For several weeks now, Johanna has been asking me what I was going to name my new BMW. Her black Ford Focus is already a named member of our household, going by the ever appropriate “Schwarz” (black in German).

I’ve never named a car, so this was an odd task. How do I name a car I haven’t met? What should I be considering when naming it, anyway? Is it male or female? And how the hell do I pick a good name? Ugh, this was going to be complicated.

So I set out to just wait and see. Experience the car, let it come to me and tell me what to call it. While the sheer emotion of the first couple days with the car were powerful, I was getting closer but not quite there…

The car was… Fast… Agile… Safe… Exciting… Joy…

And that’s when I consulted Johanna and my German dictionary: “How do you say ‘joy’ in German?”. The answer is in BMWs German slogan: Freude am Fahren. “Joy in driving”.

And so, with some slight adjustments for the English-speaking ears around me and some editorial license in naming, I give you:

Königin Freue

(Koo-ni-gin Froy-ya)

The Queen of Joy