Not necessarily. Commercial builders are issued a number that identifies the company. The company then uses a series of letters and numbers which begins with issued identifer letters, then an arbitrary series of numbers and letters to identfy model, then date using a formula provided which identifies the date for commencemnet of construction.

Since I do not apply for single personal numbers, my understanding from the regulations is that there is a form to fill in which asks for the particular info on your boat and the Office of Boating Safety will issue the series of numbers to you for your boat.

Good luck, when you figure it out for single home builds, fill me in too!