This article discusses the naming of objects and presents a socio-onomastic study of contempor-ary Swedish recreational boats. Based on survey data from 187 informants, the discussion focuses on the process of naming, name variation (in terms of gender, linguistic choices, semantic cat-egories and wordplay), and explicit reasons for names. Comparisons are drawn with personal naming. The influence of factors in the social context (type of boat and gender, age and education of the owner) is considered throughout, but generally found to be limited. It is argued that this kind of naming can be seen, rather, as a construction of the personal identity of the owner and of the boat concerned.