Talk:List of musician and band name etymologies

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Lamb Of God Etymology[edit]

The "etymology" given for this band name is very (c)rudely worded with no sources cited or given. I think it should be removed from the list until more reliable and less vulgar information can be provided. —Preceding unsigned comment added by TMadison (talk • contribs) 17:36, 8 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Current list of band name origins[edit]

http://www.amiright.com/names/bandnameorigins.shtml

This is an unreliable source with its entries unreferenced and submitted by anonymous users. Please refer to Wikipedia's guidelines for verifiable sources:WP:V. I removed all entries that referenced the site. Also, do not copy and paste to Wikipedia from other sources. The referenced material must be paraphrased.--Catch153 (talk) 05:36, 25 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Atreyu band name etymology contradiction[edit]

As of 05 January 2008 17:13 SAST, the article states: Atreyu — Contrary to common belief, NOT named after a character in The Neverending Story. It does not cite a source for this fact. The Atreyu article mentions the name does in fact come from the character in The Neverending Story and cites a 2005 interview with an Atreyu band member confirming it. -- Marcelvr (talk) 15:15, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Unverified names[edit]

These need checking. When a reliable source is found please move into the article. SilkTork *^{What's YOUR point?} 11:59, 7 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

0-9[edit]

3OH!3 — The band, which comes from Boulder, Colorado, got their name from the area code of Boulder, 303.

A[edit]

The Angry Samoans — a tribute to professional wrestling tag team, Wild Samoans
ALO — Animal Liberation Orchestra — they liberate the inner-animal in you through their music.
Anthrax — Scott Ian heard the word in biology class, and thought it was a good name for a band.
Army of God — Named after some militant Christians responsible for kidnapping a couple of abortion providers in the 80s, and now suspected in various bombings in Atlanta.
As I Lay Dying — The title of William Faulkner's stream of consciousness novel As I Lay Dying.
Ash — Picked by the members after a very short trip through a dictionary.
Asia — They chose the name to add mystery to the band.
Atreyu — Contrary to common belief, NOT named after a character in The Neverending Story.
At the Drive-In — Named after a lyric from "Talk Dirty To Me" by Poison.
Atomic Opera — An acrostic for the Alpha and Omega (God).
Augie March — Named for the Saul Bellow novel, The Adventures of Augie March.
Austra — Middle name of Katie Stelmanis. IIRC, the name comes from a Latvian goddess?
The Automatic — From their belief that music was the antidote to the 'automatic' lifestyle.

B[edit]

Bad English — They used to play pool and were bad at "putting English" (spin) on the ball.
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.
Beatallica - The name is a portmanteau of The Beatles and Metallica as they play songs parodying both bands.
The Bloodhound Gang — A skit on the "321 Contact" TV show.
Bloc Party — Their name is a play on the term "block party". Also from the 2000AD comic strip Judge Dredd, a term used to describe a riot between neighbouring blocks of flats.
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 their obsession with the occult.
Bodeans — Named after the Beverly Hillbillies character Jethro Bodine.
Bolt Thrower — Taken from the Warhammer table-top games.
Box Car Racer — comes from the B-29 Bomber which dropped the second wartime atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. The plane's name was "Bockscar".
Bratmobile — A play on the Batmobile, the fictional car driven by Batman. Combines "Batmobile" and "brat."
Brian Jonestown Massacre — A combination of the names of Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones and cult leader Jim Jones.
Breaking Benjamin — The lead singer Ben Burnley was covering a Nirvana song during an open-mic night at a club when he dropped the microphone to the ground, breaking it. The person who owned the microphone came on stage and said, 'Thanks to Benjamin for breaking my f***ing mic.' In 1999, the band briefly renamed themselves "Plan 9." In late 2000, after various line-up changes, the band changed its name back to "Breaking Benjamin"
Bush — They got their name from a neighborhood in London called "Shepherd's Bush".
Busta Rhymes - Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr. was dubbed Busta Rhymes (after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes) by Chuck D of Public Enemy after watching him perform.
Byrds — They changed their original name (Beefeaters) into The Byrds.

C[edit]

