Take the Mediterranean region for instance, that’s split into several different seas. Alboran, Balaeric, Tyrrhenian, adriatic, ionian, and mediterranean. There are some that make more sense like the Kara sea or the Red sea which are more enclosed, but then you have places like the celtic sea which seems to be just some random stretch of the atlantic.
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It depends on whether you want to consider *territorial* waters, or whether you mean “seas” etc. as defined historically and culturally.
The former is defined by various international treaties and UN adjudications. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea defines coastal waters, and pretty much everyone agrees to abide by those conventions.
The latter are the result of accreted traditions, historical claims or definitions, and sociocultural patterns that are or were relevant to the area. There is no single standard, and often the boundaries themselves are extremely loose. Yes, this can lead to problems (e.g. disagreements from China on what they control vs don’t control in the waters of SE Asia), but as a general rule…these names are just regional names.
What defines “New England” or “The South” in the US, for example? What defines the “East” and “West Midlands” in the UK? These things are sociocultural boundaries, not rigidly-defined geographical ones.
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