Band Name Generator

Generate names for your band below.

1. Choose Your Band Name Keywords

Think of some words to describe your band’s vibe or musical style.

2. Get Band Name Ideas

Our generator tool will create lots of unique and original name ideas for your band, based on the words you entered.

3. Select Band Names

Save some names, check to see if any are already being used, and pick one that fits your band best.

How To Name Your Band

Starting a band is an exciting venture many of us dream of. It can be a demanding and demotivating process, but if you’re musically talented, your calling is impossible to avoid. 

One of the hardest challenges is finding the right band name to suit your image and sound. To make your musical career successful, you want to stand out. A unique name for a unique band. 

Don’t worry if it takes a couple of tries, many of the greatest bands of our time went through several name changes before they settled. For example, The Who was briefly called The Detours and The High Numbers, and The Beatles were The Quarry Men.

Why not try our band name generator for inspiration? 

20 Band Name Ideas

First, let’s look at some potential band names from our band name generator; I found these by inputting words from the music world. Of course, band names are often very personal so, when using the band names generator, maybe try putting something individual in. Here are my ideas:

  1. Minnuetaholic
  2. Bluscape
  3. Ampomatic
  4. Rewind Dark
  5. Toneworks
  6. Deep Smooth
  7. Nocturnal Beat
  8. Reckless Deep
  9. Sirenwind
  10. Sonic Bang
  11. Project Phantom
  12. Songbird Boom
  13. Beatops
  14. Drop Melody
  15. Light Mix
  16. Timbre Time
  17. Ceramic Siren
  18. Balladscape
  19. Ghost Tune
  20. Blues Bridge

20 More Band Name Ideas

  1. Down Home Agita
  2. Amperstellar
  3. Azure Nation
  4. Tonephile
  5. Catastrophe
  6. Chronic Caterwaulers
  7. Eggcorn
  8. Highfalutin
  9. Lushpuppy
  10. Nine Percent Pockets
  11. Lackamusical
  12. Majordemo
  13. Bass Menagerie
  14. Mnemonic Miasma
  15. Murmuration
  16. Onomatopie
  17. PseudoSounds
  18. Slapdash
  19. Staccato
  20. Toothsome

Best Real-world Band Names

Some of the best real-world band names are completely out of the park, the sort of thing that makes you wonder how someone ever came up with it. The greatest band names are the ones where you can’t imagine them being called anything else; their name embodies who they are and they embody their name. Led Zeppelin is Led Zeppelin.  

Now we’ve seen what our band name generator does, let’s take a closer look at some of the best real-world band names for further inspiration. We’ll unpack why they work and how you might take advantage of their strategy. 

The Who

A London rock band formed in the sixties, The Who’s name is perfect in its simplicity. You can so easily imagine that in their earliest performances people would ask who’s playing, to be told “The Who,” evoking a confused “The Who?”

Memorable and understated, The Who is an example of a marketing genius. It states confidence and is sure to stick in everyone’s minds—evidenced that we’re still listening to them almost seventy years later. If you want a simple but effective name, try something like The Who.

Public Enemy

Public Enemy is an American hip-hop group. A name like Public Enemy embodies exactly what hip hop is. Signaling that they’re there to disrupt and disturb, Public Enemy is a name that’s hard to forget.

Try thinking of a name that represents your style or genre of music. Hip hop is so often labeled as troublesome; Public Enemy took that image and ran with it. What can our band names generator come up with for your music genre?

The Band

Not unlike The Who, The Band is effective in its simplicity. It is what it says on the tin; it is The Band. All too often we forget the name of musical artists we’ve heard, clicking our fingers saying “oh what was that band called?” The Band monopolized one of the biggest words in the music world.

Nirvana

Kurt Cobain allegedly wanted his band to have a nice, pretty name. Despite their grunge music, Nirvana’s name inspires peace and serenity. Cobain was doing the opposite of Public Enemy. Rather than tell everyone what they did, Nirvana claimed the opposite.

