2Cellos – The band consists of two members who both play the
cello.
3 Doors Down – The band started out with drummer/vocalist Brad Arnold, bassist Todd Harrell and guitarist Matt Roberts. As they decided to tour outside of their hometown of Escatawpa, Mississippi and into Foley, Alabama, they came up with their official name as they saw a building with a sign with most of its letters fallen off, reading "Doors Down". Since at the time they started out with 3 band members the name stuck and called themselves 3 Doors Down.[1]
311 – 311 is an
Omaha, Nebraska, police code for indecent exposure. One rainy day, 311 bassist P-Nut and some friends went skinny dipping in a public pool. They were apprehended by police. One of P-Nut's friends, Jim Watson, was arrested, cuffed (naked), and taken home to his parents. He was issued a citation for a code 311. The band found the incident amusing, so they based their name on it.[2]
10cc – By his own account,
Jonathan King chose the name for the band after signing them to his record label UK Records, after having a dream in which he was standing in front of the
Hammersmith Odeon in London where the boarding read "10cc The Best Band in the World". A widely repeated claim, disputed by King, but confirmed in a 1988 interview by
Lol Creme and also on the webpage of
Graham Gouldman's current line-up, is that the band name represented a volume of semen that was more than the average amount ejaculated by men ("cc" being an abbreviation of
cubic centimetre), thus emphasising their potency or prowess.[3]
50 Cent – The artist adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a
metaphor for change, after having served time at
boot camp for selling drugs to an undercover police officer.[4] The name was inspired by
Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent"; the artist chose it "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means."[5]
100 gecs – The name came from a spray-painted phrase seen by the duo in Chicago.[6]
The 1975 – Lead singer Matthew Healy said in an interview that he came up with the name after discovering an old art journal from a
beatnik, with one of the dates listed as "June 1st, the 1975". Healy said that he thought the placement of "the" in a recorded date was intriguing, and decided to use it as the name for the band.[8]
1910 Fruitgum Company - The album liner notes explain Frank Jeckell found a bubblegum wrapper in a jacket found inside an attic which had the name on it. However, Frank has stated in interviews that this wasn't true, and that when the band (originally Jeckell and the Hydes) signed with
Super K Productions, they were given the name. He later happened to find a slot machine that had the text inscribed under one of the jackpot reels "Copyright 1910 Bell-Fruit-Gum Mills Novelty Co., Chicago" and believes the 1910 Fruitgum Company name originated from it.[9]
A
a-ha – A title that member
Pål Waaktaar contemplated giving to a song.
Morten Harket was looking through Waaktaar's notebook and came across the name "a-ha". He liked it and said, "That's a great name. That's what we should call ourselves." After checking dictionaries in several languages, they found out that a-ha was an international way of expressing recognition, with positive connotations. It was short, easy to say, and unusual.[10]
A-Teens – The 'A' stands for ABBA since they started as a cover band for the group; their name was originally ABBA-Teens but was changed upon the request from
Björn Ulvaeus and
Benny Andersson to avoid confusion. The group later did other songs, such as "
Upside Down".[11]
AC/DC –
Malcolm and
Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after their sister seeing "
AC/
DC" on an electric sewing machine, "why not AC/DC".[14]
Ace of Base – The band's first studio was in the basement of a car repair shop, and they considered themselves to be the "masters" of the studio. "Ace of Base" was derived from "masters of the basement".[10]
A Day to Remember – A former member's ex-girlfriend used the term and the name stuck.[15]
Adiemus – Creator
Karl Jenkins invented the word, unaware at the time that it means "We will draw near" in Latin.[16]
The Airborne Toxic Event – Named by leader
Mikel Jollett after a section in
Don DeLillo's novel White Noise in which a poisonous gas cloud results from a chemical spill from a train car. Jollett saw a similarity between the life-altering perspective shift in the novel's protagonist and the life-altering series of events that gave rise to the band, and the themes of mortality and media consumption resulting from the gas cloud in the novel are a source of inspiration for the band.
AKB48 – After Tokyo's area
Akihabara (colloquially shortened to Akiba), a mecca for electronics shopping and geeks. The group was formed as theater-based, to perform at its own theater at Akihabara on a daily basis, so that fans could always go and see them live. It still performs there every day, although, after the group's popularity went up, tickets started being distributed only via an online lottery.[18]
Alice Cooper – Alice Cooper was a band before frontman
Vincent Furnier started a solo career under the same name. Allegedly, Alice Cooper was the name of a spirit members of the band came in contact with through a
ouija,[10] though Furnier has also claimed that he wanted their name to contrast with their sound, and Alice Cooper sounds like somebody's grandmother.
Alice in Chains – The name was taken from lead singer
Layne Staley's previous group, the
glam metal band
Alice N' Chains.[20] Staley shed some light on the subject in a Rolling Stone article in 1992: "The name came from a side project of my old group [Alice N' Chains]. We were going to have this band that dressed up in drag and played heavy metal as a joke."[21] Alice N' Chains' bassist
Johnny Bacolas explained the name in the 2011 book Everybody Loves Our Town: A History of Grunge.[22] Bacolas and Russ Klatt (the lead singer of Slaughter Haus 5),[23] were at a party in North Seattle talking about backstage passes. One of the passes said "Welcome to Wonderland", and they started talking about that being an
Alice in Wonderland-type thing, until Klatt started saying, "What about Alice in Chains? Put her in bondage and stuff like that."[22] Bacolas thought the name "Alice in Chains" was cool and brought it up to his
Sleze bandmates and everyone liked it, so they changed the name of the band. Since three of the members had very Christian mothers, they thought spelling it "Alice N' Chains" made it not sound a bondage name.[22] After Staley left Alice N' Chains, he contacted his former bandmates and asked for permission to use the name with his new band with guitarist
Jerry Cantrell.[24]
Alien Ant Farm – Bassist Terry Corso said the name was a day dream he had about how Earth is just an experiment for aliens from other planets.
The All-American Rejects – The "All-Americans" and "the Rejects", both suggested to the band as names, were merged.[25]
All Time Low – When in high school, members Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Rian Dawson, and Zack Merrick made a list of possible band names, one of which being "All Time Low". The name came from
New Found Glory's song "
Head On Collision".
Alt-J–The spoken form of the band ∆, alt + j is the keyboard shortcut used to type ∆ on a Mac computer.
∆ is a mathematical symbol for change.[26]
AlunaGeorge – From the first names of the members, Aluna Francis and George Reid.
Anamanaguchi – The name came about from a member in one of Peter Berkman's former bands pronouncing gibberish in the style of
Jabba the Hutt;[28] The band has also explained it as coming from the members' internships at
Armani (Berkman and James DeVito),
Prada (Ary Warnaar), and
Gucci (Luke Silas) while studying fashion at Parsons School of Design.[29]
Anberlin – Band member
Stephen Christian has offered the explanations that he planned naming his first daughter Anberlin[30] and that the name was a modification of the phrase "and Berlin" from a list of cities Christian wanted to visit.[31] The one story that Christian asserts is true, however, is that he heard the word in the background noise of the
Radiohead song "
Everything in Its Right Place".[32]
Animals as Leaders – Inspired by the 1992 novel Ishmael by
Daniel Quinn, guitarist Tosin Abasi coined the name as a reminder that "we're all essentially animals". Abasi went into further depth by saying, "The name is kind of like, a lot of what we do is completely removed from the fact that we're all essentially animals. We have a niche on the planet and we have a role in sustainable sort of ecology. But we've gone against our natural calling. The name is acknowledging that we do have more of a natural role on the planet. It's also like, who would follow an animal to do anything? I think of the name as being both nonsensical and really literal."[35]
Die Ärzte – Decided when the band noticed that the folder with the umlaut "Ä" was empty in most record stores. The band often stylises their name, which is grammatically correct German, with three dots in the
umlaut in the letter "Ä", as a parody of the
heavy metal umlaut. No language using the
Latin alphabet has a three-dot diacritic.
Auto-Icon – Derived from the term Auto-Iconization first attributed to
Jeremy Bentham, Utility and Democracy: The Political Thought of Jeremy Bentham. Auto-Icon Started as a one-man project in Los Angeles in 1999 with the end of the century and Y2K looming, it seemed to founding member J. Hébert any one could call themselves an "Icon".
The Avalanches – Taken from the 1960s surf rock band of the same name.
Avenged Sevenfold – Taken from the
Book of Genesis, from the passage "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold."
Avicii – Stage name of Tim Bergling; he explained that the name Avicii means "the lowest level of
Buddhist hell" (
Avīci) and he chose the moniker because his real name was already used upon creating his
Myspace page.[42][43]
A Wilhelm Scream – The
Wilhelm scream is a frequently-used film and television stock
sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums.[44] The band were previously named 'Koen' and then 'Smackin Isaiah' before finally settling on the current appellation.
