When you speak to people about your car, what do you refer to it as?

Do you refer to your personal vehicle by its brand and model names, like “My Perodua Myvi”, or are you the kind of person who has a more personal name like “Betsy” or “The Batmobile”?

Well, if you’re one of the people who has chosen to give your car a cool name that you chose yourself, you’re not alone! The practice of naming or giving personal titles to vehicles is one that’s probably been done ever since the creation of the modern automobile!

The process of choosing a name or title for the car is one that’s very personal to the owner and driver. They might choose a name that’s cute and easy to remember, or they might choose a name that reminds them of someone important in their life. Others may choose to name a car based on something they looked up to growing up like a superhero’s vehicle or something along those lines.

While the way a car owner may choose those names may differ, it does make some wonder why they even bother to name their cars at all! Let’s take a look at three common reasons why drivers do this.

1. Because it’s a way to express ourselves

A car is a huge and very personal investment. It’s not something we can change as often as other things in our lives, and in a way, it represents who we are. Because of this, people are cautious in how they choose their cars; the car brand, the model, and even the choice of colour all depends on how we as car owners want to express ourselves.

As an extension of this, the way we choose to name our cars (or even if we choose not to give it a name at all) is just another way we express our individuality when it comes to our cars.

Sometimes we give it a strong name because we view ourselves as strong people. Sometimes we give it names that remind us of another person, a memory, or even our favourite superheroes because we want to express our sentimental nature.

Whatever the case may be, choosing what name or title to give our cars is just the same as choosing what colour we want our cars painted.

2. Because we get attached to our vehicles

With our cars being such a big investment and playing such an important role in our lives, it’s natural for us as human beings to develop an attachment to them. For some people, this ‘relationship’ with their cars goes quite deep, to a point that they might even take better care of their cars than they do themselves!

When we get attached to things in such a personal way, it’s only natural for us to want to give them nicknames. This is not only true for cars; people do the same thing with their cats and dogs, their boyfriends/girlfriends (by giving them cute nicknames), and more.

Where in the last section we understood that people name their cars as a form of personal expression, here what we are seeing is that people also name their cars to express their love, care and appreciation.

3. Because it personalizes the vehicle

Another reason behind people’s desire to name their cars is much simpler: it’s to make it personal.

Modern vehicles are mass-produced, so no matter what car you decide to purchase for yourself, there are thousands of other people in the world who own and drive the exact same brand, model, and colour that you do.

There are many ways to set your car apart from that of others’; unique paint jobs, accessories, and other modifications are all available on the retail market. However, unlike those other ways of customizing your vehicle, giving it a unique and personal name is completely free!

Whatever your reason for wanting to name your car, rest assured that it is not unusual. The desire to give your beloved car a name that’s close to your heart is something that people have always been doing because it’s just human nature, so be sure to choose a name that’s close to your heart!