The clever thing about this is that for many people who know Cobain’s music, when they hear “Nirvana”, they do not think of paradise but the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

If you want to make a name for your band, consider names that are incongruous with your image. If you’re a hard rock band, think about gentle, calming names. If you’re a folk band, what about a strong, tough band name?

Pink Floyd

Named in a spur of the moment, Pink Floyd gets its name from two of their inspirations: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. A homage to blues music and an easter egg for those in the know, Pink Floyd is a memorable and unique name.

Why not put your favorite musicians’ names into our band name generator and see whether you can come up with anything as clever as Pink Floyd?

Unique Content for the Niche

Before you get too excited using the band name generator to come up with a memorable, chart-topping name for your band, you first need a signature sound. While it might be tempting to play all your favorite songs and copy your inspirational artists, start to think about what might make you unique as a band.

Unfortunately, the majority of musicians fail to make it big. This isn’t mentioned to demoralize you or suggest that you shouldn’t even try. This is simply to remind you that you need to try all the harder to create the unique sound that people want to hear. 

If you can come up with a signature sound, you will be way ahead of everyone. Experiment with vocals, drums, and a synthesizer. When you have your ground-breaking edge, use our band name generator to find an equally unforgettable name.

5-Tips for creating unique Band Name ideas

So, we’ve taken a look at what our band name generator can do and what some of the most successful bands are doing. Now let’s turn to what more you might do to make your band name more distinctive.

1. Make it easy to spell and pronounce

While we want you to get creative, don’t get too creative. A name that no one can pronounce or spell might be memorable but it won’t translate very well when people want to tell others about it or look it up. Take Elon Musk’s son as an example, we all know that his name begins with an X but can anyone pronounce or spell it?

You don’t want your band to fade out of existence before you have even begun. However, if you do want to get creative with your band name, consider changing the spelling slightly, but not too much. Yungblud, Linkin Park, and Lynyrd Skynyrd are all successful examples of changing the spelling of words.

2. See if your name is already taken

Make sure no one else has taken your name. We mentioned Pink Floyd’s earlier spur of the moment name change. They were originally called the Tea Lights—the name Pink Floyd was as a result of finding themselves about to go on stage after another band also called the Tea Lights.

Luckily, nowadays we have Google. A quick five-minute search should reveal whether there are any bands with the same or similar name that listeners might confuse you with.

3. Draw from cultural references

Many band names are inspired by cultural references. From books to films, many references are so obscure it can be hard to trace them back to their source. Is there a particular book, film, or TV show that holds a special place in your heart? Any lines or words that are particularly distinctive?

4. Focus on your inspiration

Just as many bands take their names from film and literature, others get their inspiration from other musicians. Frankie Goes To Hollywood named themselves after Frank Sinatra, for example. This is a chance to generate a particularly unique and personal name.

Who inspired you to start playing music? A heartfelt and motivational gesture might be to use them in your band name.

5. Just open a dictionary

Or, if heartfelt isn’t the style you want, a more callous suggestion is to simply open a dictionary and pick the first word you see. Of course, it might take more than a few attempts before finding a more distinctive and suitable word, but you will be surprised how many bands have used this method.

Relevant name generators and articles

Related: Musician Names

Related: Record Label Names

Related: How to Start a Record Label

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

To make your band name official, you need to legally trademark it. This requires completing an application and submitting a fee. Make sure you know who should own the trademark and what it is you want to protect. Double check that no one else has the name.

Yes, you can name your band after another band, but be careful of trademarking. Don’t outright copy their name, but think about a different name inspired by them. After all, you still want your own name to be unique and distinctive, not a direct copy of another band’s name.

Author

Jake Pool

Jake Pool

A content writer in the SaaS, FinTech, and eCommerce spaces, Jake Pool has written hundreds of articles and reviews for dozens of corporate blogs and online publications. With four years under his wing, readers can expect many more informative articles in the future.

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