Do our boat names say a lot about who we are, or the times in which we live?
A case could be made, looking at this year’s top boat names from BoatUS in comparison with years past.
Back in 1992, when BoatUS began compiling lists of the most popular boat names in the United States, No. 1 was Osprey. By 1995 — the same year astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American shot into space aboard a Russian launch vehicle — Odyssey had taken the top spot. Odyssey went on to battle it out with Serenity during much of the rest of that decade, a time when the dotcom bubble was minting new millionaires (and boat buyers) by the fistful, and when retirees with bucket-list dreams were watching their stock portfolios swell.
By the 2000s, Serenity and Seas the Day were trading the top spot along with Aquaholic, which came to dominate, and then drop down, and at one point drop entirely off, the list — before, during and immediately after the global economic crash in 2007. Could it be that for a blink there, boaters felt like the party was over?
The 2010s have seen the return of Aquaholic along with Seas the Day and Serenity at the top of the list year-over-year, as the American economy has improved and the pace of the Internet lifestyle has left everyone looking for a way to log off and check out.
And now for 2016, the top two boat names are Happy Ours and Freedom. Might there be implications there for the upcoming U.S. presidential election?
Before we get too ahead of ourselves on that thinking, though, note that Aquaholic is still in the mix for 2016 (albeit way down at No. 10), along with No Regrets and the perennial favorite Serendipity.
So apparently, right now, we’re feeling like finding our own space to get away and have some fun without guilt, even if it takes a little luck to make it happen.
The full Top 10 list of American boat names for 2016: Happy Ours, Freedom, Grace, Serendipity, Island Time, No Regrets, Liberty, At Last, Blue Moon, Aquaholic.