Cafe Tacuba — after the landmark restaurant in Mexico City
Calexico — named after the city in Imperial County, California
Catch-22 — from the novel Catch-22
Can — an acronym for "Communism-Anarchism-Nihilism"
The Celibate Rifles — the opposite of Sex Pistols.
Ray Charles — His real name was Ray Charles Robinson, but he changed it to avoid confusion with the boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
Caliban — Named after a character from Shakespeare's "The Tempest."
Chagall Guevara — Christian artrock band fronted by Steve Taylor named after a painter Marc Chagall and revolutionary Che Guevara.
Chemical Brothers — Originally "The Dust Brothers", after the 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. "Chemical Brothers" was derived from a song of theirs called "Chemical Beats".
Chicago — The band was originally called The Chicago Transit Authority, and their first album was released under that name. Soon afterwards, the band was sued by the city of Chicago because the band used the name of the city's public transportation department. It then took the city's name.
Chiodos — originally called The Chiodos Bros, they chose it in honour of the horror movie directors.
Chimaira — A variation of the Chimera, a monster part lion, goat and snake from Greek mythology.
Chroma Key — Blue or green screen process in film special effects.
Cibo Matto — An Italian phrase that translates to "crazy food."
City and Colour — This stage name is derived from the artist's real name, Dallas Green. "Dallas", which is a city, and "green" which is a colour.
CKY — An abbreviation of Camp Kill Yourself; a non-existent horror film. Deron Miller, the band's lead singer thought this would make the perfect title for a movie, as he is a massive fan of the "sleep away camp" series of films. Shortened to CKY because the full title would be too large and considered innapropriate for billboards.
The Clash — Inspired by various newspaper articles mentioning the word "clash" to refer to violent confrontations (e.g. "a clash with police").
Cobra Starship — Gabe Saporta's combined phrases written on the back of two of his old jackets, one that said "Cobra" and another that said "Starship".
Cobra Verde — named after the Werner Herzog film of that name.
Cocteau Twins — named after a very early Simple Minds song, which would be re-recorded as "No Cure"
Coheed and Cambria — Named after the two main characters of the science fiction story that the band's albums tell.
Collective Soul — the name was taken from the novel "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand
Complete — Curtis: "We took our initials, first initials, so I'm Curtis which is a C, and then you have the O. M, which is Mark. P is uh Peter, and Todd, which makes Complete. Basically the initials is how we did it. Todd: "...are in the band's name, they're in the band's name Complete. All them initials are in that band...name."
The Condemned — Original drummer David McCann sent a text to Foley, the current guitarist, saying, "How about "The Condemned" for a band name". This name was not used until David left the band.
Counting Crows — Duritz and Bryson called themselves after an English rhyme. "...if you hang on to the flimsiness of anything, you might as well be standing there, counting crows..."
The Cranberries - The band was originally known as "The Cranberry Saw Us", a pun on "cranberry sauce", before shortening the name to simply The Cranberries.
Cream — They were the "cream of the crop."
Crowded House — was inspired by the cramped accommodation in Hollywood where the band spent 1985 rehearsing their debut album. The band was originally called "The Mullanes", Mullane being both Neil Finn's middle name and his mother's maiden name.
Cruachan — Named for the ancient capital of the kingdom of Connacht in Ireland.

D[edit]

Dave Matthews Band — Band member LeRoi Moore called a venue to schedule a concert in the band's early goings, and said that Dave Matthews and his band were going to play. The venue then made flyers stating that the Dave Matthews Band was scheduled to play.
Death by Stereo — The name is taken from dialogue in the film, The Lost Boys.
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. The song "Death Cab for Cutie" is a parody of the "Paul is Dead" rumors, in which conspiracy theorists claimed that Paul McCartney (the "cutie") had been killed in a car accident and replaced with a double.
The Demise — The name was coined as it best describes the band's apocalyptic punk sound.
John Denver — Born Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr., John adapted the stagename "Denver" in tribute to the city he loved.
Derek and the Dominos — from a mispronunciation of the band's original name "Eric and the Dynamos" by the announcer at their first concert.
DevilDriver — Dez Fafara's wife had a book by Italian witchcraft author Raven Grimassi on Stregheria, and came across the term 'devil driver'. The term 'devil driver' refers to bells Italian witches used to drive evil forces away. Fafara thought it was cool because it sounded 'evil', and thought the term 'suits his life'.
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.
Dimmu Borgir — The name of this Norwegian band means "dark castle" in Icelandic. There is a mountain in Iceland called DIMMU BORGIR as well.
Dinosaur Jr. — Added the 'Jr' suffix after a lawsuit from another band called 'Dinosaur'.
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.).
Dr. Feelgood — the band took its name from two separate songs which came out in the 1960s with the same name, by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and Aretha Franklin, respectively.
Dschinghis Khan — German spelling of "Genghis Khan".
DVDA — Stands for "Double Vaginal Double Anal", a fictional sexual position originally invented by band members Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the movie Orgazmo.
The Disco Biscuits — A slang term for ecstasy pills

E[edit]

Eagles of Death Metal — Came about when members Josh Homme, and Jesse Hughes were making fun of a friend for his bad taste in music. Telling him that his favorite band wasn't hardcore, they were the, "Eagles of Death Metal."
Earlimart — named after a small town in California's San Joaquin Valley noted for being the most poverty-stricken community in the state.
Editors — named because lead singer Tom Smith's previous occupation was editing a British fetish pornographic magazine.
Eurythmics — This is a respelling of a classical dance technique (eurhythmics) singer Annie Lennox had encountered as a child.
Eve 6 — Named after an episode of The X-Files.
Everclear — Named after the strong alcohol of the same name.
Evergreen Terrace — Named after the street the Simpsons live on.
Everything But The Girl — The band's name came from the slogan of an old-fashioned furniture shop on Beverley Road, Hull (now demolished). The idea behind the slogan was that they could provide every imaginable item to furnish your home, except the girl (who worked there).
Explosions in the Sky — Named after fireworks the band saw on the American Independence Day.
Extreme — The former band name was The Dream. After some line-up changes, they changed the name to a subtle play on words, Extreme (Ex-Dream).

F[edit]

Fairport Convention — after the house "Fairport" where the band practiced.
Falco — Named after East German ski jumper Falko Weißpflog.
The Fall — named after Albert Camus' novel The Fall.
The Fall of Troy — Named by opening up a history book and randomly pointing at pages until they found something they liked, also how they named previous band, The Thirty Years War.
Fantômas — Mike Patton band named after the supervillain Fantomas of pulp novels, films and comics.
Faster Pussycat — Named after the 1965 film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
Feel of Rust — Named after a line in the Saladfingers movie.
Fiction Plane — An anagram of Infant Police, referring to the band The Police of musician Sting, the father of Fiction Plane front man Joe Sumner.
Fine Young Cannibals — Inspired by the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals.
Finger Eleven — Named after a slang term for when you see a sonogram of a baby boy... "finger eleven" would represent his penis.
Five for Fighting — An ice hockey term. The penalty for fighting is five minutes in the penalty box.
Fleetwood Mac — Then-frontman Peter Green named the band after the rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood (drums) and John McVie (bass).
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 watching a horse race where a horse was named after the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The Fratellis — Taken from the Italian word "Fratelli," which means brothers.
Friends of Dean Martinez — Originally named "Friends of Dean Martin", had to change the name due to threatened legal action.
Frodus — From the last episode of TV series The Monkees called Mijacogeo (aka The Frodis Caper).
Fugazi — after the G.I. acronym, Fucked Up, Got Ambushed, Zipped In.
Funeral for a Friend — title of a song by the band Planes Mistaken for Stars, not Elton John as previously believed.
The Futureheads — Named after The Flaming Lips album Hit to Death in the Future Head.

