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From SEA SLUT II to BILBOAT BAGGINS, a deep dive into AIS vessel data turns up 50,000 boat names packed with nautical puns, dirty jokes, and Tolkien deep cuts.
In the vast ocean of government datasets that I trawl through, I am always on the lookout for moments where people express themselves, leaving behind their own little datum of personality.
These tiny expressions of creativity show up all over public datasets. Air traffic controllers choose funny names for airplane navigation waypoints. Rejected vanity license plate registrations turn up in state motor vehicle databases. The names we pick for our dogs appear in local licensing databases , and the Social Security Administration even publishes the most popular names we give our children. And if you own a boat, you get to name that too.
I went through several years’ worth of NOAA vessel traffic data and pulled a sample of more than 50,000 boat names that were broadcast via Automatic Identification System (AIS) transmitters, which are typically found on larger and commercial vessels. The collection of names is chock full of clever puns, dirty jokes, and references to TV shows, movies, songs, and mythological figures. These names also offer glimpses of the wealth and professions of the people who own a boat.
⛵️🔎 Search all 50,000 boat names, browse by category, or hit random and see what floats to the top 👇🏻
Most commercial vessels 65 feet and over are required to broadcast their precise location and identity using AIS (which lets me make these cool maps ), but plenty of recreational boaters broadcast anyway, by choice. These names were collected from NOAA’s Marine Cadastre “ broadcast points ” vessel traffic data. NOAA captures AIS data from terrestrial stations along US waterways, so any boat transmitting AIS within range of those stations may show up in the data may show up in this data, though the vast majority don’t transmit a vessel name. Boat owners don’t necessarily have to submit these names to NOAA — AIS vessel names aren’t a comprehensive government registry of boat names. Out of roughly 150,000 unique boats I sampled, only about 50,000 had names.