La Pinta, la Niña y la Santa María

[Tyrn]

Hi,

Of the three, la Pinta sounds a bit cryptic. What does this all-purpose word mean, when employed as the name of a ship?

[Tomisimo]

Pinta/Pinto means spotted or painted. It can be used for a variety of things. I've heard it used as a horse's name.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

The names of ships, or land property (even towns) often depend a lot on anecdotes, prominent features, or mere whims by local powerful people.


According to the museum dedicated to this ship (http://www.baiona.org/web/turismo/cultura/museo-da-carabela-pinta), the accepted story is that the ship may have belonged to a family named Pinto, so that's where the name seems to come from.