I thought I would reveal my ship naming strategy to everyone since I have spent a lot of time on it, and I thought I would also ask what system other people use.
The name of all my ships follows the following basic format:
Race-Designation-Total Weapon Strength - Total Defense Strength - Speed
Here is a quick sample: Ter-DDK-20-4-9
Unarmed ships (colonies, constructors, etc.) do not include weapon and defense strengths though, so a colony would be: Ter-CNY-5
I sometimes also through on an extra number at the end when it is a long range ship, like 24 to represent a ship with a 2.4 parsec? range.
Here are the definitions for the less obvious section:
Race = 3 letters indicating the race the ship is designed by.
Terran Alliance - Ter
Drengin Empire - Dre
Altarian Republic - Alt
Altarian Resistance - Alt
Arcean Empire - Arc
Torian Confederation - Tor
Yor Collective - Yor
Dominion of Korx - Dom
Drath Legion - Dra
Thalan Empire - Tha
Iconian Refuge - Ico
Korath Clan - Kor
Krynn Consulate - Kry
Designation = 1 to 3 letters indicating the class and basic purpose of the ship
Here is a list of all the designations I potentially use, with the size of the ship and the primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary, and quinary priorities for each class. If you see - - that means I am skipping a level of priority leaving it blank, such as in the first line with the BB, which has no tertiary focus and instead skips straight to engines as quaternary. The term "special" refers to the new fleet bonus items in TA, and should only appear on Carriers (otherwise, I wouldn't have carriers at all, as they would be redundant).
Battleship - BB (Huge - Weapons - Defense - - Engines)
Battle Cruiser - BC (Huge - Defense - Weapons - Engines)
**Command Battle Crusier - BCC (Huge - Defense - Weapons - Sensors - Engines)
**Light Battle Cruiser - BCL (Huge - Engines - Defense - Weapons)
Cruiser - CC (Large - Defense - Weapons - Engines)
**Light Cruiser -CCL (Large - Engines - Defense - Weapons)
**Hunter-Killer Cruiser - CCK (Large - Weapons - Engines - Sensors - Defense)
**Command Cruiser - CCC (Large - Defense - Weapons - Sensors - Engines)
**Attack Cruiser - CCA (Large - Weapons - Defense - Engines)
Destroyer - DD (Medium - Defense - Weapons - Engines)
**Escort Destroyer - DDE (Medium - Engines - Defense - Weapons - Sensors)
**Hunter-Killer Destroyer - DDK (Medium - Weapons - Engines - Sensors - Defense)
**Picket Destroyer - DDR (Medium - Sensors - Engines - Defense - Weapons)
Frigate - FF (Small - Defense - Weapons - Engines)
**Escort Frigate - FFE (Small - Engines - Weapons - Defense - Sensors)
**Hunter-Killer Frigate - FFK (Small - Weapons - Engines - Sensors - Defense)
**Picket Frigate - FFR (Small - Sensors - Engines - Defense - Weapons)
Carrier - CV (Huge - Defense - Weapons - Engines - Special)
**Attack Carrier - CVA (Huge - Weapons - Defense - Engines - Special)
**Command Carrier - CVC (Huge - Defense - Weapons - Sensors - Engines - Special)
**Escort Carrier - CVE (Large - Engines - Weapons - Defense - Sensors - Special)
**Light Carrier - CVL (Large - Engines - Defense - Weapons - Special)
**Reserve Carrier - CVX (Medium - Engines - Defense - Weapons - Special)
Corvette - K (Small - Weapons - Defense - - Engines)
Monitor - M (Medium - Weapons - Defense - - - Engines)
Orbital Defense Platform - ODP (Large - Weapons - Defense - - - Engines)
Starbase - SB (Huge - Weapons - Defense - - - Engines)
**Mobile Starbase - SBM (Large - Weapons - Defense - - Engines)
Patrol Boat - PB (Tiny - Sensors - - - Weapons - Engines)
AWACS - AWACS (Cargo - Sensors - Engines)
Troop Ship - TP (Cargo - Troop Module - Engines)
**Attack Troop Ship - TPA (Medium - Troop Module - Weapons - Engines - Defense)
Merchant Vessel - MV (Cargo - Trade - Engines)
**Merchant Marine - MVA (Medium - Trade - Engines - Defense - Weapons)
Miner - MR (Cargo - Mining - Engines)
**Attack Miner - MRA (Medium - Mining - Defense - Weapons - Engines)
Construction - MCV (Cargo - Construction - - Engines)
Colony - CNY (Cargo - Colony - - Engines)
Survey - ASG (Small or Cargo - Survey - Engines)
Science Vessel - SV (Medium - Survey - Sensors - Engines - Defense - Weapons)
Fighters - F (Tiny - Weapons - Defense - Engines)
Fighters receive a second letter based on weapon type, B for Ballistic, A for Missile, L for Beam, and M for Mixed.
The advantage to this method is that I can look at the designation to quickly determine the size or role of a ship. For instance, DD's are always medium, and ??K's are always heavy on weapons and engines, so a DDK is a medium sized fast attack ship, perfect for running around behind enemy lines.
Some of these also may not make sense at first, like the Starbase, or the corvette, so I will clarify a few things. Everything from from the BB to the reserve carrier are actual war ships that go on the attack. The Corvette through Starbase are meant to represent intra-stellar defenses only, so they actually have no additional engines at all (1 movement). The mobile starbase is supposed to be a smaller starbase with limited mobility, preferably with movement no higher than 4 (in the late game, 2 early). Patrol boats are early warning systems designed to move to a permanent position inside your empire and act as warning systems for any ships that get into your territory. Because they are slow they tend to die in place. AWACS are designed to sit on your enemies borders and warn you of incoming enemies. They retreat to a place of safety when necessary using their superior speed. The rest should be obvious.
In reality there are a few of these I don't use very often, such as the patrol boats and the picket destroyers and frigates. However, it is nice to have them around in case I change strategies ever (pickets are more useful in games where you want to win with alliance or scientific victories, which I don't do much).
BTW, my system is loosely based on a mix of Star Fleet Battles and the US Navy.
Anyway, hope you all find this interesting.