Shipping Names and Linguistics
Iâve always found enormous entertainment in how pairing names are formed. As a linguist who has apparently lived too long in academics, Iâve wanted to study shipping in depth. I vaguely remember seeing formal scholarship on the linguistics of shipping names, but today I just decided to study pairing names myself and try to determine if thereâs a linguistic system to how theyâre adopted. It canât just be random how we come up with these names, can it?
After screwing around for about a day reading over three hundred shipping names from a few fandom communities (not all of which Iâm a part), I think Iâve come to the hypothesis we subconsciously create shipping names according to a list of optimal rules. These rules put constraints on what the pairing can be named. The best shipping name, and the one that typically becomes adopted, is one that tries to break the fewest amounts of constraints.
Now these constraints are ordered in terms of importance. Itâs worse to break constraints at the top of the list. Constraints at the bottom of the list are more likely to be broken. And if constraints are broken, it will usually be because a higher-ranked constraint overrides the other conflicting constraint (donât worry Iâll give examples so that this hopefully makes more sense).
These are the constraints I think apply to shipping name paradigms (and yes, I just made those names up):
1. Distinctiveness Principle. The most recognizable part of each charactersâ names are used in the combined shipping name. Both names should be taken into account so that both names are as distinctly noticeable as possible. This allows fanse to quickly tell who the two people in the pairing are. For example, the pairing between Snotlout and Ruffnut in How to Train Your Dragon cannot be called âSnotnutâ because thereâs another character - Tuffnut - whose last name ends in ânut.â âSnotnutâ is not distinct and clear. âRuffâ is the clearest part of Ruffnutâs name, so the ship name is âRufflout.â
2. Two Letter Rule. Each person in the pairing should have at least two unaltered letters (not always sounds) from their name. One letter is not distinct enough to tell who the character is being shipped.
3. First and Second Parts. The first name in the pairing will use the start of the personâs name. The second name in the pairing will use the end of the personâs name. For instance, in âClintasha,â the pairing between Clinton Barton and Natasha Romanoff, the first name is Clinton. So the first half of his name is used - Clint. But we use the end of Natashaâs name because sheâs the second half of the ship. You would violate this rule if you named the ship âClintnat.â (Of course there are some violations of this rule, like âEdwinâ for Ed+Winry, etc).
4. Most Common Names. If the characters are known by their first names, then their first names will be used to make the shipping name. If the characters are always called by their surnames, or their first names are not distinctive enough (hence violating principle #2), surnames may be used. Whenever Rapunzel is shipped, her first name (usually with the suffix â-unzelâ) is used. Her last name Corona never enters the picture because people donât widely know or think about her last name. Lastly, if one name is a first name in the ship name, the other will very likely be a first name; if one name is a last name, so will the other be, too.
5. Name Combination Paradigms. Names are combined in different ways in a pairing. The ones from most optimal to least optimal are:
Syllable Fusion. Two syllables are overlapped. If characters have some common vowels and consonants in their names, that is where the pairing name âsplitâ happens. For instance, in âElsanna,â the name Elsa ends with an âaâ and Anna begins with an âa.â Since both names share this vowel, it becomes a natural joint to combine their two names. âMericup,â the ship for Merida and Hiccup, is another example. Like-vowel combinations seem very preferred, though like-consonants occur, too.
Consonant Similarities. Sometimes consonants arenât exactly the same, but theyâre very similar and become used as the joint. For instance, in the ship between Dagur and Hiccup, the âgâ and âcâ (actually âkâ) sounds are very similar. The only difference between the pronunciation of these two sounds is that you use your vocal chords on the âg.â So it becomes a nice place to join the two names. Other alternated sounds include âbâ and âp, âtâ and âd,â and âzâ and âs.â Suffice it to say that these sounds are produced in very similar ways in the mouth and have similar acoustic features.
Syllable Split. In this type of a ship name formation, each charactersâ names are chunked by syllables. They donât have any sound overlaps, but the two syllables bump up next to each other. The ship between Thor and Natasha, âThortasha,â is an example of this. There is no overlap between âThorâ and âTasha,â but each chunk starts with a syllable from the original names.
