List of band name etymologies - Definition and Overview

This is a list of band names with their name origins explained. Some origins are disputed.

0-24

• 311 - Apparently named after the police code for indecent exposure in Omaha, Nebraska.
• 808 State - Taken from the Roland TR-808 drum machine.
• 23 Skidoo- alledgedly from Aleister Crowley poem in "The Book Of Lies", in fact from The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea

A

• ABBA - It's an acronym from the initials of the first names of the band members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
• AC/DC - The name AC/DC was invented by Angus and Malcolm Young's sister Margaret. It comes from the letters AC/DC (Alternating Current/Direct Current) on the back of their mother’s vacuum cleaner.
• Alice in Chains - A masochistic parody of Alice in Wonderland.
• Atreyu - Named after a character in The Neverending Story.

B

• Bangles - They were originally called the Bangs. However, that name was already in use by another band, so the band added -les, in tribute to the Beatles. A second story is that the band had been informed that they needed to change their name en route to a show in Las Vegas; one of the band members scrawled "Bang-less" on a napkin and the "Bangles" were born.
• Beastie Boys - The name Beastie is an acronym standing for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Internal Excellence"
• The Beatles - A tribute to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Beatles is spelled with an A because rock and roll was called "beat music" in England at the time.
• Bee Gees - A contraction of "Brothers Gibb"
• Black Flag - The Black Flag has been an Anarchist symbol since the 1880s.
• Black Sabbath - Inspired by a 1963 Boris Karloff horror film of the same name.
• Blink 182 - The band was originally called Blink but an Irish band by the same name threatened legal action. The band added the completely random number 182 to the end of their name.
• Blue Öyster Cult - Allegedly a member came up with the name as an anagram of the beer he was drinking at the time: Cully's Stout Beer. Although it has also been said that it was based on a recipe their manager found and thier obsession with the occult.
• Boards of Canada - Influenced by educational films of the National Film Board of Canada
• David Bowie - Originally called David Jones, he changed his name to avoid being confused with Davy Jones of the Monkees. His new surname is a tribute to Jim Bowie, designer of the Bowie Knife
• Box Car Racer - Three members of band independently picked a random word. The words were combined to get Box Car Racer.

C

• Ray Charles - His real name is Ray Charles Robinson, but he changed it to avoid confusion with the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
• Chemical Brothers - Initially they called themselves "The Dust Brothers", after the noted US production duo of the same name, but their burgeoning popularity and the threat of legal action from the originals led them to change their name in 1995.
• The Clash - Inspired by various newspaper articles mentioning the word "clash" to refer to violent confrontations (e.g. "a clash with police").
• Coheed and Cambria - Named after two of the main characters in a science fiction story the band's albums are based on.

D

• Death Cab for Cutie - The band takes its name from a satirical song performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band on their album Gorilla.
• Depeche Mode - Inspired by a French fashion magazine of the same name. It translates to English as "Fast Fashion" or "Fashion News"
• DEVO - Short for "de-evolution", inspired by Mark Mothersbaugh as a theory that humans are the de-evolved forms of brain-eating apes.
• Dewa - The name of this popular Indonesian band is an abbreviation of the founders' names, Ahmad Dhani (keyboard), Erwin (bass), Wong Aksan (drum), and Andra (guitar). The original name of the band was Dewa 19, because the members were 19 years old when the band began; they removed the number in 2000.
• The Doors - Jim Morrison took the name from a book about mescaline called The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, which in turn took its name from a quote by William Blake (If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: Infinite.).
• Dream Theater - Originally called Majesty, but after discovering another band of the same name, the band adapted the name of an old movie theater in Monterey, California upon a suggestion by drummer Mike Portnoy's father.
• Duran Duran - Taken from the name of a character, Dr. Durand-Durand from the cult Science Fiction film Barbarella.

E

• Elton John - His real name is Reginald Dwight. He took the stage name from two other British musicians, Elton Dean and John Baldry.
• Eminem - The initials of his name "Marshall Mathers" are M & M, pronounced phonetically they become Eminem.
• Everclear - Named after the strong alcohol of the same name.
• Evergreen Terrace - Named after the street the Simpsons live on.
• Explosions In The Sky - Named after fireworks the band saw on the American Independence Day.