G[edit]

Galactic Cowboys — Melodic hardrock band from Houston named after a motorcycle gang.
Gang of Four — the leftist punk/post-punk band from Leeds, England, took their name from the Maoist Gang of Four, the leaders responsible for the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976. An added layer of meaning can be derived from the four prominent schools of post-structuralism (the works of Levi-Strauss, Lacan, Barthes, and Foucault), which directly influenced the band's politics and lyrics.
Geggy Tah — The band consists of Greg Kurstin & Tommy Jordan. Each of them has a younger sister who was unable to pronounce her brother's name when very young; "Geggy" and "Tah" were the baby girls' mispronunciations of their brother's names.
Glassjaw - Named after the slang word for a boxer who is easily defeated. Singer Daryl Palumbo's father was a boxer, which most likely had an effect on Daryl's life.
Glorious Gloria Parker And the Starlets — All female Big Band that toured with the USO during World War II managed by Joe Glazer.
Glasvegas — Unsure. The article used to say it was Glasgow + Las Vegas, but now specifically says it's not that. Both version have no citations. Discuss on that article's talk page
Godsmack — After one band member made an innapropriate remark lead singer had told him god will smack you for that. you will get a GodSmack. Taken from the title of an "Alice in Chains" song, a band on which they based their musical style on (mimicking the drop-D tuning in which many Alice in Chains songs were written).
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; upon release of Yanqui U.X.O., the band moved the exclamation point after You to clarify better the title's translation.
Gogol Bordello — Named after Ukrainian writer Nikolai Gogol.
Gotan Project — An anagram for Tango.
Grand Funk Railroad — A mutation of The Grand Trunk Railroad, a local landmark in their home state of Michigan.
Green River — after the Green River killer.
Grinspoon — Named after Dr. Lester Grinspoon, who believes in legalising marijuana.
The Groovie Ghoulies — after the early 1970s animated TV series about monsters in a rock band,The Groovy Ghoulies.
The Gun Club — singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his friend, Keith Morris (not a member of the band), sought a band name with Old West associations.
The Guess Who — listed their name as "Guess Who?" on the jacket, hoping to fool record buyers into thinking that the British Invasion-influenced music was actually by a more famous group in disguise.
Gym Class Heroes — Because vocalist Travis McCoy and drummer Matt McGinley shared gym class together, and Travis was constantly protecting Matt from bullies in the class, he became Matt's "Gym Class Hero"

H[edit]

Harper Lee — named after a Nobel Prize writer who wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird"
Hebephrenic — named by founding member guitarist Dave Gibbons, it's an archaic term for disorganised schizophrenia that he found in a Psychology textbook.
Helmet — named jokingly as a reference to German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, instead using the noun's spelling.
Hemophiliac — John Zorn, Mike Patton and Ikue Mori's avant-garde side-project named after the medical condition of the body's lack of ability to create blood clots, hemophilia.
Hinder — The word "hinder" means to obstruct so clearly. They meant to have their name to give them an image of being "bad boys of rock" as they are known to be.
Horslips — a spoonerism of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse becoming 'The Four Poxmen of The Horslypes' which was eventually shortened and changed to 'Horslips'
Hot Water Music — the band was named after Charles Bukowski's 1983 collection of short stories highlighting the underbelly of America.

I[edit]

I Am the World Trade Center — the band members wanted a silly, whimsical name, which took on different connotations after 9/11, which occurred shortly after the release of their album.
Ill Niño — Originally the band was called El Niño, after the weather phenomenon. After signing to Roadrunner Records in 2000 the band had to change their name as, at that time, another band was already known as El Niño.
Incubus — picked at random from a dictionary before a show. Incubus is a demon that seduces women into having sex to spawn more Incubi while they are asleep. Female version is Succubus. They liked the name because it had sex in the definition, and it stuck.
Interpol — derived from the International Police.

J[edit]

Jefferson Airplane — Alternately, Grace Slick has stated that Paul Kantner named the group after a type of roach clip made from a paper match called a jefferson airplane.
Jello Biafra — (of Dead Kennedys) based his name on the famines in the African nation of Biafra. He thought combining it with something as crude as jello made for an ironic and humorous stage name.
Jet — Taken from the Paul McCartney/Wings song Jet on the album Band on the Run.
Johnny Truant — named after a character in Mark Z. Danielewski's novel House of Leaves.
Journey — Originally called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section, after the bridge in their hometown of San Francisco, they wanted a new name. They had a contest where listeners could submit a band name, but everything they got was horrible (one such example being Rumpled Foreskin). Eventually, a roadie suggested Journey and the name stuck.
Judas Priest — Taken from the Bob Dylan song The ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest. Also, a euphemism for "Jesus Christ."
Job for a Cowboy — Taken from a line in a high school text book that read, "Sounds like a job for a Cowboy" by vocalist Johnny Davy. The band originally considered to call themselves "A Job for a Cowboy" but instead settled on dropping the a and shortening it to just Job for a Cowboy.

