Federation Ship Names A-K

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Here is an alphabetical listing of Starfleet and Federation ship names (classic and Abramsverse). If the in-universe origin of the name is clear, it is given in the column "namesake". Uncertain naming (sometimes in-jokes) is discussed under "annotations". See also: Possible Namesakes of Federation Starships with many more suggestions but with a good deal of speculation.

 

A

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Adelphi NCC-26849	Ambassador	Plural of Greek adelphos (brother)
USS Aeon		Greek word for eternity
USS Agamemnon NCC-11638	Apollo	Hero of ancient Greek mythology, commanded the Greek army in the Trojan War
USS Ahwahnee NCC-2048		Native American nation
USS Ahwahnee NCC-71620 or NCC-73620	Cheyenne
USS Ajax NCC-11574	Apollo	Two heroes from Greek mythology who fought in the Trojan War: Ajax of Salamis and Ajax of Locris
USS Akagi NCC-62158	Rigel	Japanese aircraft carrier that fought in the Battle of Midway in World War II
USS Akira NCC-62497	Akira	Unknown	We may assume that, rather than remembering 20th century pop culture (namely the anime Akira), Starfleet has named the ship for someone of that name who has gained significance some time between today and the 24th century. Akira is Japanese for "bright(ness)", which would make a good ship name, even if not named for someone specific.
USS Al-Batani NCC-42995	Excelsior	Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Jabir Ibn Sinan al-Batani al-Harrani (858-929), Arabian astronomer
USS Albert Einstein NCC-85183		Albert Einstein (1879-1855), physicist and Nobel Prize laureate
USS Aleo NCC-1981		Unknown
USS Ambassador NCC-10521	Ambassador	Generic
USS Amber NCC-21335		Generic
USS Antares NCC-501		Brightest star in the constellation of Scorpio, Greek for "Anti-Ares/Mars"
USS Antares (alt.)
USS Apollo	Apollo	Greek god of the light and name of NASA's moon landing program
USS Appalachia NCC-52136	Steamrunner	Appalachian Mountains, mountain range in eastern North America
USS Archer NCC-44276		Jonathan Archer, 22nd century Earth Starfleet captain
USS Archon NCC-189	Daedalus	Official title in the ancient Republic of Athens
USS Arcos NCC-6237	Deneva	Uncertain
USS Aries NCC-45167	Renaissance	Constellation of Aries (Ram)
USS Armstrong NCC-57537	Challenger	Neil Armstrong (1930-2012), American astronaut and first man to set his foot on the Moon in 1969
USS Armstrong NCC-1769 (alt.)
SS Artemis		Greek goddess of hunting
SS Astral Queen		Generic
USS Atlantis NCC-72007		Legendary island, also the name of a space shuttle
SS Aurora		Roman goddess of the dawn	It could be also short for aurora borealis, the northern light.
ISS Avenger NX-09 (Mirror)	NX	None	The inscription on the Avenger plaque can be translated as "The bold (are) the fortune of the Empire".

 

B

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Baton Rouge		Capital of Louisiana, USA
SS Beagle		Charles Darwin's ship on his famous expedition to South America
USS Bellerophon NCC-62048	Nebula	Hero in ancient Greek mythology, tamed the Pegasus and defeated the Chimera	It is also a homage to the movie "Forbidden Planet" where the missing ship was named Bellerophon.
USS Bellerophon NCC-74705	Intrepid
USS Berlin NCC-14232	Excelsior	Capital of Germany
USS Biko NCC-50331	Oberth	Steven Biko (died 1977), South African civil rights activist
USS Billings		City in Montana, USA
USS Bonestell NCC-31600	Oberth	Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986), American astronomical artist
USS Bozeman NCC-1941	Soyuz	City in Montana, USA, launch site of Cochrane's Phoenix	The registry NCC-1941 is a (quite fitting) in-joke, as Greg Jein was working on the Movie "1941" in 1979. Montana is obviously a lot more illustrious in Star Trek than in the real world. Bozeman is Brannon Braga's home town.
USS Bradbury		Ray Douglas Bradbury (born 1920), American science-fiction author and friend of Gene Roddenberry
USS Bradbury NX-72307	Bradbury
USS Brattain NCC-21166	Miranda	Walter Brattain (1902-1987), American engineer, developed the first bipolar transistor together with Shockley and Bardeen, Nobel Prize 1956	I assume that the ship was incorrectly labeled as "Brittain" and that the dedication plaque is correct. At least, this was the original intention. See Uncertain Ship Names and Registries.
USS Budapest NCC-64923	Norway	Capital of Hungary
USS Buran NCC-57580	Challenger	Russian for "snow storm", name of the Soviet version of the space shuttle (unmanned flight in 1988)

