Why do ships have names of women?

Question

Why do ships have names of women?

Answer 1

Because all ships are female. I don't know why that is, it just is!

Answer 2

Ships are female because of the gender classification of words. In Latin, and I guess most of the romance languages all words are either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Somebody probably some Phoenician way back in the day decided the word for ship should be female tense, and the rest is history

Answer 3

because they're full of seamen

Answer 4

and... they tend to take their men down with them.

Answer 5

bc we men name everything that gives us a good ride

and the real reason is b/c it was considered good luck

Answer 6

I think it was more from a love point of view as stated. It was mostly men on the boats and they would name the boat after a woman.

As people said there are other names and there many thoughts. One I do find interesting; when they named a boat/ship after a woman and they felt it was bad luck to have a woman aboard. :-p (and that's another story).

Answer 7

They aren't, not always.  However, some would hold that it's because:

They're horrendously expensive to obtain and run.

Maintenance is an ongoing problem.

They seldom do what you expect.

They require constant attention.

Sorry . . .

Answer 8

not all ships have been named with femaile names (such as the arizona, duke of york, hood, titanic, bismark, deutchland for example)

another reason for the female name; have ever been on a boat that didnt work (it leaked, motor broke down etc)? now what do you call it as you gently float away?

Answer 9

because ship were crewed by men and as they loved there ship and wanted it to carry them safely they would name it after a lady's name

Answer 10

Ships may not have a female name, per se, but in general are referred to in the feminine gender.  This is true in German as well.  

It appears tradition of naming ships is as old as time and like most women, a bit mysterious.

Answer 11

good point as a ship does not talk back to you does not get in a huff if you have not complimented it 1,265,365 times a day does not say "does my bum look big in this" would not get really annoyed if you where to reply "your bum looks big in everything" does not moan at you to buy new stuff for it all the time and does not get offended if you even glance at another ship!

So I also would like to know why are ships named after women?

Answer 12

A ship is named for a woman and  called “she” because there is always a great deal of bustle around her, there is usually a gang of men about, and she has a waist and stays.

It takes a lot of paint to keep her good looking.  It’s not the initial expense that breaks you; it’s the upkeep.  She can be all decked out.

It takes an experienced man to handle her and without a man at the helm, she is absolutely uncontrollable.

She shows her topsides, hides her bottom, and when coming in to port, always heads for the buoys.