The common name of this species is variously spelled "pawpaw", "paw paw", "paw-paw", and "papaw". By 1760 the names "papaw" and "pawpaw" were being applied to "A. triloba". The "Papaw" has received many awards during its history. Papaw was decommissioned on 23 July 1999 at Group Galveston, Texas. "Papaw" services approximately 150 aids to navigation from Brownsville, Texas to Calcasieu, Louisiana. "Papaw" was built in 1943 by the Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Company of Duluth, Minnesota.