[Shivan Hunter]

OK, I need a naming convention for my Terran ships, but I'm completely drawing a blank as to what it should be. It's for a military that has never dealt with alien species (although they're about to encounter several) and mostly serves as a peacekeeping force in outer Terran colonies.

I was considering using names of famous battles, or possibly the all-too-common Greek mythology. Any other ideas?

[General Battuta]

Celtic and Welsh names are badass (though Welsh can provide some real tongue-twisters).

[Droid803]

NTD Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch ftw.

[Destiny]

Greek mythology isn't bad, but stuff related to atmospheric science would be cool, like the GTF Aurora. Would be awesome to have a GTF Stratos, or GTB Exos.

For Terran ships...well. They might be a bit Greek, but I've seen a few non-Greek ones. Generally myself I don't name ships in FRED with Greek ones. Stuff like GTCv Lancer or GTD Destroyer or GTA Reality. Random stuff but hey, it works.

[PsychoLandlord]

Could also go for Norse mythology, or even some old Russian. Japanese Yokai names tend to be fairly uncommon in SF, if you're going for originality, and most of the mythology behind those is suitably badass or terrifying for ship naming.

Failing that, just go with famous battles, and the more old-school your space navy is, the older the battles should be. If the Flagship of this military has more broadside guns than anything else, name it the Trafalgar.

[Kopachris]

Try names that evoke glory and power: Gallant, Enterprise, Bastion, Valor, Superior, Legion, etc.
Or maybe cities: London, Paris, Berlin, Washington, Phoenix, Cairo, etc.
Political and/or scientific leaders are always popular: Nobel, Newton, Lincoln, Kennedy, Churchill, etc.
Feel free to combine these in any fashion--for instance, you might use glorious names for flagships of each class, cities for gunships, and leaders for carriers/destroyers.  And of course, you can always fall back on names of other famous ships.

[General Battuta]

I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.

[Kopachris]

I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.

Rule of cool.

[Destiny]

Could also go for Norse mythology, or even some old Russian. Japanese Yokai names tend to be fairly uncommon in SF, if you're going for originality, and most of the mythology behind those is suitably badass or terrifying for ship naming.

Failing that, just go with famous battles, and the more old-school your space navy is, the older the battles should be. If the Flagship of this military has more broadside guns than anything else, name it the Trafalgar.

A GTCv Orochi would be a good name for a ship armed with eight missile/torpedo-spewing launchers. I'd avoid using kamikaze, because it won't do any good. A GTD Oni would be a fitting name for a tough, hard-hitting and imposing ship...yeah, stuff like that.

A GTC Thor would be fitting for a EMP missile spewing boat, which is utterly sadistic and never be done. And a GTD Ragnarok for a ship with a superweapon.

We live in interesting times.

[General Battuta]

I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.

Rule of cool.

Yeah, but that's usually invoked to justify things which are cool. 

There are so many awesome names out there. I like PsychoLandlord's suggestions.

[Destiny]

If all else fails, you could nick some nicknames from HLP and use 'em.

I've always found it hard to believe that the cosmopolitan space future would use names mostly drawn from a narrow slice of First World cultural history.

Rule of cool.

Yeah, but that's usually invoked to justify things which are cool. 

There are so many awesome names out there. I like PsychoLandlord's suggestions.

You'd like to see a GTD Battuta, you would!

[PsychoLandlord]

Alternatively, if your Terrans try to invoke terror or just be generally intimidating with their naming scheme, theres plenty of Demonic names lying around out there, from all kinds of cultures. You could even go as far as Lovecraftian dieties, though thats likely pushing it.

Since it's been brought up, I recommend you just choose names at semi-random as well. Battuta and Destiny made an interesting point - theres no reason for your race to utilize a unified naming scheme across their entire military that only draws upon a relatively small chunk of the worlds mythology, especially if they're supposed to be a unified Humanity. Whats more, theres nothing stopping you from naming after concepts, like Destiny pointed out. Use what fits for the vessel unless you have a narrative reason to do otherwise.

EDIT: Can Haz GTD PsychoLandlord?

[Rodo]

You need ships names? or ship classes names?, for the first I would recommend what I always use myself: street names.

[Destiny]

GTD Brooklyn Street would be a pretty odd name, wouldn't it?

[Droid803]

GTD   is a pretty good name that came up with which a cosmopolitan space future would use.
I am a sad that ST:R removed its appearance and replaced it.

[AndrewofDoom]

And if all that fails, put together syllables that sound cool, but really just make words that are complete gibberish (ie Gryozette).

[SypheDMar]

You mean the name of the ships (like Galatea) or the class (Orion)? I'd use names of famous places, famous persons from the post-Dark Ages, battles, or words in different languages for the former. For classes, I'd go with historical figures that made an impact on religion, philosophy, and myths, fictitious characters, religious artifacts and sites, and anything that just sounds cool. This is for the FreeSpace universe. You could broaden yours to include lots more if you want.

[Nohiki]

Go for babylonian gods (Ea, Anu, Ianna, ...) They sound good and i didn't see them used in any mod yet

[Nuke]

ive been naming ships after metal bands and members there of. anybody who steals my convention will fall victim to random beatings.

[starlord]

use mountain/volcano names also! those can be sometimes inspiring...