“We don’t name the yachts. We name the emotion the owner feels towards his yacht.”

Going Overboard

Enlightened billionaires like Bernard Arnault, Giorgio Armani, and Barry Diller name their own boats. A Viennese consultant helps those less inspired name their new yachts

By Andrew Zucker

They say picking out a name for your child reminds you of how many people you dislike. Try naming a yacht.

Many yachtsmen go for a name with personal significance. In the 1980s, newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell named his yacht Lady Ghislaine after his daughter, who is best known as Jeffrey Epstein’s disgraced associate. Media mogul John Malone dubbed his 80-foot sailboat Liberty after his media conglomerate; James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks, calls his 118-foot yacht Knickerbocker; and English soccer star David Beckham relaxes on Seven, which he named after his Manchester United F.C. jersey number.