If you're under 12 – or if you own a boat – you probably rank Capt. Jack Sparrow among your favorite fictitious pirates. In fact, boat names like The Black Pearl and Tortuga proliferated after Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movie was released.

History is littered with the stories of real buccaneers, most of them vicious and ruthless. Here's a sampling of some of the most notorious, courtesy of Boston.com.

Captain Kidd
Scottish-born American pirate William Kidd buried his treasures on Long Island, but was captured and hanged for his crimes in 1701.

Henry Morgan
Known as the "Sword of England," Henry Morgan was a Welsh privateer who was notorious for terrorizing Caribbean ports in the 1600s. He was the real-life Captain Morgan.

Black Bart
Not your archetypal pirate, Black Bart, a.k.a Bartholomew Roberts, reportedly seized more than 400 ships, yet preferred tea to rum. Roberts was also a fan of fine jewelry and clothing and actually encouraged prayer.

Blackbeard
While his pirate career only lasted roughly five years, Blackbeard was one of the more ruthless pirates that patrolled the Caribbean. Blackbeard, whose real name was Edward Teach, commanded a fleet of four ships and well over 300 pirates at one time.

Redbeard
Hayreddin Barbarossa was a Turkish privateer who was known around the Mediterranean as Redbeard, a nickname he inherited from his older brother, Baba Oruç. After being appointed as the admiral in chief of the Ottoman Empire in 1533, he conquered Tunisia.

Calico Jack
John Rackham, also known as Calico Jack, primarily plundered vessels throughout the Caribbean in the early 1700's. Rackham is mainly remembered for his association with Anne Bonny and Mary Read, two women who disguised themselves as pirates aboard his ship.

Howell Davis
English pirate Howell Davis roamed the Caribbean as well, but not for long. His pirate career lasted a mere 11 months. While many pirates would rely on guns and ammo to get their work done, Davis became infamous by tricking and bribing his enemies. Davis' sinister ways caught up to him though, as he was ambushed and killed in June 1719.

Mary Read and Anne Bonny
Mary Read and Anne Bonny, from England and Ireland respectively, have gone down in history as the only female pirates recorded. The two met aboard Calico Jack's ship, yet avoided execution after being caught in October 1720 by claiming they were pregnant.

Henry Avery
Henry Avery, a pirate who buccaneered throughout the Caribbean in the late 1600s gained his fame by reportedly retiring with his treasure without being arrested or killed. While many pirates met their demise on the high seas, Avery eventually returned home to England but was cheated out of his riches as he aged.