F

• Falco - Named after East German ski jumper Falko Weißpflog.
• Fine Young Cannibals - Inspired by the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals.
• Foo Fighters - Foo fighter was a nickname for Unidentified Flying Objects during World War II by Allied pilots.
• Fountains of Wayne - Named after a New Jersey lawn-ornament store.
• Franz Ferdinand - Named after the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
• The Futureheads - Named after The Flaming Lips album Hit to Death in the Future Head.

G

• Grand Funk Railroad - A mutation of The Grand Trunk Railroad, a local landmark in their home state of Michigan.
• Green Day - Singer Billie Joe Armstrong's high school principal told him it would be a "green day in hell" before music got him anywhere.
• Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Named after an obscure 1976 black-and-white documentary by director Mitsuo Yanagimachi, Godspeed, You Black Emperor, which follows the exploits of a Japanese biker gang The Black Emperors.
• Guns n' Roses - From the names of the co-founders Axl Rose and Tracii Guns.

H

• Heaven 17 - named after a fictional band in Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange
• Helmet - Originally called Purple Helmet, but renamed to tone down the penis reference.

I

• Iron Maiden - named after the original Iron maiden, a torture device

J

• Judas Priest - Taken from the Bob Dylan song The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest.
• Jethro Tull - Named after the 18th century agriculturalist Jethro Tull, who invented the seed drill. The band changed its name each week; the first time they were asked to play a return engagement, that's what they were calling themselves. Ian Anderson has said he is "faintly embarrassed" about the name.

K

• The Killers, named after the fictional band featured in the music video for "Crystal" by New Order
• B.B. King, originally Riley B. King, called the Beale Street Blues Boy, then Blues Boy, and finally B.B.
• KLF - An acronym for "Kopyright Liberation Front", it sums up their attitude towards using samples from other artists.
• Kraftwerk - German for "Power Plant"

L

• Led Zeppelin - After being told by friend and fellow musician Keith Moon that the band would go over like a "lead zeppelin", the band distorted the spelling (so that the name would be pronounced like the metal lead, rather than lead singer) and took the name.
• Less Than Jake - Band members give two different stories for their name. One, a band member's parents had a dog named Jake, and they (the band) were less than the dog, because the parents brought food home from restaurants for the dog, but not for them. Two, they say "jake" is slang for "cool" in Canada, and they consider themselves less than cool.
• LL Cool J - meaning "Ladies Love Cool James".
• Lostprophets - Named after a Duran Duran bootleg
• Lynyrd Skynyrd - Named after Leonard Skinner, an annoying gym coach some of the band members had in high school, who supposedly had them expelled for having long hair.

M

• Madness - Named after a track by ska musician Prince Buster
• Marillion - Originally named Silmarillion after J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion, the band name was shortened one year later in 1980.
• Marilyn Manson - The combination of the forename of diva Marilyn Monroe and the surname of serial-killer mastermind Charles Manson.
• Metallica - Named after an underground metal magazine from the early 1980s.
• Ministry - Named after a 1944 film noir called Ministry Of Fear by Fritz Lang.
• Moby - Richard Melville Hall (a.k.a. Moby), took his stage name from the book Moby Dick, which was written by his great-uncle, Herman Melville.
• The Mooney Suzuki - Their name was created by combining the surnames of the first two singers of the 1970s German Krautrock band Can, Malcolm Mooney and Damo Suzuki.
• MxPx - Originally known as Magnified Plaid, a poster design using the letter x instead of a period in an abbreviation led to the name change.
• Myslovitz - the name of the band's Polish home town Mysłowice in an older German variant as found on an old stove in the drummer's parents' house.

N

• Nirvana - In Buddhist teachings, nirvana means an end to dissatisfaction, suffering and pain, a state singer Kurt Cobain hoped to achieve through his music.

O

• OMC - OMC stands for Otara Millionaires Club, in reference to the band's hometown of Otara, New Zealand. The band members saw themselves as being the only people from this very impoverished city to ever make decent money.