Complex Syllable Avoidance. This isnât a big rule, but sometimes the syllable isnât so neatly split. Sometimes youâd have to throw a lot of consonants all together. A syllable may not be split completely correctly to make for smoother pronunciation. For instance, âDashellopeâ is the ship between Dash Parr and Vanellope. Technically the start of the second syllable in Vanellopeâs name is ânel.â Bu âDashnellopeâ isnât as smooth to say. In a similar way, diphthongs (complex vowels which combine multiple vowel sounds) are sometimes avoided.
6. âHierarchyâ Listing Principle. This one shocked me and I wasnât expecting it. I would really, really need to study this in depth to make sure this is a Real, True Thing, especially since it could have some cumbersome sociolinguistic consequences. But from my limited data set and casual observations, it seems like there tends to be an order of whoâs listed first in the shipping.
Male, then Female. Men are usually listed before women in a heterosexual ship. Iâm only saying this because I have concrete data for this observation. This is just an observation and nothing else. In the 143 heterosexual ships I looked at, 92 had the men listed first, 51 for the women. Thatâs a stark 2:1 ratio. I tried to guess why sometimes women go first, and it seems that women are very likely to be put first when thereâs a break in another rule, such as trying to maximize distinctiveness, or to create a really awesome syllable fusion like âMeridashiâ (Tadashi and Merida).
Bigger Person. The older individual, taller, well-known, or more authoritative character is somewhat frequently listed first in the relationship, especially for homosexual pairings. Again, this is observation I am stating about ship names and an observation alone. Qualified sociolinguists and sociologists could have some things to say about this, but Iâm not qualified to study why this occurs.
Note Iâm putting the word âhierarchyâ in quotations because itâs not truly a measure of character dominance or power. I donât want to imply that. Iâm just saying thereâs a hierarchy of certain traits that somehow seem to implicitly decide what name is going first. The character with the most of these traits is likely to be listed first. If I had a better word in my head for what to call this, Iâd totally change it.
7. Elegance. A shipping name should sound smooth on the tongue. Itâs optimally short - usually two or three syllables - and it does not have any hint of vulgarity implied in the pairing name (hence why Hiccup and Astridâs pairing is called âHiccstridâ rather than âAscupâ). This is the least important shipping name and itâs largely up for interpretation of what is âelegant.â
And those are the rules Iâve figured out, in order from most important to least important (maybe⊠I havenât run tests or anything to validate theyâre in the right order). To list them off more succinctly, they are:
1. Distinctiveness Principle.
2. Two Letter Rule.
3. First and Second Parts.
4. Most Common Names.
5. Name Combination Paradigms (Syllable Fusion, Consonant Similarities, Syllable Split, Complex Syllable Avoidance).
6. âHierarchyâ Listing Principle (gender, age, leadership role, height, etc.).
7. Elegance.Â
Remember me saying that the most important principles typically override the less important principles? Letâs say, for example, that there would be a direct conflict between principles #6 and #1. Then rule #6 would be broken to favor #1. Iâm going to use the example of the ship between Ruffnut and Fishlegs. We can either put Ruffnutâs name first and call the ship âRufflegs,â thus breaking rule #6 about men being listed first, or we can put Fishlegsâ name first and have the pairing be âFishnut.â But then weâd be breaking rule #1 since Ruffnut has a brother named Tuffnut, and weâre not being very distinct. Because #1 is more important, the ship is ultimately âRufflegsâ rather than âFishnut.â
In fact, Iâm going to go so far as to say that the first rule is *Essential* in a shipping name. If the first rule is broken, then it doesnât matter how many other rules the ship name is possible. Itâs out. All other rules have a little more leeway, and you might see some lower principles being favored over higher ones on occasion.
I mean, what on earth would âShonâ be? Can you guys figure out who Iâm talking about? Itâs a lot more understandable if I say âJohnlock.â The âJoâ - if not all of âJohnâ - has to be in there to understand the ship name to be distinct.
Similarly, âCaseanâ isnât quite as distinct as âDestielâ since â-tielâ is a highly unusual part of a name. And the âseanâ sort of looks like âSean,â which is pronounced very differently than what speakers would want to convey. So âDestielâ is better.
Hereâs some more names in action: Destiel (Dean and Castiel, Supernatural), Hiccstrid (Hiccup and Astrid, How to Train Your Dragon), Johnlock (John and Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock), Stucky (Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, Marvel), Bagginshield (Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit), Thorsif (Thor and Sif, Marvel), and Jackunzel (Jack Frost and Rapunzel Corona, ROTBTD).