K[edit]

Kamelot — Named after the castle Camelot known from the legend of King Arthur.
Kansas — Named after the state all the band members are from, on the suggestion of the band's guitarist Kerry Livgren. The nationally known band was actually the third incarnation of Kansas, with a mixing of the members of White Clover and the previous Kansas line-up.
Keane — They chose this name because they had a neighbour that used to take care of them, she was a big support for them and she was very kind, the name of the woman was Cherry Keane. The first name of the band was "Cherry Keane" but then they decided for "keane"
Killswitch Engage — After watching an episode of the The X-Files entitled "Kill Switch" (named after the episodes writer William Gibson had a chance meeting with industrial band Kill Switch...Klick).
B.B. King — originally Riley B. King, called the Beale Street Blues Boy, then Blues Boy, and finally B.B.
King's X — A children's game, similar to jacks.
Kings of Leon — Derived from the band members father, Leon, a Pentecostal evangelist.
KLF — An acronym for "Kopyright Liberation Front", it sums up their attitude towards using samples from other artists.
KMFDM — It is sometimes erroneously said to stand for "Kill MotherFucking Depeche Mode", "Keep Madonna From Doing Music" or "Kylie Minogue Fans Don't Masturbate" ("we hate Depeche Mode/ we don't care for Madonna or Kylie Minogue" in Sucks from Angst (1993).
The Kooks — named for a David Bowie song "Kooks"
Kraftwerk — German for "Power Plant"

L[edit]

La Belle Alliance — named after an inn in Belgium which served as Napoleon's headquarters during the battle of Waterloo.
Laibach — the name for their hometown of Ljubljana in German.
Less Than Jake — Vinnie Fiorello's (the drummer) parents had a dog named Jake and his parents brought food home from restaurants for the dog, but not for him. In general, they treated the dog better than him.
Lightning Seeds — Ian Broudie misheard the lyric "The thunder drowns out what the lightning sees" in "Raspberry Beret" by Prince and thought "The Lightning Seeds" would be a good name for his band.
Lipps, Inc. — Their name was a pun on the term lip sync.
Limp Bizkit — The band's first guitarist Rob Waters claims the name was chosen because of how a friend of the band described his brain (like a "limp biscuit") while on marijuana. The band themselves contend that they simply chose what sounded like the stupidest name they could think of at the time. Another long standing rumour is that the band was named after the fraternity game limp biscuit.
Little River Band — Named after Little River, Victoria, when the band members saw a road sign for this locality on the way to a gig in Geelong.
Lollipop Lust Kill — The band's guitarist wanted the word "Lollipop" in their name and "Lust Kill" was inspired by a description of John Wayne Gacy in an encyclopedia about serial killers as a "lust killer".
lordi — also name of lead singer - childhood nickname (the lord in Finnish) adopted as name of monster character, Mr. Lordi
Lostprophets — Named after a Duran Duran bootleg
Love — an ironic comment on the harsh tensions between the members apparent from the beginning.
Love and Rockets — from the comic book series Love and Rockets.

M[edit]

M83 — Named after the galaxy Messier 83
Madness — Named after a track by ska musician Prince Buster
Mando Diao — The name has no meaning at all, but rather appeared to band member Björn Dixgård in a dream.
Manes — Named after the spirits of the dead in Roman mythology
The Manic Street Preachers — When James Dean Bradfield was busking on the streets a homeless man called him "The manic street preacher".
The Mars Volta — Cedric Bixler-Zavala stated in an interview: "The Volta is taken from a Federico Fellini book about, what he characterizes as a changing of scene, to him is called Volta. And Mars, we're just fascinated by science-fiction."
Masada — Jazz band featuring (saxophonist) John Zorn, (trumpeter) Dave Douglas, (contra-bassist) Greg Cohen, and (drummer) Joey Baron named after a romanization of the Hebrew ????, Mitzada, from ?????, metzuda, "fortress."
The Matches - Originally called "The Locals", they were forced to change their name because of an existing band of the same name.
MDFMK — KMFDM spelled backwards. The band included several KMFDM members including Sascha Konietzko; rumors that MDFMK stood for "More Dollars For Mister Konietzko" were untrue.
Melvins — Melvin was a grocery clerk at the grocery store where band member Buzz Osborne worked.
The Mercury Program — Named for the first human spaceflight program in the United States.
Mest — While drinking a can of Milwaukees Best, he made a Spoonerism of the name (Bilwaukee's Mest).
Meshuggah — Took their name from the Hebrew/Yiddish word for "crazy".
Metallica — As told in K.J. Doughton's book Metallica Unbound, fanzine editor Ron Quintana approached drummer Lars Ulrich to solicit his opinion of a list of possible 'zine titles. On the list was the name Metallica. Ulrich recommended Metal Mania and kept the name Metallica for himself.
Ministry — Named after a 1944 film noir called Ministry Of Fear by Fritz Lang.