Awolnation – The name is derived from leader Aaron Bruno's high school nickname. In an interview with Kristin Houser of the LA Music Blog, he stated that he "would leave without saying goodbye" because it was just easier, so that's where the name AWOL (slang from the military acronym for
Absent Without Leave) came from."[45]
B
The B-52's – From the name of a
beehive hairstyle, itself named for the Boeing
B-52 Stratofortress.
Babymetal – According to Kobametal (the band's producer), the name came to him by revelation (as a "divine message"). It is a play on the words "heavy metal".[46]
Bachman–Turner Overdrive – A combination of band members' last names and the magazine Overdrive. The band's name had previously been "Bachman-Turner". All band members agreed that Bachman-Turner Overdrive sounded cooler.[citation needed]
You have to remember that we were fifteen-year-old punks–we wanted to piss people off. Anything that might make parents, teachers, and people with authority bristle was up for discussion. We also wanted a name that would suggest a great logo for stickers and T-shirts. Many of the names were compelling but too repulsive. Smegma, Vaginal Discharge, and Head Cheese might make for great logos but were quickly rejected as not representative of our songs. We played around with a lot of names involving the word "bad"–Bad Family Planning, Bad Politics. When we hot [sic] on Bad Religion, it seemed perfect. That year, 1980, was a time of rising prominence for televangelists like
Jimmy Swaggart,
Pat Robertson, and
Jim Bakker. The year before,
Jerry Falwell had founded the Moral Majority, which was having a powerful influence on the presidential election between
Jimmy Carter and
Ronald Reagan. Religion was a hot topic, and those TV preachers seemed like a good target to us, though we didn't think they could possibly last for more than a few years. We knew that most people were so defensive about their religious ideas that they would be highly offended by our name–a major plus! And then Brett came up with a logo that represented our philosophical stance. We felt complete.[48]
The Band – They were originally known as The Hawks, after their original lead singer
Ronnie Hawkins. While working with
Bob Dylan in the 1960s, they decided to change their name, but were unable to agree on a new name. They finally decided to simply call themselves "The Band" after being derisively referred to as "the band" by critics of Dylan's new electric direction on the 1966 tour.[50]
Barenaked Ladies – Two members–Steven Page and Ed Robertson–were bored at a Bob Dylan concert and turned to amusing each other, pretending they were rock critics, inventing histories and comments about the Dylan band. They also made up various fictional band names, one of which was "Barenaked Ladies".[51][52] On another front, Robertson had agreed to perform with his cover band in a battle of the bands at Nathan Phillips Square for the Second Harvest food bank. The band broke up and he forgot about the gig. When he received a phone call a week before the show, asking him to confirm the gig, he improvised that the name of the band had changed to "Barenaked Ladies", recalling the name from the Dylan concert. He then called Page and asked if he wanted to do the gig; Page reportedly could not believe Robertson had given that name.[51][52][53] The two played the show on October 1, 1988,[54] They arranged three rehearsals and missed them all. The two played the show on October 1, 1988, but instead of competing, they played while the other bands set up, playing every song they could think of that they both knew. The show went well and the pair continued performing and started writing songs together.[51][52][55]
The Beatles –
The Crickets were cited as an inspiration for the name. Additionally, the misspelling of "beetles" was a play on words, describing the "beat" of the band.[58]
The Beautiful South – The Beautiful South were an English alternative rock group formed at the end of the 1980s by two former members of Hull group
The Housemartins, Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. Heaton explained at the time that the name was partly a sarcastic reflection of his own dislike of southern England, and partly an attempt to force macho men to utter the word 'beautiful'.[59]
Bee Gees – From "B.G.", the initials of all three of band member Barry Gibb, radio DJ Bill Gates and
speedway promoter and driver Bill Goode. The similarity to "Brothers Gibb" is just a coincidence.[60][61][62]
Biffy Clyro – There are many rumours of the origin of
Biffy Clyro's name. These are that, one time, lead singer
Simon Neil bought a
Cliff Richard pen, which was therefore a "Cliffy
biro". They then changed this to Biffy Clyro. Another theory is that 'Biffy Clyro' were a
Welsh tribe. The third rumour is that Biffy Clyro was a former player of the band's football team,
Ayr United. They have never confirmed any of these.
The Birthday Massacre – The name of the band's early song. According to their vocalist Chibi: "It kind of works well for the music that we're making. Sort of contrasty, you know? Birthday, and massacre. Light, and dark. Cute, and evil."[66] The band was originally known as Imagica, but adopted the current name to avoid confusion with another group. The song "The Birthday Massacre" was then renamed to "Happy Birthday".
The Black Crowes – The group originally called themselves
Mr. Crowe's Garden, after a favorite children's book. They performed under that name until they signed with Def American Records in 1989. They renamed themselves in response to the suggestion of a producer.[67][68]
Black Flag – Suggested by guitarist Greg Ginn's brother, Raymond Pettibone, because "if a white flag means surrender, a black flag means anarchy."[69]
The Black Keys – When the duo grew up in
Akron, Ohio, a schizophrenic man residing in a halfway house used to call their homes to ask for crayons,
Diet Coke and cigarettes. His messages would always end with him saying "...don't be a black key. Don't be a b-flat."[70]
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – The film The Wild One featured two motorcycle gangs, the Beetles and Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. In a reference to the story that
The Beatles took their name from one motorcycle gang, Peter Hayes (guitarist) and Robert Levon Been (bassist) originally named their band "The Other Gang", but switched to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club when The Other Gang did not catch on.[71][72]
Black Sabbath – Originally known as Earth, the group wanted to change their name as another group had the same name.[73] The group saw a local cinema playing a film titled Black Sabbath and marvelled that people paid money to be frightened.[73]
Blind Melon – Bass player Brad Smith's father used this term to refer to some hippies who lived in a commune near his house.[74]
Blink-182 – The "Blink" was thought up by Tom DeLonge when the band consisted of DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and their friend Scott Raynor. (They previously called themselves Duck Tape.) An Irish electronica artist was already using the name Blink, so they added a random number to the end.
Blondie – A nickname given to frontwoman
Debbie Harry by truck drivers who
catcalled "Hey, Blondie" to Harry as they drove by.[75]
Blue October – The front man of Blue October,
Justin Furstenfeld, spent a brief stint in a mental hospital in October 1997. Furstenfeld stated that afterwards he wrote songs to keep depression away which led to the forming of the band.[76]
Boards of Canada – Named in tribute to the
National Film Board of Canada. The brothers spent part of their youth growing up in
Canada, and credit the Film Board's documentaries as a source of inspiration for their sound.[77]
bob hund – From a cartoon dog named Bob that the band once saw on TV.
The Boomtown Rats – As revealed in his autobiography, Bound for Glory, this was the name of
Woody Guthrie's boyhood gang, named after his hometown, Oklahoma City, known as 'Boomtown' during the oil boom.
Bon Iver – Suggested by an episode of Northern Exposure in which, after the first snow of winter, people greet each other with bon hiver (pronounced[bɔn‿ivɛʁ], French for "good winter").[78][79] This was initially transcribed by Vernon as "boniverre". When he learned of its proper French spelling, he elected not to use it, deciding "hiver" reminded him too much of liver; he had been bedridden with a liver ailment when he watched the show.[80]
Bon Jovi – An alternative spelling of
Jon Bon Jovi's last name Bongiovi, following the example of the other famous two-word bands such as
Van Halen, as suggested by Pamela Maher.
Boston - After the city of
Boston,
Massachusetts, where the band was formed. The name was suggested by a producer & engineer working on the band's
first album.
Boyz II Men – Originally known as Unique Attraction, they were renamed after a song by
New Edition.
Breaking Benjamin – During a live performance, frontman Benjamin Burnley accidentally knocked a microphone over, causing it to crack once it hit the ground. The microphone's owner appeared on stage to say "I'd like to thank Benjamin for breaking my f*cking microphone."[82]
Bush – The band chose the name in reference to a district of West London named
Shepherd's Bush where the founding members once lived.[84]
Butthole Surfers – The band, who previously changed their name at every gig, was performing an earlier version of 1984's "Butthole Surfer" when the announcer forgot the band's name and used the title of the song instead. They were forced to keep this name after the performance hit fame.[85]
Buzzcocks – The band took their name from a Time Out review of the 1976 T.V. show Rock Follies with the headline "It's the Buzz, Cock!" (Cock was slang for "mate".) The band members liked the subversiveness of it.[86]
C
Cage The Elephant – After one of their shows, a mentally ill man approached frontman Matt Shultz, hugged him and said "you have to cage the elephant".
