Culture and economics shape names, ranks, and fleet identity

How do you choose ship names, ranks, and crewing conventions for a fictional navy?

Define the society's broad history, economy, logistics, language, and founding ideals, then let naval conventions grow consistently from that cultural framework.

Stewart starts with broad strokes: who founded a society, what idealized past it imitates, how its economy works, and what institutions grew from that history. Those choices guide ship names, ranks, language, and the visual identity of the fleet. Colonies inspired by Imperial Germany or ancient Greek democracy are not literal copies; they are later societies built by founders selectively reenacting an admired model. A stable framework lets details appear when the story needs them while keeping those details internally consistent across a series.