An 1982 article from Illinois Entertainer features some Al's bandings about the name, but it does not mention Lang's Ministry of Fear. The version w/ the movie-inspired name is supported by Greg Prato in Al's profile on AllMusic, though. Gleb95 (talk) 08:15, 29 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Ministry's current keyboardist John Bechdel has mentioned in a 2008 interview that Al could borrow the name from a movie. Gleb95 (talk) 14:22, 3 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Mission of Burma — They took their name from a "Mission of Burma" plaque on a New York City diplomatic building. Bassist and co-founder Clint Conley thought the phrase had a "sort of murky and disturbing" quality.
MisterWives — a gender-flipped play on the term for the practice of polygamy, sister wives^[1]

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.
Mogwai — Post-rock band named after the cute and cuddly creature in the Gremlins movies.
Monster Magnet — After changing their names from "Dog of Mystery" to "Airport 75", the group decided upon "Monster Magnet" after the Wham-O toy of the same name.
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.
Motograter — Named after the homemade "motograter" instrument. Designed with industrial cable and guitar pieces, it substituted for traditional bass guitar.
Motörhead — Named after the last song Lemmy had written for Hawkwind. The name of the song "Motorhead" was derived from a slang term for an amphetamine user, the drug being the subject of the song.
Muddy Waters — Born McKinley Morganfield, Waters got his nickname because he liked to play in mud puddles as a kid.
Murder by Death — Named for the Robert Moore film of the same name.
Mushroomhead — Members of the band used the term "mushroomhead" do describe a person when they "did something stupid".
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 Mys?owice in an older German variant as found on an old stove in the drummer's parents' house.

N[edit]

N.E.R.D — Stands for 'No-One Ever Really Dies', a reference to the soul and also the first law of thermodynamics (energy cannot be created or destroyed). As an acronym the name is pronounced phonetically, rather than 'Nerd'.
Neutral Milk Hotel — Jeff Mangum, the frontman and singer/songwriter of the group, had an early collaboration with another member of the band and called themselves Milk, after the name "Neutral Milk Hotel," which Jeff had used in school for various purposes. When they found out another band was called Milk, they decided to use the entire name, Neutral Milk Hotel. Jeff also, at the time, came up with the name "Olivia Tremor Control," which wound up being the name of another band on Elephant 6 Recording Company.
New Model Army — Named after the Parliamentarian Army in the English Civil War, founded by Sir Thomas Fairfax. The New Model Army were the first professional army in English history.
New Order — found by the late Rob Gretton, the band's manager, in an article in The Guardian entitled "The People's New Order of Kampuchea".
The New York Dolls — In the book Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, the Dolls' rhythm guitarist Sylvain Sylvain claims the name was taken from a doll-repair shop called The New York Doll Hospital located across the street from Truth and Soul, a thrift store where he and original Dolls' drummer Billy Murcia worked.
Nickelback — According to an MTV interview, (at least) one band member worked at a coffee bar, where drinks cost $0.95. He would constantly say to customers "here's your nickel back".
Nickel Creek — The band was named after a song of the same name by Byron Berline, which was named after a location in Texas.
Nirvana — In Buddhist teachings, nirvana means an end to dissatisfaction, suffering and pain. Singer Kurt Cobain was interested in eastern religion and philosophy. He later said that he didn't like the name very much, finding it too esoteric. He was also sued by another band named Nirvana.
Norma Jean — Norma Jeane Mortenson was Marilyn Monroe's real name; used after their name Luti-Kris did not work as a confusion with Ludacris
No Use for a Name — Had a show booked but were told they would have to cancel if they didn't have a name for their band. They decided to use the name "No Use for a Name" temporarily until they thought of a better one. After a while the name stuck.
NRBQ — New Rhythm and Blues Quartet (originally Quintet)

O[edit]

Okkervil River — Named for a river to the east of Saint Petersburg; also, from a short story by Tatyana Tolstaya
OMC — Stands for "Otara Millionaires Club", in reference to the band's hometown of Otara, New Zealand and to the fact that it has a high poverty rate.
Ookla the Mok — Named after a character in a the cartoon television show "Thundarr the Barbarian," produced by Hanna-Barbera.
Operation Ivy — Named for the nuclear test of the same name.
The Orb — after a device in the Woody Allen movie Sleeper, a silver ball inducing drug-like effects when touched.
Orbital — After the M25 London orbital motorway — underground raves frequently occurred near the M25 in the late 1980s.
The Ordinary Boys — After the Morrissey song "The Ordinary Boys".
O.S.I. — A Kevin Moore (Chroma Key) and Jim Matheos (Fates Warning) side-project named after the an ill-fated government security installment after September 11, 2001, the Office of Strategic Influence.
Otep — Named for their frontwoman, Otep Shamaya. The name Otep is Egyptian in origin, meaning "creative offerings", "that which brings peace into chaos", "chemical wedding between the worlds of the seen & unseen", "Celtic Warrior from the Em Sea", and "voice of psychotropic revelry". Otep is also an anagram for poet.
Over the Rhine — A folk/alternative group named after the neighborhood Over-the-Rhine west of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

P[edit]

Papa Roach — The band was named after singer Jacoby Shaddix's grandfather, Papa Roatch.
Parkway Drive — Named after a street in Byron Bay, where the band's practice space is located.
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.
Phish — from the name of their drummer, Jon Fishman
Pinback — from Sergeant Pinback in Dark Star (film)
Pitchshifter — After the audio processor that changes the pitch of an audio signal.
The Pogues — The band was originally called Pogue Mahone (a phonetic translation of the Irish Póg mo thóin meaning "kiss my ass"), but the name was changed to The Pogues shortly before the band's first record deal.
Porcupine Tree — Steven Wilson-fronted progressive rock band named after a psychedelic drug.
Portishead — After the band's home town, Portishead, Somerset.
Pretty Girls Make Graves — named after a song by The Smiths, who in turn took the name from a line in Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums
The Pretty Things — after Bo Diddley's song "Pretty Thing", one of their major influences.
Primus — Originally called Primate. Altered when an existing band called 'The Primates' threatened a lawsuit.
Pulp — originally called Arabacus Pulp, after a tradeable commodity seen by Jarvis Cocker in an economics textbook. Dropped the 'Arabacus' as nobody knew what it meant.
Pussy Galore — after the character in the film Goldfinger.