Cake – Rather than referring to the foodstuff, the name is meant to be "like when something insidiously becomes a part of your life...[we] mean it more as something that cakes onto your shoe and is just sort of there until you get rid of it".[87]
Car Seat Headrest – Founder Will Toledo chose the name "Car Seat Headrest" as he would often record the vocals to his early albums in the back seat of his car for privacy.[90]
The Chainsmokers – Founding member Alex Pall explained it as follows: "At the time of conception it was, it was totally just like I was in college. You know I enjoyed smoking weed and you know it was just like such a 'yeah the domain's open'. I don't have to have any like underscores."[91]
Charli XCX – When playing at illegal warehouse parties, she needed a stage name and chose Charli XCX, which was her
MSN Messenger screen name. The "XCX" stands for "kiss Charli kiss".[92]
Cheap Trick – Inspired by the band's attendance of a Slade concert, where bassist Tom Petersson commented that the band used "every cheap trick in the book" as part of their act.[93]
Children of Bodom – After being told by
Spinefarm Records that the band's name had to change (the group having previously been signed to another label under the name Inearthed), the group looked through a local phone book to search for inspiration, coming across
Lake Bodom. The band, like most of Finland, was already aware of the
unsolved murder of three teenagers camping at the lake. The band believed they had found an impacting name with an interesting story behind it, and so chose the name Children of Bodom. Many of their songs have also been named after the murders, such as "Lake Bodom", "Silent Night, Bodom Night", "Children of Bodom" and "Bodom After Midnight".
Clean Bandit – Members Grace Chatto and Jack Patterson lived in Moscow for a while; their landlady referred to a friend of theirs using a Russian affectionate phrase meaning something like "utter rascal". "Clean bandit" is a more literal translation.[97][98]
Coldplay – The band were called "Starfish" originally and a friend's group was called "Coldplay". When they did not want the name anymore, "Starfish" asked if they could use it instead. The original Coldplay took the name from a book of collected poems called Child's Reflections: Cold Play.[99]
Conchita Wurst – From the
German expression "das ist mir doch alles Wurst", meaning "it's all the same to me"[101] and a Cuban friend of the artist's named Conchita.[101] The artist has also explained that conchita is Spanish
slang for vagina and Wurst is German slang for penis.[102]
Creed – Originally known as Naked Toddler, the band changed its name to Creed at bassist Brian Marshall's suggestion, after a band he had previously played for called Mattox Creed.
Creedence Clearwater Revival – The band took the three elements from, firstly, Tom Fogerty's friend Credence Newball (to whose first name Credence they added an extra 'e', making it resemble a faith or creed); secondly, "clear water" from a TV commercial for Olympia beer; and finally "revival", which spoke to the four members' renewed commitment to their band.[104]
Crush 40 – Lead singer
Johnny Gioeli explained to Gareth Spriggs (aka Fastest Thing Alive) at Summer of Sonic '10 that he never wanted to turn 40 years old, hence the name Crush 40, because he wanted to "Crush 40". The name is also a reference to
Crush soda, guitarist
Jun Senoue's favorite brand of soft drink.
The Cure – The band's original name was Easy Cure, which was taken from the name of one of the group's early songs. The name was later shortened to The Cure because frontman
Robert Smith felt the name was too American and "too hippyish".[105]
°C-ute (Cute) – The Japanese girl group was named by its producer Tsunku. According to him and the band's official website, the English word cute means "(little and) lovely, pretty". Wanting to somehow express the girls' overflowing fervor (enthusiasm), he substituted "°C" for "C".[106][107]
D
Daft Punk – In 1992, being heavily influenced by
The Beach Boys, they recorded songs under the name
Darlin', which was a Beach Boys single from their 1967 album Wild Honey. A negative review in the UK's Melody Maker described their effort as "a daft punky thrash", which depressed the pair but unwittingly gave them a name for their next project.
Danny – Chosen intentionally at the start of the artist's career. The name "Danny" is an
acronym of a certain phrase, but according to an interview with Tuulia magazine, Danny will only reveal this phrase after retiring.[108]
Danny Wilson – Chosen at the last minute after problems with their initial band name
Spencer Tracy due to issues with the dead actor's estate, who threatened to sue their record label
Virgin Records if they went ahead and released their debut album in the states under that name. Instead the brothers in the band
Gary Clark and Kit Clark chose the titular character from the film Meet Danny Wilson as that was played by
Frank Sinatra who was a favourite artist of their father.
Darude – After the song "Rude Boy" by
Swedish artist
Leila K which he played a lot at a classmate's party, gradually morphed first into "Da Rude" and then "Darude".[109]
Dashboard Confessional – Derived from the line in the band's song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" which is "on the way home, this car hears my confessions/I think tonight I'll take the long way home...".[110]
Dead Kennedys – The name was not meant to insult the assassinated Kennedy brothers, but to quote vocalist
Jello Biafra, "to bring attention to the end of the American Dream".[113]
The Dead Milkmen – According to the band's official website, band member
Joe Genaro said that the name "actually existed before the band was a reality". He created the name in high school for a creative writing project, based on the main character of the
Toni Morrison novel Song of Solomon.[114] The character, Macon Dead III, was nicknamed "Milkman" Dead.[115]
Deadmau5 – When his computer crashed and emitted a strange odor, Joel Thomas Zimmerman dismantled it and found a dead mouse inside. He later used the name as a username for various chatrooms.
Death Cab for Cutie – named for the song Death Cab for Cutie composed by Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes and performed by the
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band on their 1967 album Gorilla. The song was named for a headline in a tabloid about a woman killed in a taxi accident.
Deftones – Created by lead guitarist
Stephen Carpenter, who wanted to pick "something that would just stand out but you know, not be all cheese-ball at the same time". Carpenter combined the hip hop slang term "def", which was used by artists such as LL Cool J and Public Enemy, with the suffix "-tones", which was a popular suffix among 1950s bands (e.g.,
Dick Dale and the Del-Tones, The Quin-Tones, The Monotones, The Cleftones, and The Harptones). Carpenter said the name is intentionally vague to reflect the band's tendency to not focus on just one style of music.
Depeche Mode – After a French fashion magazine, Dépêche Mode (literally "Fashion Dispatch").[120]
Der Plan – Inspired by a quote from a book by British author
Gordon Rattray Taylor called "The Biological Timebomb", in which he describes the ability to make a plan as what distinguishes human beings from animals.
Devo – Inspired "from [the band's] concept of '
de-evolution'–the idea that instead of continuing to evolve, mankind has actually begun to regress, as evidenced by the dysfunction and
herd mentality of American society."[121]
Dio – Named for vocalist Ronnie James Dio, because his name was already well known at that time.
Dire Straits – Comes from the band's financial situation at the time of forming.
The Dirty Heads – The band's name comes from an occasion where Jared "Dirty J" Watson and vocalist/guitarist Dustin "Duddy B" Bushnell were stealing a 12-pack of beer, and someone shouted at them "Come here you little dirty heads!"
DNCE – Pronounced "dance", which member JinJoo Lee said "is not a perfect word, but you don't have to be a perfect dancer to dance in life."[124]
Don Johnson Big Band – Named after the actor
Don Johnson in the series Miami Vice. The band had to come up with a name to reserve a place for training, so the name "Don Johnson Big Band" was invented spontaneously on the spot. The band is not a
big band and bears little relation to Don Johnson.
Earth, Wind & Fire – Frontman Maurice White's astrological sign is
Sagittarius, which has a primary elemental quality of fire and seasonal qualities of earth and air.
The Eastern Dark – The 1980s Australian rock band took their name from a locale in
the Phantom comics (referred to as Darcan or Darca in later strips) which was home to a multitude of evil and criminal enterprises. The Phantom is known, among his many names, as Guardian of the Eastern Dark.
Eiffel 65 – A computer chose the name Eiffel randomly from a group of words the three liked. The number 65 was added mistakenly to an early pressing of their first single,
Blue (Da Ba Dee).
ELO –
Electric Light Orchestra is an intended pun based not only on electric light (as in a light bulb as seen on early album covers) but also using "electric" rock instruments combined with a "
light orchestra" (orchestras with only a few cellos and violins that were popular in Britain during the 1960s).
Eppu Normaali – After the character Abby Normal in the
Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein, but renamed as a Finnish name, keeping the original pun ("Eppu Normaali" sounds like "epänormaali", Finnish for "abnormal").[132]
Evanescence – When asked where they got their name, they responded, "The dictionary." The word "evanescence" means "a disappearance or dissipation, like vapor". They apparently disliked their previous name and wanted something better. They also wanted to do some artwork (with whatever name they chose) and decided to look under E. They liked the word and definition, likening it to the temporary nature of life.[133]
Exit Ten – After the motorway junction of the M4 to Reading, the band's "home".