 

C

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
C-57-D		Generic	This is a homage to the groundbreaking science fiction movie "Forbidden Planet", just as the name of the ship's captain on the display in DS9: "Whispers", J.J. Adams.
USS Cairo NCC-42136	Excelsior	Capital of Egypt	If it was meant as a homage to Egypt, it was counterproductive to use the English name.
USS Callisto		Moon of Jupiter, named for a nymph in Greek mythology
USS Carolina NCC-160		North/South Carolina, States of the USA
USS Carolina
USS Canopus NCC-64834	Norway	Brightest star in the constellation of Carina
USS Centaur NCC-42043		Greek mythological creature, consisting of a man's torso joined to the body of a horse
USS Challenger NCC-2032		Challenger OV-099, NASA space shuttle, exploded just after its launch in 1986	See Astronaut & Cosmonaut Memorial.
USS Challenger	Challenger
USS Challenger NCC-71099	Galaxy		The registry of the Galaxy-class ship, although not quite fitting, is obviously a homage to the space shuttle.
USS Charleston NCC-42285	Excelsior	City in South Carolina, USA
USS Chekov NCC-57302	Springfield	Pavel A. Chekov, Starfleet officer
USS Cheyenne	Cheyenne	Native American Nation
USS Chicago		City in Illinois, USA
USS Chimera	Chimera	Creature from Greek mythology, a three-headed beast
USS Clavyn		Unknown	Malone, Peterson and Clavyn (Clavin), the three ship names listed in Lt. Anaanda Ziff's personnel file, are all characters from "Cheers".
USS Clayton		Unknown	"Clavyn" was changed to "Clayton" in the remastered episode.
USS Clement NCC-12537	Apollo	HMS Clement, Royal Navy submarine of the 21st century	Creating retroactive continuity in the Star Trek Universe, the sunk HMS Clement (ENT: "Minefield") is a perfect namesake.
USS Cochrane NCC-59318	Oberth	Zefram Cochrane, American Warp flight pioneer
SS Columbia		Columbia OV-102, NASA space shuttle, broke apart during re-entry in 2003	Although the first ship named "Columbia" was mentioned long before the real-world Columbia disaster, it is a fitting assumption that Starfleet would still remember the shuttle and its crew. Giving the name to NX-02 is an obvious reverence. See also Astronaut & Cosmonaut Memorial.
Columbia NX-02	NX
USS Columbia NCC-621
USS Concorde NCC-68711	Freedom	Uncertain	Possibly named for the French/British supersonic airplane. The name is often spelt "Concord" like Concord, New Hampshire and Concord, Massachusetts, a battle site of the American Revolution. But out of European solidarity, I assume that "Concorde" is correct.
USS Constantinople NCC-43622	Istanbul	Former name of the city of Istanbul, Turkey
USS Constitution NCC-1700	Constitution	USS Constitution "Old Ironsides", US Navy tradition ship
USS Constellation NCC-1017	Constitution	USS Constellation CV-64, US Navy aircraft carrier
USS Constellation NX-1974	Constellation
USS Constellation NCC-55817
USS Copernicus NCC-623	Oberth	Nikolaus Kopernikus (1473-1543), German/Polish astronomer who discovered the true nature of planetary movements
USS Copernicus NCC-58637
USS Cortéz		Hernán Cortéz (1485-1547), Spanish conquistador who gained Mexico for Spain	Not really a wise name choice, considering how mercilessly his army subdued or killed the native Mexicans.
USS Crazy Horse NCC-50446	Excelsior	Oglala Sioux chief (1849-1877), native American leader at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876
USS Crockett NCC-38955	Excelsior	Davey Crockett (1786-1836), American frontiersman and politician
USS Curry NCC-42254		Unknown	The ship was named for Dan Curry, DS9 VFX supervisor. Unless he is starting a great political career, Starfleet probably wouldn't remember him despite all his merits.

