More than 26,000 people voted on names for SF's new ferries. Here are the winners.

May 15-The next time you cruise across the San Francisco Bay, it could be on a boat named Doubtfire. Or Rosie, Say Hey, Sea-Wolf or Farallon.

The next five San Francisco Bay Ferry boats have official names, courtesy of a San Francisco Chronicle poll and more than 26,000 votes from readers. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.) On Thursday, San Francisco Bay Ferry's board of directors unanimously approved five final names.

Those vessels, which will be the country's first high-speed, battery-powered, zero-emission ferries, are expected to arrive in 2027 and 2028. Three will have 150-rider capacities, and two will hold 400 passengers, according to the Chronicle.

The names pull from Bay Area lore. Doubtfire is a reference to "Mrs. Doubtfire," the San Francisco-set Robin Williams film. Farallon is a nod to the Farallon Islands, a group of islands off the coast of San Francisco. Say Hey references the Say Hey Kid, the nickname of Willie Mays, the legendary Giants center fielder. Sea-Wolf, the name that received the most votes, is the title of a Jack London novel that begins with a bay ferry, and Rosie is an allusion to Rosie the Riveter.

Seamus Murphy, the executive director of the Water Emergency Transportation Authority, the body that administers the ferry service, expressed enthusiasm at the final names.

"These names represent such great elements of our region's history and culture, and we can't wait to see them painted on the side of our new fleet," Murphy told the Chronicle.

Terrapin, a reference to the Grateful Dead album "Terrapin Station," placed sixth. Other finalist names included "Aurelia," "Hella," "Sourdough," "Frisco," "Starfleet" and "Cioppino."

The polling process began when San Francisco Bay Ferry tapped the Chronicle for help naming the new vessels. The five names were chosen after a two-month process, during which Chronicle readers nominated 1500 possible names. The Chronicle and SF Bay Ferry narrowed that list down to 27 finalists, and put those names to a final vote.

According to the Chronicle, the readers who first submitted the five winning names will ride the San Francisco Bay Ferry for free for a year.

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