Vehicle Name Generator

Roughly a quarter of drivers name their car, and the habit goes back further than the automobile itself: sailors named ships, farmers named horses and plows, and the first Model T owners named their Tin Lizzies. A vehicle name is usually a nickname that fits the machine's personality, and it tends to come from one of a few places. Some are old-fashioned human names that suit a hard-working truck (Betsy, Earl, Bertha). Some describe the color or shape (Big Red, the Toaster, the Bread Loaf). Some are puns on the make or model (Priscilla the Prius, Vincent Van Go, Obi-Van Kenobi), and some borrow from movies and pop culture (Herbie, Eleanor, Christine, General Lee).

The best vehicle names are short enough to say out loud when the engine won't turn over, and specific enough that friends recognize the reference. A lifted Jeep earns a name like Sasquatch or Trail Boss; a rattling college hatchback earns Wheezy or Money Pit; a camper van gets something wistful like Wanderlust or Home on Wheels. Gender is a real convention too. Trucks and boats have traditionally been called "she," but plenty of owners give their car a masculine name like Duke, Otis, or Bruno.

The list above mixes all of these styles so you can spin it for a family minivan, a work truck, an overland rig, or the hero's getaway car in a novel.