Q[edit]

Queens of the Stone Age — Producer Chris Goss once remarked that the previous band of lead singer Josh Homme, Kyuss, sounded like the 'the Queens of the Stone Age.' After starting to record QOTSA's first album under the name 'Gamma Ray', Homme discovered the name was already taken, "so I called [Goss] up and I'm like 'dude, I'm in the Queens of the Stone Age again and I can't get free', and it just sort of stuck".

R[edit]

Raft of Dead Monkeys — Guitarist John Spalding came up with the name while on safari in Nigeria with his dad.
Rilo Kiley — Name of a 19th century Scottish athlete.
Rockwell — allegedly chosen to mean the artist "rocks well"
Run DMC — From the band founders' nicknames: Joseph 'Run' Simmons and Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels.

S[edit]

Savage Garden — Their name is taken from The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice.
Savatage — Recorded first songs under name Avatar, but were threatened with a lawsuit. They settled on Savatage which is a combination of Savage and Avatar.
Scissor Sisters — Named after a lesbian sex position.
Scritti Politti — A variant on "Scritti Politici," the name of a book by Italian Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci.
See You Next Tuesday — The word cunt is an acronym standing for "See You Next Tuesday".
Silverchair — While requesting songs on the radio, one being 'Sliver' By Nirvana, the other being 'Berlin Chair' by You Am I, Chris wrote the two down so that they didn't forget the name but accidentally misspelled it and wrote down 'Silverchair'.
Simple Plan - The origin of the band's name is obscure. Band members have given various responses on this point, including a liking for the movie A Simple Plan; that the band was their simple plan to avoid getting a "real" job; and that the name was only intended to be temporary, but they never thought of anything better, and with shows coming up for the new band, they needed a name.
Simply Red — The nickname of frontman Mick Hucknall, referring to his distinctive red hair, footballing passion for Manchester United (whose primary kit colour is red), and left-wing politics.
Sisters of Mercy — Taken from a Leonard Cohen song of the same name.
Slaughter and the Dogs — taken from the two favorite albums of the band members, David Bowie's Diamond Dogs and Mick Ronson's Slaughter On Tenth Avenue.
The Small Faces — A reference to the short stature of the band members, and the 1960s United Kingdom slang term face referring to a good-looking male.
The Smiths — According to Morrissey the band deliberately chose a plain sounding name as a reaction against some of the more pretentious band monikers of the 1980s, but another theory holds that they were named after Myra Hindley's brother-in-law David Smith, who informed on the Moors Murderers.
Soft Machine — After the book of the same name by William S. Burroughs.
Sonic Youth — Supposedly an ironic reference to community youth clubs and groups, by applying the term to an intense underground rock band. According to Thurston Moore, the name is derived from combining the names of reggae artist Big Youth and MC5 guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith, to reflect two of their major influences.
Soulfly - The name was taken from words in the Deftones song "Headup".
Squirrel Nut Zippers — The name comes from the Squirrel Brand's Nut Zippers, a peanut and caramel candy for sale since the mid-20s.
Steeleye Span — after John "Steeleye" Span, a character in an English folk song.
Steel Train — Named after a Bob Marley song that they've covered in the past.
Steepwater Band — Named after a cargo ship guitarist/vocalist Jeff Massey sighted in a port on Lake Michigan in south Chicago, IL.
Steppenwolf — German word for coyote.
Stone Temple Pilots — The band was originally called Mighty Joe Young after the 1949 film. When it was revealed that a blues musician already claimed the name, the band changed their name to Shirley Temple's Pussy. When forced to change their name again, the band liked the initials "STP" (from the STP motor oil company) and became Stereo Temple Pirates. Before their first record, the band were once again asked to change their name; They changed "Stereo" to "Stone" and "Pirate" to "Pilot".
The Stray Cats — The name of the fictitious rock band in the 1973 film That'll Be The Day.
Straylight Run — Named after a section of and location in William Gibson's seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. The Villa Straylight is a private estate, and the 'Run' is a joint physical/computer hacking assault on the compound's vault.
Styx — Named for the river Styx in Greek mythology.
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names — Their name comes from a lyric in the song "People" by the Silver Jews.
Suicidal Tendencies — The band's name was inspired by information about the then local state-run insane asylum, which presently stands as California State University Channel Islands.
Supra — This Band is named after the Bright Eyes song "Supriya". Also the meaning has a lot to do with why the band picked it. Having to do with the past, and previous places.
Switchfoot — According to Jon Foreman, the name "Switchfoot" is a surfing term. "We all love to surf and have been surfing all our lives so to us, the name made sense. To switch your feet means to take a new stance facing the opposite direction. It's about change and movement, a different way of approaching life and music". The band worked up a "switchfoot sound", which is a melodic crunch of densley layered sound featuring some electronic experimentation, and often driven by hard-charging guitar riffs, while throwing in a few softer, spacey ballads as well.
System Crash — The named with the computer kept crashing during a recording system in the singer's Princeton basement.

