What's In a Name

[French]

This is Kuan Yin's logo I designed...

[Brent]

French,

Beautiful logo; I'm impressed.

Love the name too. IMHO, the best names have three qualities:

1) They are feminine;
2) they say something about the owner and his/her lifestyle and/or heritage;
3) they offer some sort of appeasement or tribute to the gods/spirits.

Brent

[Lucky Dawg]

Searching for a Commander pic between 200 and 227 (thanks for the massive detour WillBe!) I came across this old thread. Fun to read the thinking behind our names.
 
Lucky Dawg arrived as "Someday" but - yawn - that really didn't do it for me. Originally she was "Restless II". "Lucky Dawg" came to me when I was eyeing Bulldog-red C-74 near Cleveland (she since went to Maine) and I had photoshop-ed my original design for the name on 74's transom. I've mentioned before that the name is a nod to my UGA alma mater and that I am one Lucky Dawg to own such a beautiful yacht - and the lucky part works with my green hull too, I think.
 
The name isn't feminine, is mildly heritage based - warm memories of my Georgia roots, and doesn't directly pay homage to the sea. However, it hopefully communicates my grateful and giddy grin every single time I step aboard across her coamings.

[Rico]

Great thread!

Awsome picture Kyle!

Here is the story on C-155. Not much of a story, really... 'Mephisto Cat' is actually the name that the boat already had when I ran into it...

When searching for a boat I came across some real winners. -I really do not know what some people are thinking... I especially remember this bright yellow Pearson 26 named 'Penus'... Interesting fellow the owner must have been... Actually, the boat was on a lien sale because he did not pay his bills.

I thought of names I liked for my future boat such as 'Halve Maen' which I really like (After a famous Dutch ship. It means 'Half Moon' in Dutch - Holland was my home for a few years...)

I may now name my dinghy this... Or 'Liquid kitty' to stick with the feline theme... The funny thing is that I really do not care for cats much... They are fine animals, they are just NOT my preferred sort of pet.

I ran into C-155 and upon noticing the name it just felt appropriate. The PO mentioned that he believed that this was the boat's original name, and I liked it, so I left it...

[Lucky Dawg]

Interesting fellow the owner must have been... Actually, the boat was on a lien sale because he did not pay his bills.

Note to self: Pay on your Penus, or you may lose it. "Ack! My Penus was Repossessed!" :eek: (sorry Bill - don't ban me.)
 
Dude. Seriously.
 
----------------
 
I didn't apply a feline image to it - more that "Mephisto Cat" was along the lines of "That Rico is one Cool Cat!"
 
Here is Dr. Mephisto from South Park

[SkipperJer]

It may be the boat was named after somebody's cat. Mephisto is a somewhat common name for a cat, particularly a black one.  The name is associated with being devilish which suits the personality of many curious  kittens who get into a lot of things. All of which is how T. S. Eliot wrote about Mr. Mistofellees, the conjuring cat in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, the only work by T. S. Eliot I ever liked in college.  In the musical Cats, Mr. Mistofellees is black with white markings and a bit of a central character throughout.

Bill, has T. S. Eliot ever come up on this forum before?

[SkipperJer]

By the way, my favorite boat name is "Sick Puppy" which was owned by a very wealthy veterinarian.

[Rico]

Jer,
I have also heard this as a common name for a cat... Figures. -The nasty little devils...

The origin of the character is quite old and has been adopted by some prominent literarians in addition to T.S. Eliot; from Marlowe all the way to Goethe.

A wiki-summary:

Mephistopheles (also Mephistophilus, Mephistophilis, Mephostopheles, Mephisto, etc.) is the name used for the demon in the German Faust legend.

In contrast to the devil usually known as Satan, who appears with cloven hooves and horns, Mephistopheles is usually portrayed as more humanoid, often taking the form of a tall man dressed all in black.

The name is associated with the Faust legend of a scholar who wagers his soul against the devil being able to make Faust wish to live, even for a moment, based on the historical Johann Georg Faust.

The name appears in the late 16th century Faust chapbooks. In the 1725 version which was read by Goethe, Mephostophiles is a devil in the form of a greyfriar summoned by Faust in a woods outside Wittenberg.

The name Mephistophiles already appears in the 1527 Praxis Magia Faustiana.

From the chapbook, the name enters Faustian literature and is also used by authors . In the 1616 edition of The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Mephostophiles became Mephistophilis.

Too much info, perhaps???

[mbd]

Holy cats!  

Between the literature and the Latin a while back, I feel like I belong on some other board!  :rolleyes:

Ariel 414 came to me as "Spirit Song".  (gag!)  I lived with it while I got to know her. Perhaps I tend to take these things a little too seriously and kept trying out names on the family that were a bit melodramatic and morose.  
- "Phantom" my late Dad flew reconnaissance in  F4 Phantoms in Vietnam
- "Sanvean (I Am Your Shadow)" a haunting song by Dead Can Dance
- "Lazy Calm" an incredibly beautiful song by the Cocteau Twins - MUCH better as a song the name for a sail boat!
- "Cygnus" Latin for swan, also the the summertime constellation which features the Northern Cross and X-1, the nearest black hole to our galaxy - especially fitting for a good old boat.

Then a few Summers ago, we rented a house on an island here in Casco Bay and spent a whole lot of the time combing a local beach for, you guessed it,  sea glass. That was the first name I tried where everyone said "yes!" And so she was christened after her recore and deck job with a six pack of Shipyard Ale.  

[Lucky Dawg]

So cool that a yacht and her name (and her rightful owner) find each other... eventually.  I'll drink to that!

[ebb]

On the cork wall in my kitchen there is a 8 1/2X11 pic of a Maurice Griffiths' Eventide.  It's a rear 3/4 view of a decrepit but not dilapidated white 3 keeler with a folded ladder leaning against her port side.  She's  against a hedgerow with green grass tickling her belly........ waiting.

On the transom:  QUIET REACH.

Griffiths own Eventide was named Kylix, Greek for 'drinking cup'.