How to Find an Interesting Name for Your Band

So, you finally got the sound you want, everyone in your band gets along and you've got enough songs in your catalog to hit the road, smack the world in the face and turn it on its head with your rock hard  awesomeness.  All good, except for one small problem.....Your band is missing a NAME.  The following are some tips that will hopefully get you closer to an identity.  Let's begin with a warning shall we?

WARNING

Make sure to research the name you pick to make sure it's not taken by another band.

Don't use words in your band name that a lot of other bands have used. For example, avoid using a band name with the word 'wolf' in it since right now there are a bunch of bands from Canada that have the word 'wolf' in their name (Wolf Parade, We Are Wolves). People get sick of repetition, and you want a name that stands out.

Try to stay away from names that are long or hard to pronounce.

Don't use a word you are not allowed to say in your name, because eventually you're gonna have to say the band name. No one wants to sign a band called "F***ing Classy". Stone Temple Pilots' original name was "Shirley Temple's P***sy", and their record company refused to sign them until they changed their name.^[1]

Make sure to ask your band members if the name you picked is ok with them. Remember, 4 heads are better than 1, so if you and your band members make up a name all together, it might turn out better than the one YOU picked alone!

Never use a name that somebody has already picked because they will be really mad at you and your band. You might also have problems with rights, etc.

Try not to use to many words, 3 or under seems ideal

TIPS:

Avoid using names that don't apply to what you're writing about. Try to use a name that applies to your style of music. If you play metal, a name like "Sugar Lollipops" doesn't make much sense, unless you're trying to use absurd humor (it happens).

Have fun with it! If you want to be funny with the names, make sure they make sense before you choose it.

Don't make the name plural, that is way too over-used

Don't start your name with "The", also way overused, and if you don't start with "The", it will be a lot more original. e.g "Slipknot" would not be a cool band name if it was "The Slipknots".

The following are 25 proven effective ideas that have been used over the course of history to come up with some of the coolest, strangest and most creative band names ever.  You'd be surprised to learn how some of your favorite bands came up with their names and may even borrow their ideas to come up with a name for yours!

1. Find a random word in the dictionary and make that your band name. That's what REM, The Pixies, Incubus, Evanescence and Outkast did. Apoptygma Berzerk did as well, using two randomly found words.

2. Use a pop cultural reference. A famous example is the band Veruca Salt, which took their name from the book Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

3. Make up a name using the initials from the names of each band member. That's how ABBA got their name.

4. Make a list of your favorite words and draw on that.

5. Pick a random word and misspell it, like Korn or Limp Bizkit. They spelled it with a "k" instead of a "c".

 

6. Use a name that's an inside joke or has significance to you. An example of this are The Smashing Pumpkins

 

7. Use the name of a common or uncommon flower, such as Snap Dragon.

 

8. Look around the shops and see if you can spot any interesting food names, such as 'black-eyed peas' or 'red hot chili peppers'.

 

9. Name it after a place you live close to, like Soundgarden, Linkin Park, Hawthorne Heights, Alter Bridge, or Cypress Hill (misspelling is optional).

 

10. Have it be at least two words. Each word could be a simple word but be inspired by two other bands, or a song/album/lyric of theirs, that you like. Having your band name be at least two words will help it be unique and easily searchable on the Internet

 

11. Use a portmanteau. A great example for it is Scarling, that mix up the words "scarring" and "darling"

 

12. Try thinking of a word that describes your style of music or something you're all interested in. Then look it up in the thesaurus. You may find a similar word that's even better

 

13. If you're going for a "sounds like" band (i.e. wanting to form a band that sounds like Metallica), then use one of your favorite songs from that band (i.e. Fade to Black or Master of Puppets) as a band name.

14. If you can get hold of them, read some of Dave Barry's old columns or books. They are full of interesting and unique band-name suggestions that you might like to draw from.

15. Come up with a few names and have a poll. Especially try to poll the target audience. Then you have a better indication that people are going to like your name.

16. Use a song lyric. Panic At The Disco were inspired by the song "Panic" by Name Taken, and All Time Low got their name from the song "Head On Collision" by New Found Glory.

17.

Look at a book. Mikey Way was working in Barnes and Noble and saw the book by Irvine Welsh entitled "Three Tales of Chemical Romance", then came up with My Chemical Romance. Good Charlotte also got their name from the book "Good Charlotte". Matthew Sanders got the name Avenged Sevenfold from the Book of Genesis in the Bible.

18. You could try finding words or names on many sorts of products. Malcolm and Angus Young from AC/DC found their band name on a sewing machine. AC/DC (Meaning: Alternating Current/Direct Current) was printed on the back. They decided to use that.

19. Use the first name or surname of the person you like. Ex: Blue Jane, Ross Avenue.

20. Use humor with your name, such as Led Zeppelin did (a particularly bad gig was often known in British Rock circles as a 'Lead Balloon,' and someone suggested "What about a 'Lead Zeppelin?'").

21. Using umlauts (when a ¨ is over a letter) on some of the o's u's or e's could be great for metal bands, like Motörhead, Blue Öyster Cult and Mötley Crüe did.

22. Also, your band name could be something completely random, like Hurt, Slipknot or Drowning Pool.

23. Foreign sounding (or actually foreign) names like Rammstein, In Extremo, and Oomph! roll off the tongue and stick easily.

24. Use an acronym. KMFDM is an acronym for Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit (No Pity For The Masses in German). This is also a good example of using a joke in your band name.

25. You can use Latin words, like Igneous, which means fire. From that word, you can shorten it to something like Ignea.