations orbiting other celestial bodies will probably follow the Home X naming convention.

Sattelites follow yet another convention: they're called (celestial body that they're orbiting)-(first name of the purpose they're designed for, S for Science, C for communications, M for mapping)-(greek letter of the alphabet to indicate if it was teh first, second, thrid, etc... put into orbit). So for example: Jool-S-Beta is the second science sattelite to be put in orbit around Jool.

I like naming things.

[DunaRocketeer]

When I was low on funds I created a cheap rocket and named it Austerity Measures.

[Barefoot Friar]

Landers are named for birds of prey (Eagle, Hawk, Osprey...). Crew rotation shuttles are named for real-world moons (Phobos, Ganymede). Exploration ships get a KSS (Kerbals Science Ship) and a name, either a real world planet or star, or if I have a Kerbal who was KIA I name it for him. Lifters generally get names of stars or Norse god/goddess names. I also named my Saturn I and V analogs Joel I and V, respectively.

[Brainlord Mesomorph]

I call my Ships after bugs mostly i,e

Wasp : a medium VTOL gunship

Spider mk1 : a eight legged walker

Spider mk2 : this one walks up walls literally

Scorpion : a VERY VERY heavy cruiser in a Kerbol orbit

Or for all my planes I use Phoenix which is appropriate for the reentry effects they often endure

WAIT: Walkers?

a mod?

[PB666]

I usually go for kerbal a that have died in the line of duty (I have lots of those) for space craft or bird names for airplanes. So, what do you name yours?

Hmmmm, I name them in three ways

1st I click on that little text window at the top of the VAB

or

Right click on the icon in the Navigation window in the section with the Name

or

I right click on a command and control unit and hit the change name button.

[Mitchz95]

I try to use names that are appropriate for the ship. My first interplanetary ship was called the Ambassador, because it was the first long-range reusable Kerbal spaceship. I've named later ships after anything from fallen Kerbals, to planetary bodies, to generic "explorer" names that sounded cool.

[Deutherius]

I usually go for kerbal a that have died in the line of duty (I have lots of those) for space craft or bird names for airplanes. So, what do you name yours?

Naturally leads to a question... How do you name the first spacecraft in a save? Do you sacrifice kerbals so you have names available?

I usually tend to name my craft based either on what they do and versions (Superheavy Lifter MkI, Small SSTO MkIV - Cargo, Mass Relay MkVII Munar Express...), or based on something they remind me of (my small interplanetary craft looks like a chess figure and has a probe core for each part, so I named it Deep Blue, after the computer)

[Doctor Axel]

My lifter series are named after dog breeds, generally - in order of smallest to largest in my current save, they are named Chihuahua, Pomeranian, Spaniel, Bulldog, Pinscher, Husky, Mastiff.

As for vehicles themselves, comms or contract satellites are generally named after their function, eg. Kerbin - Mun Relay II.

Manned vehicles, or unmanned vehicles with more complicated missions, have the honor of being named after various flightless birds and seabirds - my single-seat general purpose vehicle series is called Puffin, for example.