Explosions in the Sky – After leaving a performance on KVRX on July 4, 1999, when the band was still operating under the name Breaker Morant, drummer Chris Hravsky compared the fireworks outside to explosions in the sky.[136]
Extreme – Extreme was formed in
Boston,
Massachusetts, in 1985.[137] Vocalist Gary Cherone and drummer Paul Geary had previously been members of a band called The Dream.[138] Guitarist Nuno Bettencourt was in a band called Sinful, and bassist Pat Badger was playing with a Berklee College-based act called In The Pink. Bettencourt joined up with Cherone and Geary in a new group in 1985, followed by Badger in 1986. The name "Extreme" is a reference to Cherone and Geary's former band, being a
homophone of "ex-Dream".[138]
The Fall of Troy – The band reportedly picked their name by "opening a history textbook and pointing at a random location until [they] found a selection they liked".
Fall Out Boy – Nameless for their first two shows as a band, at the end of their second show they asked the audience to yell out their ideas for a name. One audience member suggested "Fallout Boy", a reference to the sidekick of comic book superhero
Radioactive Man from The Simpsons.
The Farm – Originally thought to be named in tribute to Cantril Farm, a former council estate in
Liverpool now known as
Stockbridge Village, until frontman
Peter Hooton confirmed that it was actually named after a farm outside
Maghull where the band used to rehearse.[139]
Fastball – Originally called "Magneto" until learning of a Mexican boy band
of the same name, they first attempted to use the name "Magneto USA", but were ultimately advised against it.[140] The band eventually settled on "Fastball" in reference to a "baseball-themed porn movie".[141]
Fatboy Slim – According to the artist: "It doesn't mean anything. I've told so many different lies over the years about it I can't actually remember the truth. It's just an
oxymoron—a word that can't exist. It kind of suits me—it's kind of goofy and ironic."[142]
FIDLAR – While helping two of his friends from
Hawaii find a home in Los Angeles, frontman Zac Carper overheard the pair repeating the skater mantra "FIDLAR". When Carper asked what FIDLAR meant, he was told that it was an acronym for "Fuck It Dog, Life's A Risk". The name stuck when every member of the band, with the exception of guitarist Elvis Keuhn, had the word tattooed on their bodies after a night of heavy drinking.[144][145]
First Aid Kit – Member Klara Söderberg explains: "I was 13, young and naïve and looking through a dictionary, looking for a name. Like I wanted something, if I would ever make music, I wanted to have a name for it, and I found First Aid Kit and just liked the meaning of it. I think music should be like a consolation to help you get through everyday life, and it does for me. I thought, if I ever make music, that's what I want my music to do. And when we started making music, it kinda stuck around."[146]
Five Iron Frenzy – According to former bassist Keith Hoerig, a roommate of the band members would defend himself with a golf club, out of fear that he'd get attacked, and called it "putter mayhem". Guitarist Scott Kerr noticed that the roommate's club was a five iron and said, "No, more like a Five Iron Frenzy."[147]
Five Finger Death Punch – Named after the fictional martial arts move called the "five point palm exploding heart technique" from the movies
Kill Bill, which kills its victim by causing their heart to explode once they take five steps after being struck.
Florence + The Machine – The name of Florence and the Machine is attributed to front-woman Florence Welch's teenage collaboration with keyboardist and co-writer Isabella "Machine" Summers. Welch and Summers performed together for a time under the names of "Florence Robot" and "Isa Machine", respectively. Later, this was shortened to Florence and the Machine as it was felt to be too cumbersome.[148]
Flying Lotus – The name comes from his ideal superpower. "When I was a kid I would always bother people about super heroes and I was like, 'Ok if you could have any superpower in the creation of comic books what would you have, x-ray vision, you could be like invisible, what would you do?' I wanted to fly. That's it. That's all."[149]
Foo Fighters – Adopted from a term used by Allied aircraft pilots in
World War II to describe various
UFOs or mysterious aerial phenomena.[150]
Foster the People – Originally called "Foster & the People" by frontman Mark Foster, but changed when many of his friends misunderstood the name as "Foster the People". In a 2011 interview, Foster also recalled, "'Foster the People'–that's like 'Take Care of the People', 'Do Something for the People'... The first few shows that we played were for charities. It kind of clicked: Foster the People, that's us."[151]
Fountains of Wayne – Member Adam Schlesinger got his driver's license at the DMV office next to a lawn ornament store (no longer in business) in
Wayne, NJ called "Fountains of Wayne". "We just thought it was funny", Schlesinger said.[152]
Framing Hanley – Originally known as "Embers Fade", they changed their name to Framing Hanley in 2007, shortly after Ashley Hanley, fiancée of a member of the band (and a photographer, whence "Framing"), died.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood – The name Frankie Goes to Hollywood taken from a poster on the wall of an old prison cell where the band used to rehearse. The poster has the headline "Frankie Goes to Hollywood", which referred to
Frank Sinatra's move from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. It was chosen by a friend and local artist, named Ambrose, from strange Liverpool cult group Pink Military.[153]
Frente! – The Australian band took its name from a Spanish word meaning "forehead" or "front". The name originated without the
exclamation point at the end; it was added for their 1991 debut EP release, Whirled. The rationale, as stated by lead vocalist
Angie Hart, was while "[w]e don't write our name like that, but we thought we would on the CD covers because it looks good."[154]
Garbage – Either lead singer
Shirley Manson's father yelled down to the band at one of their basement practice sessions, "Play more quietly–you sound like garbage", or from a friend of drummer
Butch Vig, who said "This stuff sounds like garbage!".[157]
Genesis – Charterhouse School alumnus Jonathan King attended a concert at Charterhouse in 1968 while the band were still in school. King was a songwriter and record producer who had a hit single at the time, "
Everyone's Gone to the Moon". King named the band Genesis (after previously suggesting the name Gabriel's Angels after lead singer
Peter Gabriel), recalling that he had "thought it was a good name... it suggested the beginning of a new sound and a new feeling."
Georgia Wonder – Georgia Wonder was the stage name of
Lulu Hurst, a 'magnetic phenomenon' whose vaudeville act toured America in the late 19th century. Stephanie Grant and Julian Moore from the band chose the name after trying to duplicate these powers from an exposé they discovered in a book about the period.[159]
Glades – Comes from a ski run that member Cameron Robertson saw during a holiday.[160]
Grateful Dead – The name was chosen from a dictionary. According to
Phil Lesh, in his biography (pp. 62), "...
Jerry Garcia picked up an old
Britannica World Language Dictionary... In that silvery elf-voice he said to me, 'Hey, man, how about the Grateful Dead?'" The definition there was "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial." According to Alan Trist, director of the Grateful Dead's music publisher company Ice Nine, Garcia found the name in the
Funk & WagnallsFolklore Dictionary, when his finger landed on that phrase while playing a game of "
dictionary".[161] In the Garcia biography, Captain Trips, author Sandy Troy states that the band was smoking the psychedelic
DMT at the time. The term "
grateful dead" appears in folktales of a variety of cultures.
Green Day – A slang term for a day spent smoking
marijuana. Frontman
Billie Joe Armstrong wrote a song called "Green Day" about his first experience with the drug, and it soon replaced "Sweet Children" as the band's name.[162]
Guns N' Roses – An early incarnation of the band included
Tracii Guns whose band was called
L.A. Guns.
Axl Rose, who had formed Hollywood Rose, combined his band with Tracii's to form Guns N' Roses.[163]
Hard-Fi – "Hard-Fi" is the name given to the sound produced by
Lee "Scratch" Perry, a Grammy award-winning reggae and dub artist, at his Black Ark recording studio. Being admirers of Perry's work, the band decided to name themselves after his distinctive sound.[166]
Hassisen Kone – Named after "Hassisen kone", a real-life home appliance store in the band's home town
Joensuu. The owner of the store was offended by the band's choice of name and renamed the store as "Joensuun konepalvelu".[167]
Hawkwind – Named for member Nik Turner's "prodigious habit of spitting and flatulence."[168]
Hoobastank – Derived from a street where Doug Robb's brother (the vice president of BMW Motorcycles, who lives in Germany) lives, called Hooba Street "or something like that".[170]
Hootie and the Blowfish – Lead singer
Darius Rucker derived the name from two friends from college. One had an owlish face and was nicknamed "Hootie", while the other had puffy cheeks and was called "the Blowfish".[171]
The Hunna – From the members using the word "hunna" in conversations with each other, and "to influence other people to pick up an instrument, or anything, any passion that they may have, give 100%."[172]
Hurriganes – An intentional misspelling of the word "hurricanes".
Remu Aaltonen, the band's vocalist, spoke no English at the time the band was formed.
Hüsker Dü – Named after Hūsker Dū?, a Scandinavian memory-based board game that means (properly spelled as Husker Du? without the
macrons) "Do you remember?" in Danish and Norwegian. The band chose this after it was shouted out by an audience member at one of their early shows.
