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Many of the shipping companies who did business with the Luso-Hispanic world liked to give their ships Spanish or Portuguese-themed names. These could be people, or places, or fictional characters, or evocative words. Some of these ship names became very well-known, especially those that carried large number of passengers around the world, and they ensured that elements of Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin-American culture circulated in the Anglophone world. But what did these names mean? What images did they put into circulation? What follows is a handy reference guide to British-owned or British-based ships launched before 1939.

NOTE: Many ship names were recycled, so that as one ship was scrapped, lost or sold off, the company would pass the name to a new ship. Ship historians use the convention Abadesa (I), Abadesa (II) to distinguish between the generations. [*] by a shipping company's name indicates that they managed the ship rather than owned it.

SOURCES: Information about these ships is drawn from a variety of sources, including The Ships List, Wreck Site, Findmypast, Shipbuilding on the River Tees, Naval-History.net.

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NAME	LINE	TONS	NAMED	FATE	CATEGORY	MEANING	NOTES
Aguila	Yeoward	3255	1917	1941, sunk	Bird	Spanish: Eagle
Abadesa	Houlder	6572	1916	1929, renamed	Title	Spanish: Abbess
Asuncion	Houlder	433	1890	1895, sold	Place	Asunción is the capital of Paraguay. The name comes from the Spanish title of the Virgin of the Assumption.
Baronesa	Houlder	8663	1918	1946, scrapped	Title	Spanish: Baroness
Canonesa	Houlder	5583	1916	1919, sold	Title	Spanish: Canoness	Completed 1893. Ex-Perthshire, Bollington Grange
Condesa	Houlder	8557	1916	1917, sunk	Title	Spanish: Countess
Duquesa	Houlder	8651	1918	1941, scuttled	Title	Spanish: Duchess
El Argentino	Houlder	6809	1907	1916, sunk	Adjective	Spanish: the (male) Argentine
El Cordobés	Houlder	5683	1912	1926, sold	Adjective	Spanish: the (male) person from Cordoba	Completed 1900. Ex-Indradevi, Chaseside
El Paraguayo	Houlder	8508	1912	1937, scrapped	Adjective	Spanish: the (male) person from Paraguay
El Uruguayo	Houlder	8361	1912	1937, scrapped	Adjective	Spanish: the (male) person from Uruguay
La Blanca	Houlder	6813	1906	1917, sunk	Adjective	Spanish: the (female) white one
La Correntina	Houlder	8529	1912	1914, sunk	Adjective	Spanish: the (female) person from the city of Corrientes, Argentina
La Negra	Houlder	8312	1913	1917, sunk	Adjective	Spanish: the (female) black one
La Rosarina	Houlder	8332	1912	1937, scrapped	Adjective	Spanish: the (female) person from the city of Rosario, Argentina
Marquesa	Houlder	8979	1918	1949, scrapped	Title	Spanish: Marchioness
Oriana	Houlder	4419	1902	1914, sold	Name	Female given name
Pilcomayo	Houlder	433	1890	1895, sold	River	Runs from Bolivia through Argentina and Paraguay
Princesa	Houlder	8731	1918	1949, scrapped	Title	Spanish: Princess
Río Paraguay	Houlder	433	1890	1895, sold	River	Runs through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina
Río Negro	Houlder*	4819	1901	1920, ceased	River	Largest tributary of the Amazon	Managed 1918-20 for government of Uruguay
San Pablo	Houlder*	3310	1915	1917, ceased	Person	Spanish: St Paul	Managed 1915-17 for Shipping Controller, London
Treinta-y-Tres	Houlder*	4764	1906	1920, ceased	Number	Spanish: Thirty-three	Managed 1918-20 for government of Uruguay
Aconcagua	PSNC	4105	1872	1895, sold	Mountain	Highest mountain in the Americas, located in Mendoza, Argentina
Alcántara	RMSPC	16034	1913	1916, sunk	Place	Toponym of Arabic origin, meaning 'the bridge', occurs frequently in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries
Almanzora	RMSPC	16034	1915	1948, scrapped	Place	Small town in Spain's Almeria province. Of Arabic origin, meaning 'place of victory.'
Amazon	RMSPC	2256	1851	1852, sunk	River	World's second-longest river, runs through Brazil, Colombia and Peru
Andes	RMSPC	15620	1913	1952, scrapped	Mountain	World's longest continental mountain range, runs the length of South America	Refitted & renamed Atlantis, 1929
