Okay, so I got a new scooter this weekend. I love it! It’s a Yamaha TMax, 500cc, and I realized how much I’ve missed having a maxi-scooter around. But I have a problem–he hasn’t told me his name yet! Usually when I get a vehicle, it’s not very long before it suggests a name to me, but so far I’m drawing a blank. So I’m tossing it out to the Dope to see what they come up with.
The sorts of names that always stick for my vehicles are either short and simple, or else longer but can be abbreviated to short and simple. They’re usually just a little bit cute, but not too cutesy (“Smurf” is right out). Examples of names I’ve had for vehicles in the past: Spike, Zaphod, Kronk (my last scooter), Kuzco, Squeak, and Boo. Probably two syllables max (or a longer name that can be cut down to two.) My scoot’s a boy, so no girl names. And I don’t want to call him “Max” because that’s way too obvious. Cartoon character names are good (“Hobbes” is a possibility), something from World of Warcraft, video games in general, or Hitchhiker’s Guide, silly “tough” names (like “Riff”), and that sort of thing are what I’m looking for. Bonus if it has some reason (no matter how tenous) behind it. For example, Boo was a blue truck, and Zaphod was a convertible, so he looked like he had two heads sticking up when the top was down.
Batman. I kind of like that, actually. DK would be funny because one of my two main characters in World of Warcraft is a Death Knight, and everybody always calls them DKs. Hmm…or “Bats?” Mojo is nice too. I don’t care for Wojo because I remember him in Barney Miller, and he always seemed kind of big and stupid. I want a name that’s more swoopy and cool.
I think you’re right about him giving me his name over time. Just hoping some of the suggestions will twig me in the right direction (like yours did).
One of my tests for whether a name is a good one is how natural it sounds in the sentence, “I think I’ll take ____ out for a ride today.” Anything too long or pretentious sounds bad.
I kind of like that, actually. DK would be funny because one of my two main characters in World of Warcraft is a Death Knight, and everybody always calls them DKs. Hmm…or “Bats?” Mojo is nice too. I don’t care for Wojo because I remember him in Barney Miller, and he always seemed kind of big and stupid. I want a name that’s more swoopy and cool.