T[edit]

Tally Hall — The band is named after a local food court that many of the band members grew up near.
Tephra — The bass player found the word 'Tephra' in a children's book about volcanoes.
Texas — The band took their name from the 1985 Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas.
Texas is the Reason — The band's name comes from a song by The Misfits entitled "Bullet".
Therion — The band's name originates from Greek, where therion (θηρίον) means beast; the name refers to the beast of the Christian Book of Revelation, however the band's name itself originates from the Celtic Frost album To Mega Therion
Thin Dark Line (band) — The band was named after brothers Bryan and Mike Barnes read a NASA article stating that from outer space, the Great Wall of China looks like a "thin dark line." It was a reminder to the band that on a larger scale, even the greatest human achievements are minimized.
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 (pronounced "Tin Lizzy" in some Irish dialects). Tin Lizzie is also an old name for the Ford Model T.
Thousand Yard Stare — Named for the British term for shellshock.
Three Dog Night — The name was suggested by June Fairchild, girlfriend of singer Danny Hutton. She had read a magazine article about Australian aborigines, who slept next to their dogs for warmth. The coldest weather was known as a "three dog night".
Thugg Life — Named by the group based on a character when they were in school. The fellow as known as a "thug" and the band thus chose their name.
Tim Rogers and the Temperance Union — The Women's Temperance Union is a Christian organisation assisting wifes victimised by alcoholic husbands operating in South Australia. It's endemic of Roger's liking of iconic and obscure Australian cultural references.
Tiny Dancers — Named after Elton John's song Tiny Dancer, featured in the film Almost Famous
Toto — Latin for "all-encompassing", which describes the various genres of music the band's members had played.
Travis — Named after the main character of Paris, Texas.
T.S.O.L. — An anacronym for "True Sounds of Liberty."
Type O Negative — They originally named themselves "Sub-Zero," but soon discovered this was already taken. After an extensive search through the Yellow Pages for potential band names, they all agreed upon Type O Negative to best describe their sound.

U[edit]

Ulver — Norwegian for "wolves," animals the band frequently reveres in their music.
The Union Underground — The name came from the band's recording studio which was dubbed Studio Underground.

V[edit]

Velvet Revolver — Scott Weiland wanted the band to be called Velvet while Slash wanted Revolver. The two compromised.
The Victoria Lucas — Named after the pen-name taken by Sylvia Plath when she first published "The Bell Jar".

W[edit]

We Are Scientists — named for a Cap'n Jazz song.
Weird Al Yankovic — "Weird" is meant because parody music is considered odd.
Whitesnake — slang for a pale penis.
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
Wings — named by Paul McCartney for the wings of the hospital at the time Linda was giving birth to daughter Stella.

X[edit]

Y[edit]

Z[edit]

ZOX — Takes its name from drummer, John Zox.
ZZ Top — sometimes alleged to be a pun on B. B. King (since a king is top man), or on blues singer Z. Z. Hill. An alternative suggestion is that the name is derived from two brands of rolling papers, Zig Zag and Top, which the band would use to roll spliffs. It has also been said that they chose the name so their records would be at the very end of the record store so their fans could easily find them.

References[edit]

^ [1]^{[dead link]}

Bot report : Found duplicate references ![edit]

In the last revision I edited, I found duplicate named references, i.e. references sharing the same name, but not having the same content. Please check them, as I am not able to fix them automatically :)

"HeathenWorld A-E" :
- *'''[[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." <ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077838/quotes The Last Waltz (1978) - Memorable quotes]
- "[http://www.heathenworld.com/bandname/nav1.aspx Origins of Band Names A-E]". Heathen World. Retrieved on [[November 20]] [[2007]].

DumZiBoT (talk) 23:35, 9 August 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Plastic leech? Huh?[edit]

I didn't put that in there. All I did was to remove the bolding and hide the unwikilike unhidden warning at the top. I have never heard of Plastic Leech and have no idea why it did that. Wikipedia seems to be messing with a lot of coding the last few days. I wonder-mixed my edit with another.--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 13:50, 18 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What about those bands. ?[edit]

Black eyes peas Maroon 5 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.103.67.236 (talk) 05:03, 5 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

WSB had quite an impact[edit]

Steely Dan is not the only band name inspired by the work of author William S. Burroughs. Soft machine is a reference to the male organ and Clem Snide is the name of a character in several Burroughs novels. Even the genre designation Heavy Metal can be attributed to Burroughs. Examples for literary references to other authors are british band Benny Profane (a character from Thomas Pynchon's novels), Shipping News (title of a novel by E. Annie Proulx), or Ellen James Society (inspired by a John Irving novel). -- 84.159.82.180 (talk) 11:01, 28 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Blondie[edit]

Many people believe the lead singer is named 'Blondie'. Bottle-blonde, Deborah Harry has a solo act and would be sued if she ever billed herself as "Blondie." However, the band does still perform. The name comes from Harry being whistled and jeered at, 'hey blondie!' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 23.16.217.103 (talk) 17:52, 11 April 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I dunno that herself or Chris Stein, the 2 people with the strongest rights to the name, would sue her. Chris and Deborah were once lovers, and are still very close friends. Still, good point about people mistaking the band for Deborah herself, as if she's "Blondie" and they're just some session guys or old drug addicts who've been following her round for nearly 40 years. Time flies! If your reason is correct, you'll need a citation somewhere, an old magazine article or interview would be good. Good luck finding that! 188.29.164.78 (talk) 22:27, 14 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Offspring problem[edit]

Quoting - "The Offspring — Band members Dexter Holland and Greg K decided to form a band after attending a Social Distortion concert. The band was called Manic Subsidal, who suddenly changed their name to The Offspring in 1986.[131][132]"

So... they were called X for Y reason... then changed to their current name suddenly and for no given reason! So that doesn't explain anything! Just a factoid on a previous name before they became famous. This should be deleted. I'd do it myself, but obviously that's futile on this thing, somebody who's "friends" with the relevant sub-humans can do it. If they give a shit.