Iggy Pop – From the band The Iguanas which he played in and a character called "Pop" whom he resembled.[174][175]
Imagine Dragons – Their name is an
anagram for a phrase only known to members of the group, that lead singer Dan Reynolds stated each member approved of.[176]
Iron & Wine – Stage name of Samuel "Sam" Ervin Beam; the name Iron & Wine is taken from a dietary supplement named "Beef, Iron & Wine" that he found in a general store while shooting a film.[177]
Jethro Tull – Having trouble getting repeat bookings, the band took to changing their name frequently to continue playing the London club circuit. Band names were often supplied by their booking agents' staff, one of whom, a history enthusiast, eventually dubbed them "Jethro Tull" after
the 18th-century agriculturist. The name stuck because they were using it the first time a club manager liked their show enough to invite them to return.[182]
Jimmy Eat World – "Jimmy" is guitarist Tom Linton's younger brother, who had a weight problem. Lead vocalist Jim Adkins' younger brother drew a picture on Jimmy's door of him putting a globe in his mouth, and wrote on it "Jimmy Eat World". It eventually inspired the band's name.[183]
Joku Paikallinen Bändi –
Finnish for "some local band". Invented as a joke by founding member Heikki "Heme" Vieresjoki when he was working as a doorman at Finnish restaurants and he couldn't remember the name of the band currently playing at the premise.
Joy Division – In order to avoid confusion with the London punk band Warsaw Pakt, the band renamed themselves from Warsaw to Joy Division in late 1977, borrowing their new name from the prostitution wing of a Nazi concentration camp mentioned in the 1955 novel The House of Dolls.[184]
JVG – From the initials of the members of the band, Jare Joakim Brand and Ville-Petteri Galle.
K
Käärijä – Means "wrapper", as in "one who wraps something" in Finnish, comes from gambling, recurring theme in the artist's music.[185]
King Crimson – The band name was coined by lyricist
Peter Sinfield as a synonym for
Beelzebub, prince of demons. According to
Robert Fripp, Beelzebub would be an
anglicised form of the Arabic phrase "B'il Sabab", meaning "the man with an aim".[193] Historically and etymologically, a "crimson king" was any monarch during whose reign there was civil unrest and copious bloodshed.
Klaxons – Originally "Klaxons (Not Centaurs)", a quote from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's futurism text The Futurist Manifesto.[citation needed] Also in an interview a band member stated Klaxons "is to toot to be a loud intrusive noise to disrupt".[194]
KJ-52 – Hybrid name of this artist's first rap name "KJ" coupled with the New Testament Miracle of
feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish, Mark 8:1–9 and Matthew 15:32–39.[195]
KMFDM – An
initialism for the nonsensical and grammatically incorrect
German phrase Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, which was intended to mean "No pity for the majority". Chosen as a motto from words cut of a German newspaper for an exposition for young European artists and afterwards it was initialized as the name of the band.[196]
Knife Party – From the song "Knife Prty" by
Deftones. The name caused consternation at first as it implied that they supported knife crime, although
Rob Swire stated that "...we're not advocating any type of knife-related crime any more than Swedish House Mafia were advocating organised crime."[197]
Krewella – The band's name stems from member Jahan Yousaf's misspelling of the word "cruel" when she and her sister Yasmine began writing music, and is not a reference to
Cruella de Vil.[199]
L
The La's – The band was formed in
Liverpool, and "la" is a well-known
Scouse phrase meaning "lad" or "mate".
La Roux – The band's name refers to singer Elly Jackson's red hair and tomboyish appearance, mingling the masculine ("le roux") and feminine ("la rousse")
French terms; she has said: "To me, it means 'red-haired one'–and it does, vaguely. It's just a male version of 'red-haired one'".[201]
Led Zeppelin – The band name "Led Zeppelin" refers to the
Hindenburg disaster[citation needed]; and a joke made by
Keith Moon and
John Entwistle. The two were discussing the idea of forming a band with some prominent young guitarists at the time. Moon and Entwistle suggested that a supergroup containing themselves,
Jimmy Page, and
Jeff Beck would go down like a "lead balloon", a British idiom for disastrous results.[203] They intentionally misspelled the name to ensure correct pronunciation by announcers.
Level 42 – From the
Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy series of books by
Douglas Adams. Some confusion surrounded the name in early years outside their home country of the UK when, bored of journalists asking the same question "What does the band name mean" over and over they started to give different daft answers to amuse themselves, amongst them being that they were named after the worlds highest multi story car park etc.[205]
Lights – Born Valerie Poxleitner, "Lights" stemmed as a shortened nickname for her last name. She legally changed her name to Lights at age 18.[206]
Linkin Park – Their name came from the lead singer, Chester Bennington, because they had to change their name due to copyright issues, and he drove past Lincoln Park on the way home from band practice. However, the domain "lincolnpark.com" was more than they could afford, so they changed the spelling to 'Linkin Park'.[207]
Lord of the Flies – Band member Alex d'Aquino looked at different band names and saw "Of Mice of Men", so he thought of a great British classic, "Lord of the Flies", about a group of British boys stuck on an uninhabitable island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results.
Lothar and the Hand People – Band member Richard Willis had a dream in which an enslaved race called the Hand People was saved by a hero named Lothar. Later, well after the name had been chosen, they decided that Lothar was the name of the theremin used by member John Emelin.[209]
Lynyrd Skynyrd – After
Leonard Skinner, a gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida who was notorious for strictly enforcing the school's policy against boys having long hair.[210]
M
Måneskin –
Danish for "moonlight", invented at random when Italian-Danish founding member
Victoria De Angelis was asked by her fellow bandmembers to toss out some Danish words.[211]
Marillion – The band was originally called
Silmarillion, taken from the title of a
J.R.R. Tolkien novel. The name was eventually shortened to avoid possible legal problems.[212]
Marshall Tucker Band – While the band was discussing possible band names one evening in an old warehouse they had rented for rehearsal space, someone noticed that the warehouse's door key had the name "Marshall Tucker" inscribed on it, and suggested they call themselves "The Marshall Tucker Band", not realizing it referred to an actual person. It later came to light that Marshall Tucker, a blind piano tuner, had rented the space before the band, and his name was inscribed on the key. In his book, Top Pop Singles, 1955–2002, music historian Joel Whitburn attributes "Marshall Tucker" to the owner of the band's rehearsal hall.
Matchbox Twenty – Originally titled "Matchbox 20", the band took its name from a softball jersey with a "20" on it and a patch that had "Matchbox" written on it. The band altered its name to "Matchbox Twenty" after the release of its debut album Yourself or Someone Like You.[213]
Megadeth – While
Dave Mustaine was traveling back to his home in the Bay Area on a bus after getting kicked out of his former band,
Metallica, he would write lyrics on the back of a handbill to pass the time. The handbill itself quoted "The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid no matter what the peace treaties come to," which inspired him to use Megadeath as his band name. He dropped the A when he learned that "The Megadeaths" was a former name of
Pink Floyd.[214]
Metric – Initially, their name was Mainstream. After releasing an EP titled Mainstream EP, they changed the band's name to Metric, after a sound that was programmed by the member James Shaw on his keyboard in 1998.[216]
Minus the Bear – The name comes from an
in-joke among the band members, referring to the 1970s television series B. J. and the Bear. "A friend of the band had gone on a date", explained the singer-guitarist Jake Snider, "and one of us asked him afterwards how the date went. Our friend said, 'You know that TV show from the '70s, B.J. and the Bear? It was like that... minus the Bear.' That's the straight truth."[217]
Misery Index – The Baltimore death metal band named themselves after the
Misery Index, an economic indicator created by
Arthur Okun, defined as the sum of the unemployment rate and the annual inflation rate.
Misfits – The band was named after a motion picture released in 1961 entitled The Misfits.[218][219] The Misfits' skull logo was derived from the villain of the 1946 motion picture The Crimson Ghost.[220]
Modest Mouse – Derives from a passage from
Virginia Woolf's story "The Mark on the Wall", which reads, "...and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people..."
Mogwai – Named after the creatures from the film Gremlins.
Molly Hatchet – A 17th-century southern prostitute who allegedly beheaded and/or chopped up her clients.[221]
The Monkees -Since the Beatles were (and aruguably are) the best thing to hit the century, the Monkee scheme was to create a TV scam using the same idea. They did it in reverse. "Key" at the end of "monkey" suggests a Key (be it Ab, Am, C# or whatever). So they altered "-key" and got "-kee" and they had the name.
The Moody Blues – The band were originally named The M&B 5 after the Birmingham brewery
Mitchells & Butlers. This was changed and the new name was inspired by a Duke Ellington song named "Mood Indigo".
The Motels – Originally from Berkeley, California, the Warfield Foxes were en route to an early gig at Los Angeles club The Troubadour when guitarist Dean Chamberlain noticed the many motels along Santa Monica boulevard and quipped that they ought to change their name to The Motels because "our name will be in lights all across the country".
