Talk:List of band name etymologies

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[edit] Current list of band name origins

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


[edit] Atreyu band name etymology contradiction

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)

[edit] Unverified names

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)

[edit] A

  • 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.[citation needed]

[edit] B

  • 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.
  • Barenaked Ladies — The band members picked the name because it was sexual, yet innocent. Another story is that Ed Robertson and Steve Page were bored while at a concert, and started thinking up the worst possible names for bands. Barenaked Ladies was one of them, and as a joke, Ed booked them as that name for their first gig.
  • Beatallica - The name is a portmanteau of The Beatles and Metallica as they play songs parodying both bands.
  • Billy Talent — named after a character in the film Hard Core Logo
  • 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 number 182, a random number (other ideas were claimed to be false)
  • 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.
  • Blur — The original name of the band was "Seymour". They had to change their name later, because their record label wanted them to pick a new name from a list that the label supplied.
  • Boards of Canada — Influenced by educational films of the National Film Board of Canada.
  • 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.
  • Butthole Surfers - At first the group performed under a different name for each live show. During their first live performance, the announcer forgot the band's name and introduced them as "Butthole Surfers", after their song of the same name. The name itself is an offensive slang term for a homosexual man.
  • Byrds — They changed their original name (Beefeaters) into The Byrds.

[edit] C

  • 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.
  • Cheap Trick - Lead Guitarist Rick Nielsen thought Cheap Trick would be a great band name after he and bassist, Tom Petersson, attended a Slade concert and Petersson commented that the band was using, "Every cheap trick in the book."
  • 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".
  • Chevelle - Named after the band members' father's favorite car, the Chevrolet Chevelle.
  • 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.
  • Children of Bodom — Named after the Lake Bodom massacre.
  • 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.
  • Coldplay — they took their name from a band they knew when the original Coldplay broke up. The band we now know as Coldplay was called "Starfish." The original Coldplay got their name from the poetry book "Child's Reflections, Cold Play" by Philip Horky.
  • 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.

[edit] D

  • 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.

[edit] E

  • 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."

[edit] F

[edit] G

  • Galactic Cowboys — Melodic hardrock band from Dallas 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.
  • 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.
  • Gorgoroth — A place in Middle-earth.
  • Grand Funk Railroad — A mutation of The Grand Trunk Railroad, a local landmark in their home state of Michigan.
  • Grateful Dead — chosen at random from a dictionary entry by Jerry Garcia because their previous band name "The Warlocks" was far too common.
  • 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.
  • Guns N' Roses — From the names of the two bands that came together to form Guns N' Roses, Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns. Also from the surnames of the two founding members: the original lead guitarist Tracii Guns and the singer Axl Rose.
  • 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"

[edit] H

  • Harper Lee - named after a Nobel Prize writer who wrote "To Kill a Mockingbird"
  • Heaven 17 — named after a fictional band in Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange
  • 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.

[edit] I

  • 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.

[edit] J

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Jimmy Eat World — Tom Linton's (Jimmy Eat World's guitarist) younger siblings, Ed and Jimmy, fought constantly when they were younger. Jimmy, who was stronger and heavier, would usually win. Ed, at 8-years-old, as revenge, drew with crayons a picture of Jimmy shoving the entire world into his gaping mouth with the caption, "Jimmy eat world."
  • 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.
  • Joy Division — a reference to brothels in Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
  • 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.

[edit] K

  • 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"
  • The Killers — Named after the fictional band featured in the music video for "Crystal" by New Order.
  • 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.
  • KISS - Frequently believed to stand for Knights In Satans Service. According to the band KISS is not an acronym for anything, but rather a toned down version of another amorous four letter word originally proposed by guitarist Ace Frehley.
  • KJ-52 - "KJ" standing for "King James" and "52" standing for the five loaves of bread and two fish that a kid had in a story in the bible.
  • KLF — An acronym for "Kopyright Liberation Front", it sums up their attitude towards using samples from other artists.
  • KMFDM — KMFDM is an acronym for the nonsensical and grammatically incorrect German phrase "Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid", which literally translates as "no majority for pity" but is typically given the loose translation of "no pity for the majority" or "no mercy for the masses". It is sometimes errouneously 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"

[edit] L

  • La Belle Alliance — named after an inn in Belgium which served as Napoleon's headquarters during the battle of Waterloo.
  • Ladytron — named after a Roxy Music song from their self-titled debut album.
  • Laibach — the name for their hometown of Ljubljana in German.
  • Led Zeppelin — There are many reasons behind the name. When Jimmy Page was in the Yardbirds he had been talking about a super group with Keith Moon. When they decided against it, Keith joked that it would have gone down like a "lead Zeppelin". Page liked the both heavy and light sound of the name like Iron Butterfly. Lead was changed to Led so Americans would not get confused with the lead as in lead guitar.
  • 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.
  • Linkin Park — Chester Bennington suggested the name "Lincoln Park" because he would drive by it in Santa Monica, California (now known as Christine Reed Park). When they were about to buy the domain name "lincolnpark.com", they found it was already taken, so they changed "Lincoln" to "Linkin" to buy "linkinpark.com". Before they became Linkin Park, they went by the name of Hybrid Theory.
  • 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.
  • Living Colour — from the on-air NBC motto, "Brought to you in living color."
  • 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.
  • 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.