âDestielâ is basically a golden case scenario where everything is fulfilled.Â
âHiccstridâ is, too. It canât be âAscupâ because thatâs vulgar and thatâd infringe upon the idea of Elegance. The âccstrâ is a lot of consonants all clumped together, but â-stridâ is what makes Astridâs last name distinct.Â
âJohnlockâ has one minor infringement. Sherlock is sort of the leader in the duo as far as mystery solving is going. Heâs arguably the lead character in the show. So why is Sherlock listed second? Because you really canât have the name âJohnâ split in two going last. What would you say instead? âShock?â âSherson?â âSherwatson?â All of those are much more problematic than âJohnlock,â so âJohnlockâ it is.
âStuckyâ is sliiiiiiightly distinct and slightly follows the first principle. But itâs an interesting example because itâs not perfect at all, and there would be other alternatives that are more distinct. âStâ at the start of a name isnât the biggest clue in the world, after all.
âBagginshieldâ violates the principle of common names in a way. Usually we call the characters âBilboâ and âThorin.â But Thorinâs first name is downright problematic. The first syllable âThorâ is obnoxiously obscure. Are you talking about Thor the Norse god? Who? So his last name is used. And because his last name is used, it gets paired up with Bilboâs last name. âOakenâ and âshieldâ are probably equally distinct, so the deciding factor is the fact that âsâ and âshâ are very similar sounds and make a far, far better joint together than âBagginsoakenâ or âBagginsoakâ would be. Thereâs also the matter of Elegance to be considered here. âBagginsoakenâ is an unwieldy four syllable beast.
âThorsifâ is interesting because âSifthorâ would literally be just as distinct and fulfill all the rules. Except itâs the slight tendency for us to mention a manâs name first in pairing names.
âJackunzelâ is another example where we donât have the syllables split perfectly. Technically that would be âJackpunzel.â
Now there are some other cool things that Iâve observed from looking at shipping names.
Fandoms essentially code and create their own prefixes and suffixes over time. Whenever that affix occurs, they know that character is in the ship. Examples of that include â-lerâ for Once-ler, â-unzelâ for Rapunzel, â-stridâ for Astrid, â-visâ for Mavis, âMega-â for Megamind, and âMeri-â for âMerida. People are essentially systematizing information over time by picking up on what other people have done and linguistically conforming as a group. Itâs so cool.
Some fandoms have started this crazy process of metaphor and creating ship titles not from names, but from these metaphorical associations. I have seen this in the Marvel fandom, ROTBTD, and Inside Out fandom. The ship between Pitch Black and Toothiana from Rise of the Guardians has been called Cavity because black items in a tooth make a cavity. That is CRAZY language manipulation! And thatâs only the tip of the iceberg!
Thereâs even puns in this whole mess of metaphors and relations. The ship for Steve Rogers and Tony Stark has been called âSTARK AND STRIPES,â and Iâve seen âCLAIREDEVILâ refer to Claire Temple and Matt Murdock (Daredevil). Captain America is about American patriotism - so we get the association of âStars and Stripesâ - and then we insert in a pun with Tonyâs name. The same thing happens with Matt Murdock, who is Daredevil, when heâs shipped with Claire.
So shipping names, and how theyâre developed, is downright cool. Thereâs a lot of crazy language work going out there and I think I could rattle on even more. Maybe someday Iâll formally study this and write an academic paper on the topic.
Which brings me to this very important pointâŠÂ
THIS IS NOT AN ACTUAL RESEARCH PAPER AND THIS DATA IS NOT CONFIRMED WHATSOEVER. I REPEAT: THIS IS NOT RESEARCH AND SHOULD NOT BE TREATED AS FACT.
These are literally just my casual, informal observations after playing around a day. So donât quote me on this! It may be true. It might not. In fact, I already know there are exceptions to my ideas (âJelsaâ is problematic, just to give one example). This isnât robust research, itâs got its holes, itâs got its guesses, and Iâd know how to dismantle my own argument as it currently stands. Itâs not rock solid right now. But I just thought Iâd have fun, share some of my thoughts, and hope you have some fun with this, too. :)