Mötley Crüe – When Mick Mars was playing with his old cover band White Horse, he heard someone describing them as "motley-looking crew". He instantly took to the phrase and knew that someday he wanted to play in a band by that name. The spelling was eventually changed and umlauts were added.
The Mountain Goats – Taken from the
Screamin' Jay Hawkins song "Yellow Coat", which contains the line "50 million bulldogs, 20 mountain goats, all gathered 'round at sundown to see my yellow coat."[224]
Mumford & Sons –
Marcus Mumford was always the most visible member, organizing the band and their performances from their beginnings in West London. Vocalist
Ben Lovett indicated that the name was meant to invoke the sense of an "antiquated family business name".
Muse – Front-man
Matthew Bellamy stated that the band's name was mainly chosen because it looked professional on posters and the like. However, Bellamy has also stated that the name could possibly have stemmed from being raised in a family interested in
Ouija and spirits. The bandmates first heard the word when someone in their hometown of
Teignmouth,
England, suggested that the reason for a lot of the town's populace becoming members of bands was a muse hovering over the town.
My Bloody Valentine –
Kevin Shields and
Colm Ó Cíosóig formed My Bloody Valentine in early 1983 with lead vocalist
David Conway. Conway, who performed under the pseudonym Dave Stelfox, suggested a number of potential band names, including the Burning Peacocks, before the trio settled on My Bloody Valentine.[225] Shields has since claimed he was unaware that My Bloody Valentine was the title of a
1981 Canadian slasher film when the name was suggested.[226]
Nine Inch Nails – Sole constant member
Trent Reznor chose the name because it "could be abbreviated easily" and denied the name had any "literal meaning".[228]
Nine Stories (
Lisa Loeb And...) – Named after the J.D. Salinger book of short stories of that name; Loeb, an English major, wanted a literary moniker.[229]
Nirvana – Before settling on a permanent name, the band had played under many different names including 'Throat Oyster' and 'Ted, Ed, Fred'. In Buddhism,
nirvana means release from the cycle of rebirth and suffering.
Kurt Cobain chose the name and defined it to his bandmates as a word that describes the 'attainment of perfection'.
No Doubt – Back-flipping original singer
John Spence formed an Orange County-based 2 Tone ska group named after his favorite expression, with keyboardist
Eric Stefani. After Spence's death, the name stuck.[230]
NOFX – guitarist
Eric Melvin says that he came up with the name, inspired by the broken up punk band "Negative FX". The name is also meant to symbolize the band's rejection of gimmickry that the band was seeing in music at the time.[231]
The Notorious B.I.G. – From a childhood nickname "Big", because he was overweight at the age of 10.[232]
NSYNC – received its name after Justin Timberlake's mother commented on how "in sync" the group's singing voices were.[233] The group's name is also a play on the last letter of each of the initial members' names: JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, JasoN, and JC.[234]
O
Oasis – Evolved from an earlier band called
The Rain, composed of Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass guitar), Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Tony McCarroll (drums) and
Chris Hutton (vocals). Unsatisfied with Hutton, Arthurs auditioned acquaintance
Liam Gallagher as a replacement. After Gallagher joined the group, the band's name was changed to Oasis, which was inspired by a place where
Inspiral Carpets played, the Oasis Leisure Centre in
Swindon.[235]
Odesza – the band's name was taken from the name of Harrison Mills' uncle's sunken vessel, which itself was named after the Ukrainian city of
Odesa. Only his uncle and one other crew mate survived.[236] Since the spelling "Odessa" was already being used by a Scottish synth band, they instead chose to use a form of the Hungarian spelling, replacing the "ss" with "sz".[237] The correct spelling in Hungarian is Odessza.
The Offspring – after a B-movie called The Offspring: They Were Born to Kill. Until 1986 the band was named Manic Subsidal.[238][239]
One Night Only – Came about when the band were asked to play a gig; they did not have a name at the time and so came up with One Night Only, intending for the title to, literally, last for only one night. However, the name stuck and they continued to use it.[citation needed]
One Ok Rock – Comes from "one o'clock", the time that the band used to practice on weekends, but due to the Japanese language making no distinction between R's and L's, they changed "O'CLOCK" to "O'CROCK" (or "O'KROCK"), which was then separated to become "OK ROCK".[240]
Opeth – Derived from the word "Opet", taken from the
Wilbur Smith novel Sunbird. In this novel, Opet is the name of a (fictional) Phoenician city in South Africa whose name is translated as "City of the Moon" in the book.[241]
P
Panic! at the Disco – Lifted from the lyrics of a song called "Panic", by
Name Taken: "Panic at the disco/Sat back and took it so slow."[242]
Paramore – According to lead singer
Hayley Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players.[243] Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone paramour ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.[244]
Passion Pit – The band culled their name from the Variety Slanguage Dictionary, a glossary of Variety's frequently used slang, which was provided by the Hollywood insider publication to help not-so-savvy readers decipher its content. The magazine used the term to refer to drive-in theatres, because of their privacy and romantic allure for teenagers.[246]
Pearl Jam – The band's first name was "
Mookie Blaylock" after the All-Star basketball player, but the name was changed to "Pearl Jam" due to trademark concerns. Vocalist
Eddie Vedder claimed in an early interview that the name was a reference to his great-grandmother Pearl Brunner.[247] In 2006 guitarist
Mike McCready said that bass player
Jeff Ament came up with "Pearl" and that "Jam" was added after seeing
Neil Young live.[248]
Pet Shop Boys – From friends who worked in a pet shop in
Ealing, and were known as the "pet shop boys".[249]
Phantogram – Formerly known as Charlie Everywhere, they wanted to change their name to "something [they] liked". They came up with the word 'phantogram' and thought it was interesting. Upon looking it up and finding it referred to
an optical illusion, they found parallels with their band and music.[250]
Phish – A
portmanteau of drummer
Jon Fishman's nickname "Fish" and "phshhhh", an onomatopoeia of the sound of a brush on a snare drum.[251]
Phoenix – After the song "Phoenix" from
Daft Punk's debut album Homework. It has also been speculated that the band named themselves after actor
Joaquin Phoenix, who, like the two main guitar players/brothers, has a scar left over from
cleft palate surgery in childhood.
Pilot – The name came from the last initials of the founding members of the band,
David Paton (lead vocals/bass),
Billy Lyall (keyboards), and
Stuart Tosh (drums). In an interview with David Paton, he said that the idea came from the producer's girlfriend. While
Ian Bairnson was involved with the band's first album, he was not an official member of the band until their second album, Second Flight.[253]
Pink Floyd – Playing under multiple names, including "Tea Set", when the band found themselves on the same bill as another band with the same name,
Syd Barrett came up with the alternative name The Pink Floyd Sound, after two
blues musicians,
Pink Anderson and
Floyd Council.[254][255] For a time after this they oscillated between The Tea Set and The Pink Floyd Sound, with the latter name eventually winning out. The Sound was dropped fairly quickly, but
the definite article was still used regularly until 1970. The group's UK releases during the Syd Barrett era credited them as The Pink Floyd as did their first two U.S. singles. The albums More and Ummagumma (both 1969) credit the band as Pink Floyd, produced by The Pink Floyd, while Atom Heart Mother (1970) credits the band as The Pink Floyd, produced by Pink Floyd. David Gilmour is known to have referred to the group as The Pink Floyd as late as 1984.[256]
Pixies – Selected randomly from a dictionary by guitarist
Joey Santiago. The band took a liking to the word's definition, "mischievous little elves".[257] The name was shortened from the original "Pixies In Panoply".[258]
PMMP – From the names of the band members,
Paula Vesala and
Mira Luoti. The abbreviation originally meant "Paulan ja Miran molemmat puolet" ("both sides of Paula and Mira") but the band has also explained it simply means "Paula, Mira, Mira, Paula" in a similar fashion as the Swedish band
ABBA chose their name.
The Pogues – Originally called Póg mo Thóin–
Irish for "Kiss my arse". Shortened to The Pogues after complaints received by the BBC.[260]
Poliça – According to singer Channy Leaneagh, Poliça is Polish for "policy", and she sees it as a reference to an unwritten code that guides the members when they play together, as well as its work ethic.[261] (Contrary to this explanation, the Polish word for "policy" is actually polityka.) In another interview, Leaneagh claimed that they wanted something unique, and she had a file on her computer which, following a corruption during a computer crash, had come back as "Poliça".[262]
The Postal Service – Chosen because of the band's production method: producer
Jimmy Tamborello would mail raw versions to vocalist
Ben Gibbard, who would edit them and mail them back through the United States Postal Service.[266]
Press Play On Tape – From the message displayed by the
Commodore 64 home computer when starting to load a program from the cassette tape drive. The band's music consists of remixes of tunes from famous Commodore 64 games.
