Nicknames you had as a child can serve as excellent stage names for a group or lead singer. Examples of band names that came from personal experiences are Mudhoney, which named themselves after an obscure movie they loved, and Sum 41, which played their first major show together on the 41st day of summer.
You can keep it simple if you want your name to be iconic. Boston, Chicago, America, and Kansas are all famous bands named after specific places. Other examples include the E Street Band, which refers to the street where the band met, and State & Madison, which is named after the main intersection in downtown Chicago.
A Day to Remember and Clean Bandit are named after unique phrases that the members of the band heard.
If you’re in a heavy metal band, try using a Dungeons and Dragons name generator to come up with some rustic, mystical-sounding names. You can find one at https://www. fantasynamegenerators. com/dungeons-and-dragons. php. If you’re naming a hip hop band, look at the Wu-Tang name generator at https://wutangclan. net/name-generator/. Popular rapper Donald Glover came up with Childish Gambino by punching his name in the generator.
Examples of this formula include Dead Kennedys, Green Day, Steely Dan, and Def Leppard.
Foster the People, Run the Jewels, Walk the Moon, and Jukebox the Ghost are examples of bands that use this formula.
Blink 182, Sum 41, Twenty One Pilots, and The Jackson 5 are examples of bands that use this formula. Use punctuation instead of a number if you’d like. Panic! at the Disco is a popular example.
Kool and the Gang, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Florence and the Machine are bands that use this format.
The Gorillaz, The Eagles, Fleet Foxes, and A Flock of Seagulls all incorporate animals in their names.
Good collective nouns include “jury,” “galaxy,” “batch,” and “army. ” Any collective noun that communicates a strong energy can work well.
Try to choose a name that communicates the type of music that you play. If your band is named “Black Death” but you play folk music, you’re going to confuse people. Similarly, if your band plays aggressive music but you’re named “The Flowers,” you may just end up perplexing potential listeners.
If you’re absolutely sure that you want to incorporate a goofy pun, consider misspelling a word to make it a little more subtle. Led Zeppelin is perhaps the best example of this.
If your friend or family member has to ask what kind of music your band plays, it may be a sign that your name doesn’t communicate your band’s style or sound. If people laugh when you tell them your band’s name, consider scrapping it for a new name.
See if you can turn it into a logo! Lots of iconic bands have turned their names into logos or icons. Examples include Van Halen, Daft Punk, and Slayer.
