Why navies hesitate to name ships after the nation

Why are navies reluctant to name a warship directly after the country?

Because losing it gives the enemy a powerful propaganda claim that it has sunk the nation itself.

The German cruiser Deutschland shows the sensitivity of national ship names. Its name was changed in wartime partly to avoid the symbolism of an enemy sinking Germany. Britain likewise tends to avoid names such as England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, or Great Britain for major warships. Royal Oak and other historically resonant names can carry national and royal symbolism without literally identifying the vessel with the country. If such a ship is lost, the event remains painful without producing the headline that the nation itself has been sunk. Ship naming is therefore a small but deliberate form of political and propaganda risk management.