There's nothing unusual about the name of the Hood, BB. HMS Hood was named after the 18th century British Admiral Samuel Hood. Many other British warships were named after various officers in British naval history, some other examples of this practice being the battleships HMS Anson, HMS Howe, HMS Rodney, HMS Barham, and HMS Nelson.

Likewise, I expect there's nothing unusual in an American ship being named the Ponce. It's probably just the surname of some historically noteworthy American naval officer.