 

D

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Daedalus	Daedalus	Hero in ancient Greek mythology, escaped from Crete using self-made wings of feathers and wax (his son Icarus being not quite as lucky...)
USS Danube	Danube	River in Southeast Europe	It would have been wiser to use an indigenous name of the river (Donau or Dunav or Dunava).
USS Defiant NCC-1764	Constitution	Generic	The only renowned ship of that name is the HMS Defiant in the movie of the same name (1962).
USS Defiant NX-74205	Defiant
SS Deirdre		Uncertain	May refer to an ancient Irish heroine. In real life, named for James Doohan's daughter Deirdre. The spelling should have been "Deirdre" but became "Dierdre" in the final script. Since this is an obvious (and common) error, EAS lists the ship as "Deirdre".
USS Deneva	Deneva	Federation planet, which was struck by a neural parasite plague in 2267
USS Denver NCC-54927	Yorkshire	Capital of Colorado, USA
USS Destiny		Generic	In the real world, the ship was probably named for the Destiny science lab of the ISS, but this may be regarded too obscure a reference in the 24th century.
USS Discovery		Name of a space shuttle
USS Donovan		Uncertain
USS Drake NCC-20381	Wambundu	Sir Francis Drake (ca. 1540-1596), commanded the first British ship to circumnavigate Earth
USS Drake NCC-70956	Andromeda

 

E

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Eagle NCC-956	Constitution	Generic	Although it's quite a common name, the Starfleet ship may be specifically named for the landing vehicle of Apollo 11.
DEV Eagle Valley		Unknown
USS Elkins NCC-74121		Unknown	The ship was named for Judy Elkins, DS9 VFX supervisor. Unless she is starting a great political career, Starfleet probably wouldn't remember her despite all her merits.
USS Elmer Fudd NCC-85343		Unknown	No, Elmer Fudd really isn't a good namesake for a ship.
ITA Elmira		Uncertain	There is a small city named Elmira in New York State.
USS Emden NCC-1856		City in northwest Germany and name of a German small cruiser in WW I
USS Endeavour NCC-1895	Constitution	Flagship of British explorer James Cook, also the name of a NASA space shuttle
USS Endeavour NCC-39272
USS Endeavour NCC-71805	Nebula
USS Endeavour
USS Entente NCC-2120		Generic	The name may specifically refer to the Entente Cordiale, an alliance between Great Britain and France in 1904.
Enterprise NX-01	NX	USS Enterprise CV-6 and USS Enterprise CVN-65, US Navy aircraft carriers, as well as NASA space shuttle prototype Enterprise OV-101	A causality paradox, since in the real world the shuttle was named for the starship...
USS Enterprise NCC-1701	Constitution
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A	Constitution
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B	Excelsior
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C	Ambassador
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D	Galaxy
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E	Sovereign
USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (alt.)			Parallel universe ships, with presumably the same name history up to this point.
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A (alt.)
USS Equicon NCC-1988		Unknown	In real life, the name refers to the Equicon Convention that took place in 1988.
USS Equinox NCC-72381	Nova	Latin equinoctium, the equal length of day and night twice a year	According to Mike Okuda, the ship's dedication plaque bears a quote from Sir Thomas Browne, "The night of time far surpasseth the day".
SS Erewhon		Unknown	Read the name backward! Erewhon is a novel written by Samuel Butle.
USS Essex NCC-173	Daedalus	USS Essex CV-9, US Navy aircraft carrier, as well as several Royal Navy ships named for the English county of Essex
USS Essex NCC-1697	Constitution
USS Excalibur NCC-1664	Constitution	Mythical sword of King Arthur
USS Excalibur NCC-26517	Ambassador
USS Excelsior NCC-2000	Excelsior	Latin for "higher"	Most likely named for the motto of the State of New York, USA
USS Exeter NCC-1672	Constitution	Several Royal Navy ships and/or the English city.	There may be no particular namesake.
USS Exeter NCC-26531	Ambassador

 

F

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Farragut NCC-1647	Constitution	Admiral David Glasgow Farragut (1801-1870), commander of the Union fleet during the American Civil War ("Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!")
USS Farragut NCC-60597	Nebula
USS Farragut (alt.)
USS Farouk El-Baz NCC-31823		Uncertain	In real life, Farouk El-Baz is an Egyptian American scientist who selected the landing sites for the Apollo missions. In the fictional universe, Farouk El-Baz is a noted comedian (TNG: "The Outrageous Okona"), but we wouldn't expect starships to be named for comedians, would we?
USS Fearless NCC-14598	Excelsior	Generic
USS Firebrand NCC-68723	Freedom	Generic
USS Fleming NCC-20316	Wambundu	Sir Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), British bacteriologist who discovered penicillin
USS Franklin NX-326		Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American politician and scientist	In real life, named for Frank Lin, the father of director Justin Lin. The registry NX-326 commemorates Leonard Nimoy's birthday.
USS Frederickson NCC-42111	Excelsior	Unknown	The ship was named for Anthony Frederickson, scenic artist. Unless he is starting a great political career, Starfleet probably wouldn't remember him despite all his merits.
USS Freedom	Freedom	Generic	In 1990, when TNG: "The Best of Borlds" was made, the name may have been supposed to honor the space station that was later simply called ISS.

 

G

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Gage NCC-11672	Apollo	General Thomas Gage (1763-1775), commander-in-chief of British army in North America during the Revolutionary War
USS Galaxy NCC-70637	Galaxy	Generic
USS Ganymede NCC-18457		Moon of Jupiter, named for a hero in Greek mythology
USS Gallico		Unknown
USS Gander	Danube	River in Newfoundland, Canada
USS Gandhi NCC-26632	Ambassador	Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), leader of the Indian resistance movement against the British colonial occupation, famous for his non-violent methods of civil disobedience
USS Ganges NCC-72454	Danube	River that flows from the Himalaya to the Bay of Bengal
USS Gettysburg NCC-3890	Constellation	Town in Pennsylvania, site of a battle in the American Civil War
USS Gihlan NCC-9761	Constellation	Admiral Gihlan't'aehn, who initiated the development of the Constellation class	The ship name is from an article by Rick Sternbach in Star Trek: The Magazine.
USS Goddard NCC-59621	Korolev	Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945), American rocket pioneer, inventor of the liquid-fueled rocket
USS Gorkon NCC-40521	Excelsior	Gorkon (died 2293), Klingon Chancellor
USS Gremlin NCC-72927		Unknown	No, I wouldn't name my ship for Gremlins.
USS Grissom NCC-638	Oberth	Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom (died 1967 in Apollo 1 fire), American astronaut
USS Grissom NCC-42857	Excelsior

 

H

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Hathaway NCC-2593	Constellation	Uncertain	Possibly named for Anne Hathaway, wife to William Shakespeare (although this would be another rather obscure reference). The ship's motto is "No matter where you go, there you are." from "Buckaroo Banzai" (the same as on the Excelsior plaque).
SS Hatteras		Uncertain	There is a novel character Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne, but the real Cape Hatteras in North Carolina seems to be a better suited namesake.
USS Hauck		Frederick Hauck, American astronaut	The ship name is from an article by Rick Sternbach in Star Trek: The Magazine. We may assume that Hauck will make a famous flight that will be still remembered in the 24th century...
USS Havana NCC-34043	Istanbul	Capital of Cuba
USS Heart of Gold NCC-42		Generic	A very obvious reference to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
USS Helin NCC-1692		Eleanor Helin, American astronomer
USS Hera NCC-62006	Nebula	Greek goddess, wife of Zeus
USS Hermes NCC-10376	Antares	Greek god of commerce
USS Hiroshima	Steamrunner	Japanese city that gained sad fame as the target of the first US atomic bomb
USS Hispaniola		Largest island in the Caribbean Sea
USS Hokkaido	Renaissance	Northernmost of the Japanese main islands
USS Hokule'a	Hokule'a	Hawaiian word for "Star of Gladness"
USS Honshu NCC-60205	Nebula	Largest Japanese island
USS Hood NCC-1703	Constitution	British battlecruiser that was destroyed in a battle with the Bismarck in 1941
USS Hood NCC-42296	Excelsior
USS Hood (alt.)
USS Horatio NCC-10532	Ambassador	Uncertain	Horatio was the first name of real-world Admiral Nelson as well as of Admiral Hornblower in the novels by C. S. Forester. But since when are first names used as ship names? Horatio is also a character in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
USS Horizon NCC-176	Daedalus	Generic	The Mayweathers' ship in Star Trek Enterprise could be the namesake.
USS Hornet NCC-45231	Renaissance	USS Hornet CV-12, US Navy aircraft carrier, which served as recovery vessel for the Apollo 11 moon landing mission

 

I

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
Intrepid		USS Intrepid CV-11, US Navy aircraft carrier
USS Intrepid NCC-1831	Constitution
USS Intrepid NCC-38907	Excelsior
USS Intrepid NCC-74600	Intrepid
USS Istanbul	Istanbul	City in Turkey

 

J

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Jenolan NCC-2010	Sydney	Jenolan caves in New South Wales, Australia	About why "Jenolan" makes the most sense, see Uncertain Ship Names and Registries.
USS James Fenimore Cooper NCC-4077		James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), American writer	The captain's name and the registry are references to M*A*S*H. The name is misspelled "Fennimore" on the actual display, but according to EAS policy the misspelling is ignored.
USS John F. Kennedy NCC-85183		John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th President of the USA
USS John Muir NCC-1732		John Muir (1838-1914), American naturalist who helped found the Sequoia and Yosemite national parks in California

 

K

Name & registry	Class	Namesake	Annotations
USS Kearsarge NCC-57566	Challenger	USS Kearsarge CV-33, US Navy aircraft carrier that served as the recovery vessel for Alan Shepard's Mercury spacecraft, also name of a Union vessel that sunk the Confederate CSS Alabama
USS Kelvin NCC-0514		William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824-1907), Irish physicist	In an interview about the ship, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman said that Kelvin is JJ Abrams's grandfather's name that he includes in every series and movie he creates. The odd registry is grandpa's birthday.
SS Kobayashi Maru		Uncertain	Kobayashi is a last name. Maru is a suffix appended to many Japanese ship names and also swords.
SS Kobayashi Maru (alt.)
SS Kogin		Unknown	The ship's name can be read in TNG-R: "Inheritance". It was likely different in the original episode.
USS Kongo NCC-1710	Constitution	Japanese battleship in WW II
USS Korolev NCC-2014		Sergey Pavlovich Korolev (1906-1966), Russian space pioneer
USS Korolev	Korolev
USS Kyushu NCC-65491	New Orleans	Southernmost of the Japanese main islands

 

Ships @ Spike's Star Trek Page

Dedication plaques @ Memory Alpha

 

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