Procol Harum – From the
pedigree name of a
Siamese cat that belonged to a friend of
Guy Stevens, the band's manager.[267] The name was Procul Harum, which is Latin for "beyond these things", but was written down incorrectly by Keith Reid.[268] The band would say in interviews that the cat was a
Burmese Blue, though all cats with the name are the
Devon Rex breed.[269]
Queen – Were originally called
Smile. Singer
Freddie Mercury came up with the new name for the band, later saying: "Years ago I thought up the name 'Queen' ... It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid ... It's a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one face of it."[271]
Queens of the Stone Age – A name given by
Chris Goss, who said the name implied they were "heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls", while 'Kings of the Stone Age' was described to be "too macho" and lopsided.
Queensrÿche – Were originally called "The Mob". The name is derived from a song on their EP "Queen of the Reich", and is the only known use of the letter Y with an
umlaut in English. It was used to soften "Queensreich" and not confuse the band with
Nazism.[272]
Qntal – In a dream, vocalist Sigrid Hausen saw the letters in flames.[273]
R
Radiohead – Originally known as "On a Friday", the band was given two weeks after signing to
Parlophone to change their name. The band renamed themselves after the 1986
Talking Heads song "Radio Head" on the album True Stories, claiming it was the "least annoying song" on the album.[274]
Rammstein – The band was named after the 1988
Ramstein air show disaster.[276] At first, the band had denied this and said that their name was inspired by the giant doorstop type devices found on old gates, called Rammsteine.[277] The extra "m" in the band's name makes it translate literally as "ramming stone".
The Ramones –
Paul McCartney used the alias Paul Ramone when booking hotel rooms. So the band decided to use the last name Ramone even though it's not their surname.[278]
R.E.M. – Vocalist
Michael Stipe drew the initialism randomly out of the dictionary. The term refers to the
rapid eye movement phase of sleep. Stipe says that is not the reason why the band is named R.E.M.[279]
Reel Big Fish – The band chose this name in favor of "The Fisher King", a reference to the film of the same name, as well as "Dull Boy Jack", a reference to The Shining. The final name was chosen almost arbitrarily, under the notion that it could be changed later. Bassist Matt Wong suggested "Real Big Fish", and Aaron Barrett suggested changing the "A" to a second "E". However, the name stuck, much to the chagrin of the band.
The Replacements – Originally named the Impediments, the band changed its name to the Replacements following a June 1980 church hall gig in Minneapolis in which they were banned due to disorderly behavior.
The Residents – In 1971 the group sent a reel-to-reel tape to Hal Halverstadt at Warner Brothers. Because the band had not included any name in the return address, the rejection slip was simply addressed to "The Residents". The members of the group then decided that this would be the name they would use, first becoming Residents Unincorporated, then shortening it to the current name.[281]
Röyksopp – From "røyksopp", the
Norwegian word for the
puffball mushroom, substituting a Swedish "ö" for the Norwegian "ø".
Rush – The band was in need to quickly find a name for themselves just before a gig, when
John Rutsey's brother suggested: "Why don't you call your band Rush?".[284]
Russian Circles – Originally the title of their first piece, which was later called "Carpe". Russian Circles is a drill in hockey.[285]
S
Saving Abel – From the ancient
biblical story of
Cain and Abel, about a brother who killed his own brother. Band member Jason Null thought up the band title saying "I Googled the story of Cain and Abel and found a line about 'there was no saving Abel', which just jumped out at me."
Seether – Originally Saron Gas. The band was asked to change their name due to Saron Gas being a
homophone of
sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent. The band changed its name to Seether in honor of
Veruca Salt's song titled, "
Seether".[288]
Sevendust – After discovering their name
Crawlspace was already taken, band bassist Vinnie Hornsby renamed the band after a brand of plant pesticide he found in his grandmother's garage named
Sevin dust.[290]
Shai Hulud – After the gigantic Sandworms of Arrakis from the 1984 science fiction film Dune, based on the
Frank Herbert science fiction novel of the same name.[291]
Sigue Sigue Sputnik – The group's name is a very rough translation of the Russian phrase "burn, burn
Sputnik" or "burn, burn, satellite" and is claimed by the band to be an adaptation of the name of a Russian street gang. The name is also a nod to the band's anti-conventional rock image; in a 1986 interview, band founder
Tony James remembered reading that, after seeing Sputnik pass over the earth,
Little Richard gave up rock and roll. James "took that as a good omen" for the band's name choice.[292]
Sigur Rós – After the little sister of the band's vocalist, Jón Þór Birgisson (Jónsi), whose name is Sigurrós (without a space). It translates to "victory rose".[293]
Silversun Pickups – Derived from a
liquor store located across from
Silverlake Lounge in
Los Angeles, where they often played in their early days. A band member would often arrive at the store late at night to buy liquor, making a "Silversun Pickup". In interviews, the band has said its name is more of "a state of mind".[294]
Simply Red – The name came about when the manager of a local venue was confused about the band's name and Mick Hucknall replied that it was "Red, simply Red". The resulting misnomer was printed on publicity posters as "Simply Red", and the name stuck.
Skillet – Each starting band member was already in a separate band, and all decided to start a side project together. Since each other band had a different sound and style to it, the side project was said to be like putting all of those styles in a big skillet to come up with something unique.
Sleigh Bells – Guitarist Derek Miller wrote "Sleigh Bells" on
CD-Rs he distributed his demos on, before forming the band.[296]
Sloan – According to band member
Jay Ferguson, the band's name refers to a friend's nickname. Their friend Jason Larsen was called "slow one" by his French-speaking boss, which with the French accent sounded more like "Sloan". The original agreement was that they could name the band after their friend's nickname as long as he was on the cover of their first album. As a result, it is Larsen who appears on the cover of Sloan's Peppermint EP.[299]
Smashing Pumpkins – Frontman Billy Corgan had come up with this name as a joke years before the band had ever formed. Whenever people asked if he was in a band, he would tell them it was called Smashing Pumpkins for a laugh. The name stuck after the band formed, despite dissension from fellow band members.
Snow – Darren O'Brien's nickname given to him because he was one of the only white people in an ethnically diverse neighbourhood in Canada.
Soilwork – Chosen by the band to symbolize "working from the ground up".
Social Distortion – Named after drummer Casey Royer's distortion pedal which he gave to lead vocalist, Mike Ness because he was not good at playing back then.
The Soup Dragons – The early 70s animation "
Clangers" had a character named the Soup Dragon, who would harvest Green Soup from a volcano.[301]
Space – Guitarist Jamie Murphy named the band after the original working title of
The Real People's song "My Own Dream". The band had been previously known as The Substitutes, after
The Who's song "
Substitute".
Spandau Ballet – The name was coined after a close friend of the band, the DJ
Robert Elms, saw the words Spandau Ballet written on the wall of a lavatory in a Berlin nightclub; it is a reference to
Spandau Prison and the "ballet" refers to the jerky movements that prisoners made when they were hanged.
Squeeze – The group performed under several names, most frequently "Captain Trundlow's Sky Company" or "Skyco", before settling on the band name "Squeeze" as a facetious tribute to
the Velvet Underground's oft-derided 1973 album Squeeze.[302]
Stabbing Westward – Christopher Hall and Walter Flakus formed the band Stabbing Westward when they were in college. They came up with the name while working at the college radio station
WIUS-FM. During an interview in 1996, Hall stated, "Since we went to
Western Illinois University, Stabbing Westward had a certain 'kill everybody in the school' vibe to it! The school's way out in farm country and the country is really close minded. I was walking around like
Robert Smith with real big hair, big baggy black clothes, black fingernail polish and eye makeup. They just didn't get it. We hated the town."[304]
Status Quo (band) – Suggested by their then manager, Pat Barlow, having just bought a pair of shoes manufactured by a company called "Quo Vardis".
Steen1 – The artist originally chose Steen Christensen as his artist name after the
Danish criminal who shot and killed two police officers in Finland (the artist is unrelated to the criminal), but later changed it to Steen1 because of too much controversy.
Stereolab – Named after the electronic music division of
Vanguard Records, a publisher of classical, folk, and jazz records.[306]
Stone Sour – A cocktail made up of one part whiskey and a splash of orange juice. The group describe their music as one part pure rock adrenaline with a splash of melody.
Stryper – Originally derived from the
King James Version of Isaiah 53:5, drummer Robert Sweet created the acronym: Salvation Through Redemption, Yielding Peace, Encouragement, and Righteousness.[307]
Sum 41 – The band started 41 days into the summer.[308] The band was originally a
NOFX cover band named Kaspir; they changed their name to Sum 41 for a
Supernova show on September 28, 1996.[308][309]
Sunn O))) – After the
Sunn amplifier brand. The O and the three right parentheses come from the sphere and waves depicted in the Sunn logo.
Switchfoot – A surfing term meaning being able to ride with either foot forward.
