More boat name ideas
Seven more lists, 150 names each — or see any name set in the typeface it would be cut in.
- Elegant yacht names
- Classic boat names
- Nautical boat names
- One word boat names
- Adventure boat names
- Funny boat names
- Funny fishing boat names
- All eight lists
Open the name generator to see any of these in twenty-one typefaces, or take one straight into the design tool to size it against a photo of your own boat.
Sailboat names
150 sailboat names drawn from wind, weather and rig
Sailors name boats after the thing they are actually chasing: a wind, a latitude, a piece of rigging, a passage. This list is built entirely from working vocabulary, which is why none of it sounds borrowed from a powerboat.
The 10 best sailboat names
-
1
Mistral
The cold northwest wind down the Rhone valley. Seven letters, and every Mediterranean sailor knows it on sight.
See Mistral in steel → -
2
Zephyr
The west wind, and the gentlest of them. Six letters, the best value strong name on this page.
See Zephyr in steel → -
3
Compass Rose
The figure on every chart ever drawn. Traditional without being nostalgic.
See Compass Rose in steel → -
4
Close Hauled
The point of sail where the boat works hardest. Only sailors will get it, which is the appeal.
See Close Hauled in steel → -
5
Trade Winds
The belt that carried every sailing ship west. Two words, and it spaces beautifully.
See Trade Winds in steel → -
6
Windrose
The older name for the compass rose, in one word instead of two.
See Windrose in steel → -
7
Roaring Forties
The latitudes that made and ended reputations. Long, so best on a wide transom.
See Roaring Forties in steel → -
8
Telltale
The scrap of yarn that tells you everything about your trim. Quiet, technical, correct.
See Telltale in steel → -
9
Rhumb Line
The constant-bearing course. Reads clean and means something specific.
See Rhumb Line in steel → -
10
Ariel
A spirit of the air in The Tempest, carried by working boats for two centuries since.
See Ariel in steel →
All 153 names
- Windward Grace
- Spinnaker Silk
- Tradewind Sonnet
- Leeward Belle
- Mistral
- Levanter
- Ariel
- Trade Winds
- Sailcloth
- Halyard Grace
- Windsong
- Genoa Blue
- Close Hauled
- Beam Reach
- Broad Reach
- Weather Helm
- Windward Isle
- Whisper of Wind
- Silk Sails
- Aeolus
- Boreas
- Zephyr
- Notus
- Eurus
- Anemoi
- Ponente
- Tramontana
- Grecale
- Libeccio
- Trade Route
- Windrose
- Compass Rose
- Rhumb Line
- Great Circle
- Sextant
- Meridian Line
- Latitude
- Azimuth
- Doldrums
- Horse Latitudes
- Roaring Forties
- Cirrus
- Nimbus
- Stratus
- Silver Spinnaker
- Windward Vesper
- Luff and Lace
- Gaff and Grace
- Windjammer
- Schooner Bay
- Ketch Me
- Yawl Come Back
- Sloop John
- Cutter Above
- Brigantine
- Barquentine
- Topsail
- Mainsail Memory
- Gaff Rigged
- Bowsprit
- Bobstay
- Ratlines
- Crows Nest
- Belaying Pin
- Deadeye
- Chainplate
- Cleat and Line
- Marlinspike
- Bosuns Chair
- Sail Locker
- Canvas and Tar
- Hemp and Hawser
- Oakum
- Caulking Iron
- Adze and Auger
- Shipwright
- Boatbuilder
- Loftsman
- Riggers Knot
- Sailmaker
- Palm and Needle
- Bolt Rope
- Clew
- Cringle
- Reef Point
- Batten
- Boom Vang
- Traveller
- Backstay
- Forestay
- Shroud
- Spreader
- Masthead
- Yardarm
- Futtock
- Garboard
- Keelson
- Transom Tale
- Stem to Stern
- Fore and Aft
- Amidships
- Close Reach
- Fetch
- Waterline Length
- Sail Area
- Righting Moment
- Ballast Ratio
- Wetted Surface
- Slot Effect
- Telltale
- Wind Shadow
- Header
- Lift
- Persistent Shift
- Oscillating
- Layline
- Windward Mark
- Leeward Gate
- Starting Line
- Port Tack
- Starboard
- Room at the Mark
- Protest Flag
- General Recall
- Over Early
- First Gun
- Committee Boat
- Corrected Time
- Line Honours
- Elapsed Time
- Fleet Race
- Match Race
- Distance Race
- Overnight Race
- Round the Island
- Windward Leeward
- Gate Rounding
- Circumnavigator
- Around Alone
- Solo Passage
- Blue Water Dream
- Ocean Crossing
- Atlantic Crossing
- Pacific Passage
- Cape Horn
- Shellback
- Equator Crossing
- Trade Wind Runner
- Doldrum Breaker
- Iron Topsail
- Sea Room
- Weather Rail
- Lee Rail
Transoms on sailboats are smaller than you think
A reverse or sugar-scoop transom leaves far less flat area than a powerboat of the same length, and much of it is interrupted by the boarding platform. Most sailboats up to 40 ft end up at 3 to 5 inch rather than the 6 to 8 inch an owner first has in mind. Measure the flat, not the beam.
Mounting on gelcoat and on cored transoms
Every set ships with a full-size template cut to your exact lettering, so you drill or bond once. On a cored transom, bonding with 3M VHB or SikaFlex avoids penetrating the core entirely - the route we recommend on almost every sailboat.
Want to see one on your own boat?
Every name above opens straight in the design tool. Type it, pick from 21 typefaces, choose 2, 3 or 5 mm, and upload a photo of your transom to see the letters at true scale before you order.