188.29.164.78 (talk) 22:23, 14 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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Alice Cooper's autobiography disagrees[edit]

I don't have it with me and thus can't verify this, but I've read Alice Cooper's autobiography (Golf Monster), and I'm like 85% certain that's where it discusses how they came up with the name Alice Cooper: Not that it sounded like someone's grandmother, but because it sounded like a nice girl-next-door with a bit of an edge to it, like she's hiding an axe behind her back. It's meant to be disarming to people who aren't familiar with the band.

I don't recall ever hearting the Ouija board explanation, though it certainly sounds like the sort of thing that band spreads around as a kind of kayfabe, the "in-universe" explanation for things. Kilyle (talk) 08:46, 24 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Useful references[edit]

For anyone looking to expand this list, here are useful general sources I found:

"Rock Band Name Origins: The Stories of 240 Groups and Performers" (Book)
"What's in a Name?: The Book of Bands" (Book)
"50 Stories Behind Band Names You Probably Don’t Know", NME
"The Band Name Game", Rolling Stone (already used as a ref once in list, but lots more examples in article)
"What's In A Name? The Origins Of 10 Famous Band Names", WAAF (FM)
"Making the Brand: The 40 Greatest Band Names of All Time", Spin (magazine)

Bennv3771 (talk) 01:39, 20 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Inclusion of solo musicians?[edit]

Should solo musicians be included in this article? Eminem and Skrillex were removed for being "not a band" (by User:WikiArticleEditor, who seems to be a self-declared deletionist), but others are still there—Lights and deadmau5 at least. I don't know of another list for them. We could move this article to a name that indicates it's okay to include solo musicians, or just add a note to the top of the article stating it also includes them. Thoughts? – PointyOintment ❬‽ · ✍❭ 01:51, 3 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

I've WP:BOLDly added some, but I don't want to put in too much effort if they're just going to get deleted again. Here are some more I happened to find whose etymologies are already known to Wikipedia, for addition to this or a separate list when a decision is reached. Obviously I skipped those who just go by their birth name. Please add to this list if you want to. – PointyOintment ❬‽ · ✍❭ 09:44, 3 December 2018 (UTC)[reply]

an attribution is not an etymology[edit]

Removed these

Aerosmith — Name invented by the band's drummer Joey Kramer^[1]
Amber Run — Originally known as Amber, the band changed their name to avoid confusion with a German musician of the same name.^[2]
Arctic Monkeys — The name was made up by the guitarist, Jamie Cook, while at school.^[3]
Blur — The band had been known as "Seymour" until they were signed to Food Records in 1990. The label disliked the band name and suggested the group pick a new one from a provided list, from which "Blur" was eventually chosen.^[4]
Crime — The band was originally The Space Invaders who looked glam, but played primitive original material in the garage. They turned to a JV look and shortened the name to The Invaders. Tony Greene, who published a short lived SF punk zine No Exit convinced them to change their name to Crime.
Dingo — Originally named Sous-Pierre, which was shortened to Soho. However, a band in London was already using the name Soho, so founding member Pertti "Neumann" Nieminen came up with the name Dingo instead.^[5]
Emarosa — Previously known as Corsets are Cages, the band made up the current name.^[6]
Mayday Parade — Members Alex and Jake decided on the name while recording their first EP.^[7]
Night Ranger — Originally formed as Stereo by Jack Blades, Kelly Keagy and Brad Gillis, the band changed the name to simply Ranger after adding keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald and guitarist Jeff Watson. Due to a copyright infringement claim by a country band calling itself The Rangers, the band changed the name to Night Ranger.^[8]
OneRepublic — Originally called "Republic", the name was changed after Columbia Records mentioned that the name might result in legal action from other, similarly-named bands.^[9]
Staind — The band was originally called "Stain". They added the D when they found another group, which then became Kilgore Smudge and Lit, already had the name.^[10]
Styx — In 1972 the band members decided to choose a new name when they signed to Wooden Nickel Records after being spotted by a talent scout at a concert at St. John of the Cross Parish in Western Springs, Illinois (James "JY" Young's hometown).^{[citation needed]} Several suggestions were made and, according to DeYoung, the name Styx was chosen because it was "the only one that none of us hated".^[11]
Violent Femmes — According to bassist Brian Ritchie, he came up with the name of the group as a fake band name when one of his bandmates questioned his assertion that his brother was also in a band—he and percussionist Victor DeLorenzo liked the name, so they used it for themselves.^[12]

because they explain nothing. (Who cares why they are not called something else?) Reasonable people may disagree. —Tamfang (talk) 02:31, 3 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ "Inductee Explorer - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
^ "Green light for Amber run at pop success". Nottingham Post. December 5, 2013. Archived from the original on December 8, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
^ Aren't fooling around Prefixmag.com
^ "Blur biography - Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
^ "Dingomania - Etusivu". Dingomania.
^ "Interview: Emarosa". www.alterthepress.com. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
^ "MUSIC INTERVIEW: Derek Sanders, Mayday Parade". bringthenoiseuk.com. Archived from the original on January 10, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
^ Night Ranger
^ Amos, Joel D. (June 9, 2008). "One Republic has 'All I Need'". SheKnows. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
^ "Staind". Retrieved February 19, 2017.
^ "In Sickness and in health, Styx take no prisoners on their romp to the top". Circus (50). December 11, 1979.
^ Barker, Rayanna. "A Conversation With Brian Ritchie". Rockzone.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.

Requested move 9 August 2023[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: page moved. Andrewa (talk) 04:58, 17 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

List of band name etymologies → List of musician and band name etymologies – Since some individual musician names have snuck into this article, and there is currently no article for individual artist stage names. Blubabluba9990 (talk) (contribs) 23:25, 9 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.