[edit] M

  • 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".
  • 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. The name refers to both the band and the lead singer. Originally, all members of the group used this naming convention: Gidget Gein, Madonna Wayne Gacy, Twiggy Ramirez, Ginger Fish, Zsa Zsa Speck, Daisy Berkowitz, and Sara Lee Lucas. Later members John 5 and Skold do not adhere to this.
  • 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.
  • Mcfly — Named after the character Marty McFly from the Back to the Future movie trilogy
  • 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.
  • Megadeth — Taken from an American military term to represent one million deaths; similar to "The Meggadeathes". It also makes reference to a massive explosion from a nuclear bomb -- an early name of Pink Floyd.
  • 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.
  • Misfits — Glenn Danzig named the band as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe's final film of same title.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Modest Mouse — Derives from a passage from the Virginia Woolf story "The Mark on the Wall". The passage said "...and very frequent even in the minds of modest mouse-coloured people..."
  • 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.
  • Mötley Crüe — Allegedly the band were set to call themselves 'Christmas'. However a passer by commented words to the effect of "what a motley looking crew". With the addition of the heavy metal umlaut above ö and the more phonetic spelling, the name was born.
  • 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.
  • My Chemical Romance — Mikey Way, the band's bassist, was working in a bookstore and encountered Irvine Welsh's "Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance" novels.
  • 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.

[edit] N

  • Ned's Atomic Dustbin — Was the title of an episode of the BBC radio comedy The Goon Show.
  • 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)

[edit] O

[edit] P

[edit] Q

  • 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".

[edit] R

[edit] S

  • Shai Hulud — Named after the gigantic Sandworms of Arrakis from the 1984 sci-fi film Dune, based on the Frank Herbert sci-fi novel of the same name.
  • Sigur Rós — Means "victory rose" in the Icelandic language. This is also vocalist Jónsi's sister's name. They named the band after her because she was born on the same day they formed.
  • 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 Minds — Taken from a David Bowie song, "Jean Genie".
  • 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.
  • Slipknot-A type of knot that is not secure and was/is used to strangle.
  • 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".
  • Soundgarden — Named after a sculpture entitled "The Sound Garden" located in Seattle's Magnussen Park.
  • Spandau Ballet — After a visit to Spandau (a section of Berlin), the inspiration being from graffiti one of their roadies saw there. Spandau Ballet referred to the spasms of the Nazi war criminals when they were hanged at Spandau Prison.
  • 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, The - 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.
  • Stryper — Taken from Isaiah 53:5 "By His stripes we are healed." Also an acronym for Salvation Through Redemption Yielding Peace Encouragement and Righteousness.
  • 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.
  • Sum 41 — The band formed on the 41st day of their summer vacation.
  • 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.
  • System of a Down — "Victims of A Down" was the title of a poem guitarist Daron Malakian wrote in highschool. They changed "Victims" to "System" and adopted this as their name, since lead singer Serj Tankian thought "System" sounded more powerful.

[edit] 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.
  • 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
  • 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 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
  • Toad the Wet Sprocket — Name taken from a skit on a Monty Python album. The skit parodied absurd band names.
  • Tokio Hotel - The band was first named Devilish. After this, the band changed their name to "Tokio Hotel", the first word in the name being an intended misspelling of Tokyo, the capital of Japan, and the second word being a nod to their constant visits at hotels during their tours.
  • 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.
  • TSOL - 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.

[edit] U

  • UB40 — Named after the UK Social Security form for unemployment benefit.
  • Ulver — Norwegian for "wolves," animals the band frequently reveres in their music.
  • Ugly Kid Joe — In response to a support slot for the band -- Pretty Boy Floyd. UKJ were an anti-thesis of hair metal.
  • The Union Underground - The name came from the band's recording studio which was dubbed Studio Underground.

[edit] V

[edit] W

[edit] X

[edit] Y

  • Yes — The name Yes was chosen for the band as something short, direct, and memorable.

[edit] Z

  • ZOX Takes its name from drummer, John Zox.
  • ZZ Top is 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.