Araguaya	RMSPC	10537	1906	1930, sold	River	Runs through Brazil (Portuguese: Araguaia)
Asturias	RMSPC	12015	1907	1933, sold	Place	Mountainous principality in northern Spain	Refitted & renamed Arcadian, 1922
Atrato	RMSPC	5347	1888	1912, sold	River	Runs through northwestern Colombia
Avoceta	Yeoward	3442	1923	1941, sunk	Bird	Spanish for avocet
Barcelona	Thomson	1802	1878	1899, scrapped	Place	City in Catalonia, northeastern Spain
Bolivia	Anchor	4050	1873	1905, scrapped	Place	Country
Buenos Ayrean	Allan	4005	1879	1911, scrapped	Adjective	Archaic English adjective for person from Buenos Aires, Argentina
Alcántara	RML	22181	1926	1958, scrapped	Place	Toponym of Arabic origin, meaning 'the bridge', occurs frequently in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries
Andalucia (Star)	Blue Star	12846	1926	1942, sunk	Place	Autonomous community in southern Spain
Consuelo	Wilson	6025	1900	1909, sold	Name	Female given name
Camoens (I)	Lamport & Holt	1053	1871	1888, sold	Person	English name for Portuguese poet Luis de Camões (1524-1580)
Camoens (II)	Lamport & Holt	4070	1900	1924, scrapped	Person	English name for Portuguese poet Luis de Camões (1524-1580)
Castilian	Allan	7441	1898	1899, wrecked	Adjective	English form of adjective connected with Spanish Kingdom of Castile
Catalonia	Cunard	4841	1881	1901, scrapped	Place	English name for Catalunya, autonomous community in northeastern Spain
Colina	Donaldson	2001	1872	1898, scrapped	Place	Toponym meaning 'hill' in both Spanish and Portuguese, with occurrences in both Brazil and Chile
Colorado	Guion	2927	1867	1872, sunk	River	River in Argentina; state of the US; means 'red' in Spanish
Douro	Ellerman	1603	1910	1915, sunk	River	River, runs through Portugal and Spain (Spanish: Duero)	Completed 1881, ex Congella
Cuba	Cunard	2668	1864	1887, wrecked	Place	Island country in the Caribbean; part of Spain until 1898
Cuzco	PSNC	3898	1871	1905, scrapped	Place	City in southeastern Peru
Deseado	RMSPC	11475	1911	1934, scrapped	Adjective	Desired (masc.)
Chilian	Donaldson	634	1875	1892, wrecked	Adjective	English: person from Chile
Colorado	Donaldson	544	1865	1887, wrecked	River	River in Argentina; state of the US; Spanish for 'red'
La Plata	Donaldson	393	1863	1872, sold	River	River estuary between Argentina and Uruguay; literally 'Silver River', rendered in English as 'River Plate'
Marañón	Donaldson	605	1868	1874, destroyed	River	River running through Peru, Ecuador to the Amazon, giving its name to a Peruvian province; also name of a town in Navarre (Spain) and a Spanish family name
Paraná	Donaldson	399	1863	1875, sold	River	River running through Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina
Peruvian	Donaldson	637	1875	1890, sold	Adjective	English: person from Peru
Santona	Donaldson	896	1869	1891, wrecked	Adjective	Spanish: holy person (alt: Santoña, toponym in Cantabria, Spain)
Uruguay	Donaldson	476	1865	1866, sunk	Place	Country in South America
Coracero	Donaldson	7252	1923	1943, sunk	Adjective	Spanish: cavalry soldier wearing a cuirass (breastplate)
Cordillera	Donaldson	6865	1920	1948, sold	Mountain	Spanish: mountain chain
Corrientes	Donaldson	6863	1920	1940, sunk	Place	City in Argentina
Gracia	Donaldson	5642	1921	1941, sunk	Place	Alta Gracia, city in Argentina; Spanish for grace
Alca	Yeoward	194	1904	1916, sold	Bird	Spanish: razorbill	Completed 1898, ex Stefanie
Alondra	Yeoward	2244	1915	1916, wrecked	Bird	Spanish: lark	Completed 1899, ex Don Hugo (Rio Tinto Co.)
Ardeola (I)	Yeoward	1204	1901	1903, sunk	Bird	Latin: genus of heron	Completed 1901, ex Fulmar
Andorinha	Yeoward	2548	1911	1930, sold	Bird	Portuguese: swallow
Avetoro (I)	Yeoward	1234	1903	1915, lost	Bird	Spanish: bittern	Completed 1890, ex Egret
Avetoro (II)	Yeoward	2233	1903	1917, sunk	Bird	Spanish: bittern	Completed 1914, ex Valdes
Aguila (II)	Yeoward	3255	1909	1915, sunk	Bird	Spanish: eagle
Ardeola (II)	Yeoward	1414	1904	1911, sold	Bird	Latin: genus of heron
Ardeola (III)	Yeoward	3139	1912	1943, sunk	Bird	Latin: genus of heron
Arlanza	RMSPC	14930	1911	1938, scrapped	River	River in Burgos province, northern Spain

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