I love researching boat names. Almost as much as I love pirate movies! Today I did some research into the best pirate boat names I could find. Some are funny, some are famous from history, other famous from works of fiction and the movies – but all of them have one thing in common; they are badass and awesome!
If you’re looking for a funny pirate boat name to use in a computer game, to name your own boat, or for a school project, you should get some inspiration on pirate-themed boat names and ideas shown below.
Famous pirate boat names from history
Let’s start off with where it all began; in the age of the pirate ships!
Below you can see some of the cool pirate boat names that really did exist. In brackets you can see who the owner of the pirate ship was.
- Bachelor’s Delight (William Dampier’s pirate ship)
- Golden Hind (Sir Francis Drake’s ship)
- Happy Adventure (belonged to Peter Easton, a Canadian pirate)
- New York Revenge (the pirate ship of William Kidd)
- Queen Anne’s Revenge (Blackbeard the pirate’s ship)
- Royal Fortune (the pirate ship of Black Roberts)
- The Adventure Galley (another of William Kidd’s vessels)
- The CSS Alabama (a confederate pirate ship)
- The Flying Dragon (belonged to Edmund Condent)
- The Freedom (belonged to Blackbeard)
- The Golden Fleece (Joseph Bannister’s vessel)
- The Revenge (this ship was Calico Jack’s ride)
- The Rose Pink (belonged to Edward Low)
- The Whydah (belonged to Black Sam Bellamy)
As you can see, they are all quite traditional sounding, and nothing like the ominous pirate boat names that have become popular in fiction… and you can see those below.
Famous fictional pirate ship names
The famous pirate boat names you see here are from films, comics, fiction, video games and books. In brackets I’ve detailed where exactly this name was first seen when used in popular entertainment.
- Black Hawk (The Pirate of the Black Hawk movie)
- Black Pearl (Pirates of the Caribbean movies)
- Edinburgh Trader (Pirates of the Caribbean movies)
- Empress (Pirates of the Caribbean movies)
- Flying Dutchman (Pirates of the Caribbean movies)
- Golden Lolly (pirate ship in Henry’s Cat TV show)
- Greasy Fleece (pirate ship in Henry’s Cat TV show)
- Grenouille Frénétique (“Frantic Frog” pirate ship from The Pyrates book)
- Jackdaw (Edward Kenway’s pirate ship in Assassin’s Creed video game)
- Jolly Roger (Captain Hook’s pirate ship in Peter Pan)
- Marie Elena (pirate ship in The Elder Scrolls IV video game)
- The Black Freighter (fictional pirate ship from the Watchmen comic series)
- The Walrus (Flint’s pirate ship in Treasure Island)
How many of those did you you recognise?
Cool pirate boat names
And now a larger list of awesome pirate boat names that are probably more in-line with what you think of when visualising a pirate ship. These are the best ones I came up with and found on the Internet which can be used yourself.
- Assassin’s Glare
- Beneath Burning Skies
- Black Charlatan
- Bleak Horizon
- Bloody Vengeance
- Boundless Desolation
- Buccaneers Killer
- Buccaneers Slave
- Captain’s Horrid Treasure
- Captains Fear
- Captains Killer
- Cursed Oath
- Cursed Sea Dog
- Davy Jones Death
- Davy Jones Executioner
- Davy Jones Gold Dagger
- Dead Reckoning
- Defeated Sanity
- Devil’s Cursed Stotm
- Devil’s Maw
- Devils Cursed Storm
- Devils Damned Jewel
- Devils Treasure
- Dragons Black Plunder
- Drowned Whale
- Ghostly Sea Dog
- God’s Swear Word
- Hades Doubloon
- Hades Executioner
- Hades Raider
- Hades Saber
- Hangman’s Daughter
- Harlot
- Hell and High Water
- Huntmaster
- Iron Teeth
- Killers Disgrace
- Killers Secret
- Kiss of Death
- Misery
- Mourning Star
- Murderer’s Knave
- Neptune’s Plague
- Night’s Dirty Lightening
- Ocean Overlord
- Privateer’s Death
- Privateer’s Scream
- Privateer’s Shameful Gold
- Riptide
- Rogue Wave
- Satan’s Mermaid
- Scourge of the Seven Seas
- Sea Nymph
- Sea Serpent’s Despair
- Sea’s Hellish Plague
- Slashed Gullet
- Splintered Memory
- The Black Heart Wench
- The Blue Nixie
- The Broken Ankle
- The Devil’s Own
- The Doomed Dawn
- The Hail Mary
- The Hopeless
- The Kraken
- The Last Argument
- The Maiden’s Blood
- The Malevolent Creation
- The Morbid Angel
- The Murderous Stare
- The Retribution
- The Sea Hag
- The Sea King’s Folly
- The Smile-less Eye
- The Staunch Harlot
- The Strangling Tentacle
- The Tavern Wench
- The Tyranny of Evil Men
- The Wicked Wench
- The Woe Of Tyrants
Funny pirate boat names
And now a smaller selection of good pirate boat names that are a bit more funny than the ones I’ve already suggested.
- Devils’ Doom
- Monkee Butt
- The Bloody Shame
- The Evil Strumpet
- The Howling Lusty Wench
- The Salty Bastard
Dirty pirate boat names
And last, but by no means least, the dirty, offensive, and rude pirate boat name ideas that you might want to think twice about using… especially if it’s for a school project or for naming a kid’s cardboard boat that you just built. (PS: you can see instructions on how to build a cardboard boat that won’t sink elsewhere on Pontoonopedia).
- Blue Vein Throbber
- Bone Doctor
- Devil’s Whore
- Drippin’ Wet
- Full of Sea-Men
- Neptune’s Whore
- Reel Booty
- Salty Test Tackles
- Sea Clit
- Shameless Hooker
- Slobberknocker
- Surrender the Booty
- The Morning Wood
- The Sea’s Whore
If you like rude and offensive boat names, you might also be interested in an even larger list of dirty ideas. You can read those in my dirty boat name ideas article.
What ideas for pirate-themed boat names do you have?
Do you have any more ideas on what to call a pirate ship? If you do, I would love to hear from you so I can expand this list to be the ultimate resource available anywhere online.
And if you like pirates, and let’s face it, who doesn’t… read on for more information about these scurvy sea-men!
How did pirates name their ships?
Have you ever wondered how the famous pirate ships from history got their names?
Well, it’s not actually that complicated.
If I can give you one real-life example with Blackbeard’s “Queen Anne’s Revenge”, this wasn’t the original name the ship had.
It was originally called the “Revenge”, but he renamed her after capturing it during a ferocious battle. And this is quite often how pirates would name their ships – essentially it would be a name that meant something to them.
Most pirate ships were stolen so it was common for the pirates to re-name the boat that had some kind of significance to them.
And, they wanted something that sounded ominous, badass, and downright scary… hence the type of ship names you see listed on this page from history. Unfortunately, you won’t often see any names that would suit a female pirate, so I would love to hear about any ideas you might have.
What is a pirate ship’s wheel called?
The iconic wheel that you see in every pirate movie or book doesn’t actually have a special name. Just like any other boat, it’s simply called the ship’s wheel or helm.
You can read more about this my article about pirate ship wheels, which includes some photos of the classic design we all know and love.
The last word…
I love researching boat names, and have written extensive guides on a wide range of ideas. You can explore some of those below with links into my more popular boat naming articles:
