I am swiping ship naming conventions from my favorite science fiction, shamelessly.

Zhdez ship names are very Culture-y (Iain M. Banks), but come from their owners' favorite literature or music or whatever, and are seemingly out-of-context phrases:

• A Less Confrontational Approach
• Candy Colored Sparkle
• Finishing Touches
• In The Loop
• A Pattern Has Begun To Emerge
• Memorable Character
• Resisting the Temptation
• Healthy Alternative
• All of this Paperwork

Inukari ships lean toward hani (C.J. Cherryh) and follow the "[owner]'s [virtue]" or "[virtue] of [owner]" pattern. Sometimes the owner is replaced by a location (especially for ships on dedicated routes), and the virtue by a flower or animal or other nature-derived noun.

• Kushaad's Prosperity
• Kushaad's Plenty
• Kushaad's Opulence (All of Kushaad's names are... optimistic)
• Ashashu's Prudence
• Ashashu's Vision
• Joy of Palawel

There are exceptions: the Daka Ai) is named after a hero of myth (naming after a real person, even deceased, is in poor taste).

Terran military ships are named after military or political heroes (oddly, almost always male even though ships are gendered female in Terran convention).

Passenger liners tend to have a shared identifier for the line (not necessarily the owner's name) and a specific identifier for the ship that follows a theme. Some lines have multiple themes indicating a particular class, while others are consistent across the line.

• Odyssey Lines: Malandry Odyssey, Heatry Odyssey, Paris Odyssey, etc.
• Royal Star Lines: Song of the Stars, Symphony of the Stars, Queen of the Stars, etc.
• Festival Lines: Festival Spirit, Festival Life, Festival Queen, etc.

Cargo liners are named similarly to passenger ones, but with much less imagination: their identifier is often simply a code word or even just a number.

Small ships are usually pun names, often somewhat salacious. This sometimes leads Terran pilots to assume things about Zhdez ship names that greatly confuse the Zhdez.