Hi David
With the number of ships Maersk have, finding them new names can be a headache, especialy having taken over another large company recently, (3rd largest).
They started calling their ships after members of the family, (I don't think there was a David in the family). When the fleet grew, they had to find other names. One way was to change the way the name was presented (i.e. old way was ***** Maersk, new method Maersk ****. Don't worry i'am not swearing).
As you say Maersk David doesn't seem to have that ring to it, but the names with christian names in are usually name first, then Maersk, (i.e. David Maersk, Anna Maersk, Olga Maersk etc). Why this one is different I don't know, perhaps there is a place called Duncan somewhere.
Imagine how big this headache will become if Maersk take over MSC, the 2nd largest shipping company. They must have a similar problem with their ships.
The Royal Navy had this problem in the 2nd World War, with so many ships coming under their control, (eg: the flower class corvettes). Also with the minesweeping program in the early 50's. They were going to call the ships after insects, preceded by a colour, (eg: Green Aphid, Red Aphid, etc). They ended up using villages ending in the word Ton (Coastal Minesweepers) or Ham (Inshore Minesweepers)
Regards
Karl
:-)