Rara Avis

When my grandfather retired, he bought a boat. The way my father tells the story is that grandmommy was doing a crossword puzzle and came across the word “rara avis”. That was it! The boat would be named “rara avis”. I asked my dad if he knew what it meant and he thought they had all looked up at some point that it meant “wild and crazy bird”, when my dad and I checked the dictionary definition it said “something or someone strange or unusual or a unique bird.” The only time I have ever heard it is when we refer to the boat- I should try to use it more often!