P

• Papa Roach - The band was named after singer Coby Dick's grandfather, Papa Roatch.
• Pearl Jam - Singer Eddie Vedder's grandmother Pearl used to make Eddie's favourite jam when he was young. The name was chosen in tribute to her.
• Pere Ubu - The group is named "after the protagonist of Ubu Roi, a play by Frenchman Alfred Jarry."
• A Perfect Circle - Minutes before their first gig, the band was still nameless, so the band members laid all the lyrics to their songs on a table and decided to name themselves after a randomly picked line of one of their songs. The line was "Metaphor for a missing moment / Pull me into your perfect circle", off the song Orestes.
• Pink Floyd - The band was originally called The Pink Floyd Sound, after blues musicians Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Fans later abbreviated the band name to Pink Floyd, which stuck and became the official band name.
• The Pogues - The band was originally called Pogue Mahone (a phoentic translation of the Gaelic pog mo thoin meaning "kiss my arse"), but the name was changed to The Pogues shortly before the band's first record deal.
• Procol Harum - The band was named after the pedigree name of a Siamese cat that belonged to a friend of songwriter Keith Reid's.

Q

• Queen - Originally called Smile, singer Freddie Mercury came up with this new name for the band. To the band members, Queen sounded regal, universal, simple and humourous in a risqué way.

R

• Radiohead - They originally used the name On A Friday, a name referring to the only time where all band members were able to practice. Radiohead was taken from a Talking Heads song.
• R.E.M. - The name was selected by band members out of a dictionary, because they liked the sound and ambiguity. It refers to the rapid eye movement phase of sleep.
• The Rolling Stones - The band was named after the song Rollin' Stone by Muddy Waters, one of the band's idols.
• The Ramones - Refers to Paul McCartney's pseudonym Paul Ramone.

S

• Savage Garden - Their name is taken from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.
• Scritti Politti - The title of political writings by Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist.
• Simple Minds - Taken from a David Bowie song, "Jean Genie".
• Sisters of Mercy - Taken from a Leonard Cohen song of the same name.
• Soundgarden - Named after a sculpture entitled "The Sound Garden" located in Seattle's Magnussen Park.
• Sum 41 - The band formed on the 41st day of their summer vacation.
• Steely Dan - The name of a dildo in the novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

T

• Talking Heads - The name 'Talking Heads', came from an issue of TV Guide that listed some words used in the television business. A 'talking head' is a shot of a newscaster from the shoulders up. 'All content, no action' seemed to fit the band's musical style and stage presence so the name stuck.
• Texas - The band took their name from the 1985 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas.
• They Might Be Giants - The band's name is the title of a 1971 movie starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward (based on the play of the same name written by James Goldman.)
• Thin Lizzy - Lead guitarist Eric Bell was reading an old issue of The Dandy. One of the strips featured a robot called "Tin Lizzie". The band was named after that robot, but for copyright reasons, the name was changed to Thin Lizzy. Tin Lizzie is also an old name for the Ford Model T.
• Toad the Wet Sprocket - The band took their name from a Monty Python skit called Rock Notes, off the 1980 album Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album. The skit made mention of "Rex Stardust, lead electric triangle with Toad The Wet Sprocket".
• Toto - The rock band name was named after Dorothy Gale's pet dog in the movie The Wizard Of Oz.

U

• UB40 - Named after the U.K. Social Security form for unemployment benefit.
• Ulver - Norwegian for "wolf," an animal the band frequently reveres in their music.

V

• Velvet Revolver - Scott Weiland wanted the band to be called Velvet while Slash wanted Revolver. The two compromised.
• Velvet Underground - Named after a book about sadomasochism by Michael Leigh.
• Veruca Salt - Named after a character in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

W

• Weezer - There is no confirmed origin of the name, but the most respected is that the name comes from the nickname of the band's frontman Rivers Cuomo, who suffered from asthma in school.
• The White Stripes - The band was named after the peppermint candy, which to members Jack and Meg White symbolizes childhood and innocence.
• White Zombie - Named after a 1933 horror film starring Bela Lugosi
• The Who, after being called The High Numbers, adopted new name because on posters of the time, each band got a single line, so they would get the largest type, no matter how low the billing.

X

Y

Z