Etymology of ‘Sperm Whale’

One of largest living animals and the species that inspired Moby Dick, the sperm whale seems designed specifically to make 13-year-old boys giggle. Those of us who are slightly more mature will scoff and say that perhaps there’s some archaic, etymological reason for the sea mammal’s unfortunate name.

Well, nope. The sperm whale is called a sperm whale for exactly the reason you think it is. Don’t forget, it was named by a bunch of sailors after all.

Spermaceti

Upon harpooning the sperm whale, early whalers found its massive head cavity filled with a viscous, transparent liquid “mixed with the soft, silky integuments, and possessing the odor of the new-drawn milk.” ¹ This liquid, which crystallizes upon contact with the air, proved a much more valuable substance than common whale oil, so early sailors were absolutely thirsty for it.

They called it spermaceti which is Latin for ‘whale’s seed’ ². This ‘whale’s seed’ has nothing to do with semen, though. Both male and female sperm whales possess spermaceti. And modern biologists assume that it probably functions to help with buoyancy or aid in echolocation ³. Though this didn’t stop early seamen from christening the species with its unfortunate name.

Moby Dick

Unfortunate still, is that the most famous sperm whale is one Moby Dick from the Herman Melville novel Moby-Dick .Yes, the novel is hyphenated and the character’s name is not ⁴. But, surely this is just an anachronistic quirk that has become euphemistic over time (like the Joker’s boner ⁵). Well, remember what I said about sailors? Moby Dick is named after a very real white whale called Mocha Dick ⁶, and yes, Dick is likely a euphemism for penis.

1. Davis, William M | Chapter 6 | Nimrod of the Sea; or, the American Whaleman | 1874
2. “spermaceti” | Merriam-Webster
3. Whitehead, Hal | Chapter 8 | Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean | 2003
4. Blakemore, Erin | “Why Does Moby-Dick (Sometimes) Have a Hyphen?” | Smithsonian Magazine | 2015
5. Cronin, Brian | “I Love Ya But You’re Strange – The Great Batman/Joker Boner War of 1951!” | Comic Book Resources | 2014
6. “Was There a Real Moby Dick?” | New Bedford Whaling Museum