System of a Down – Derived from a poem written by the guitarist
Daron Malakian, named 'Victims of a Down', which was changed to System of a Down to place them closer alphabetically to their idols
Slayer.[310]
T
Taking Back Sunday – A song by Long Island band The Waiting Process who were inspired by their grandmother, Tina, that they should take back Sunday from the Christian people in Long Island.[311]
Talking Heads – Bassist
Tina Weymouth explained that "A friend had found the name in the TV Guide, which explained the term used by TV studios to describe a head-and-shoulder shot of a person talking as 'all content, no action.' It fit."[312]
Tangerine Dream –
Edgar Froese, in an interview in Let It Rock magazine, claimed they named themselves 'after the Beatles line in the song
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'. Clearly, with English not being his first language, he misheard 'Tangerine Trees' as 'Tangerine Dreams'.
Tears for Fears – from a line in the book Prisoners of Pain by American psychologist
Arthur Janov. Much of the band's early material is influenced by Janov's writings.
Teddybears – Invented as a way to stand out at a time when almost every Swedish and Norwegian hard rock band was named something like "Corpse Grinder from Hell".[313]
Therapy? – The band chose the name because it was a simple word that everyone knows. The reason for the question mark at the end of the name was because when lead singer and guitarist
Andy Cairns was writing out the spines for the cassettes to send off to the record companies, he began writing too far to the left, so to centre the writing and make it look more professional, he added a question mark to the end and it stuck with the band.[315]
They Might Be Giants – The name of
a 1971 film, in which George C. Scott plays a man who believes he is
Sherlock Holmes. The film's title is in turn a reference to the literary character
Don Quixote, who mistook windmills for giants. The name had previously been used by a ventriloquist friend of the band.[316]
Thirty Seconds to Mars – The name of the band came after a thesis of an ex-professor of Harvard. One of the sub-sections was titled as "Thirty Seconds To Mars" and talks about the technological advance that connects with humans and it said that we were literally 30 seconds from Mars.[clarification needed] The band on their origins said that that phrase describes their music in a nutshell.[317]
Three Days Grace – According to frontman
Adam Gontier, the name refers to a sense of urgency, with the question of being whether someone could change something in their life which would take at least three days.
Three Dog Night – According to The Three Dog Night Story, 1964–1975, vocalist Danny Hutton's then-girlfriend June Fairchild suggested the name after reading a magazine article about indigenous Australians, in which it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily sleep in a hole in the ground whilst embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs and if the night were freezing, it was a "three dog night".
Tokio Hotel – After "Tokio", the
German spelling of the Japanese city
Tokyo, due to the band's love of the city, and "Hotel" due to their constant touring and living in hotels.[320]
Traveling Wilburys - The name of the 1990s supergroup came during sessions of
George Harrison'sCloud Nine album. When faulty equipment was causing recording errors, Harrison told producer
Jeff Lynne: "We'll bury 'em in the mix."
Two Door Cinema Club – Came about after band member Sam Halliday mispronounced the name of the local
cinema, Tudor Cinema, and this stuck.[322]
Tuomari Nurmio – Literally means "
Judge Nurmio" in
Finnish. The artist has a
master's degree in law and thus is eligible to actually formally practice as a judge, but he chose a career in music instead.
Twenty One Pilots – Lead singer
Tyler Joseph got the name from studying the play All My Sons by
Arthur Miller in a theatre class. The play is set in World War II, and the main character finds that parts to various planes are faulty but lets them fly anyway, resulting in the deaths of 21 pilots.
UB40 – The UK government's form number for the Unemployment Benefit Attendance Card, as shown on the band's debut album Signing Off.
UBBA – An acronym of the
Swedish phrase "Utan B, Bara A", meaning "without B, only A". The name is an intentional spoof of the famous Swedish band
ABBA, but the resemblance to the Viking chief
Ubba is just a coincidence.
Van Halen – The last name of the band's lead guitarist
Eddie Van Halen and drummer
Alex Van Halen. Although initially called Mammoth, the band changed its name when it found out Mammoth was already taken by another band.[324]
The Villebillies – From a lyric written by vocalist Derek "Child" Monyhan shortly after joining the group. It is a combination of the words
Louisville, the band's hometown and largest urban center in
Kentucky (often locally nicknamed "The Ville"), and
hillbilly, referring to
eastern Kentucky'srural mountain culture. The name references the cross genre nature of the band's music.[326]
VAST – The acronym VAST stands for Visual Audio Sensory Theater and is the main creation of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Crosby
W
Wang Chung – The Chinese word 黃鐘 huang chung means "yellow bell" and the first note in the Chinese classical music scale.
Wardruna – Einar Selvik has stated that the name "Wardruna" means "warden of the runes".
The Weeknd – Chosen in tribute to when the artist dropped out of school, took his mattress, "left one weekend and never came home". The last "e" was excluded to avoid
trademark problems with
pop rock band
the Weekend.[327]
Weezer – Lead vocalist
Rivers Cuomo needed to come up with a name when the band received a big break to open for
Keanu Reeves' band
Dogstar in 1992. Cuomo quickly nominated Weezer, a nickname given to him when he was a kid by other children who were teasing him about his asthma. Afterwards, the band had a long meeting and kicked around many more names, but nobody could come up with anything better.
Wet Leg – In an interview with Diffus posted on YouTube in April 2022, the band stated that their name came from an Isle of Wight
epithet to describe non-locals on the island; those who had crossed the
Solent to reach the isle were said to have a wet leg from getting off the boat.[328]
The Who – Were originally called The Detours, then changed their name to The Who after a suggestion by guitarist
Pete Townshend's friend Richard Barnes. Their first manager,
Pete Meaden, renamed them The High Numbers, and they released one unsuccessful single, "
Zoot Suit", under that name. When
EMI dropped them, the band sacked Meaden and went back to being called The Who. Another possible reason was because of Townshend's grandmother, who would always refer to popular bands as "The Who?", due to her impaired hearing.[329]
Widespread Panic – Due to anxiety problems, lead guitarist Mike Houser used to have the nickname "Panic". One day he came home and announced that he did not want to be just "Panic", he wanted to be "Widespread Panic".[330]
Wild Beasts – The band took their name the early 20th century art movement
Fauvism (from French fauves meaning 'wild beasts'), pioneered in
France by
Henri Matisse and
André Derain. The band had originally formed under the name 'Fauve' before translating it to English.
The Wombats – The band members used to jokingly call each other wombats; when they needed a name for the promotional materials for their first gig, guitarist Dan Haggis suggested "The Wombats".[334]
Woodhands – Member Dan Werb chose the name because he "wanted to let everyone know that there was an organic element to the ambient electronic music I was making."[335]
XTC – A phonetic spelling of
ecstasy, which Andy Partridge claims was inspired by the way actor
Jimmy Durante emphasises the word in his song "I'm the Guy Who Found the Lost Chord" from the film This Time for Keeps.
The xx – The band's name was inspired by typing two lower-case "
X"s together in
Microsoft Word.
Y
The Yardbirds – Grew out of
Keith Relf's The Metropolitan Blues Quartet. When the band changed members in 1963, Relf changed the name to The Yardbirds, partly from the nickname of
jazzsaxophonistCharlie Parker, "Bird", and partly from the American slang for prisoner.[339]
Yes – Group members were searching for an appropriate name but needed a name to play their first gig under. They played their first gig on August 3 under the name Yes, suggested by
Peter Banks as being short, positive, direct, and memorable.[340] It was originally intended as a temporary solution until a permanent name could be found. Obviously, the name stuck.[341]
Yo La Tengo – The name is a reference to a story about the 1962 US Major League Baseball expansion team, the
New York Mets. When two players chase the same batted fly ball, customarily one yells "I've got it" and the other then retreats to avoid a collision. But infielder
Elio Chacón did not understand the English term, so he and outfielder
Richie Ashburn collided a few times while chasing fly balls. Another teammate suggested that Ashburn yell the words in Spanish instead–"yo la tengo"–so Chacón would understand. After that Ashburn and Chacón no longer ran into each other. But another teammate,
Frank Thomas, did not understand the Spanish term. So one day while chasing a fly ball, despite hearing Ashburn call out "yo la tengo", Howard ran into Ashburn.[342]
Young Fathers – The band was named so because all three members have their fathers' names.
Youth Lagoon – Inspired by a painting that Trevor Powers described in an early interview as depicting a group of children playing in a giant pool.
Z
Zox – From the last name of drummer John Zox.[343]
Zao – Original vocalist Eric Reeder came up with this name, meaning "alive" in Greek.[344]
ZZ Top – Billy Gibbons wrote in his autobiography "Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead" that he used to live in an apartment decorated with several concert posters and flyers, including
Z.Z. Hill and
B.B. King. After playing around with names like Z.Z. King and B.B. Hill he ended up with ZZ Top.
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