Skip to main content

The Best Band Names of All Time

On planet music, there is no shortage of good band names. From provocative to hilarious, pleasing to the ear to clever, the titles musical groups go by can be instantly iconic.

Some, like The Who, just sit well. It’s a name with many meanings, ideal for a British band that would become one of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest ever. You can just imagine the puzzled club-goers in the band’s formative days, responding with a confused, “the who?,” when hearing the band’s moniker.

Others, like Let’s Eat Grandma or The Helio Sequence pull you in. The former is an absurd proposition while the latter has a gorgeous ring to it. Both are memorable and almost set the act up for success. If you’re gonna go by a name that engrossing, you better own it on stage.

Even a good abbreviation can make for a fantastic band name, like MGMT. Many of the best names are evocative, mystical even, like Magic Sword, the electro-pop band out of Boise, Idaho that performs in cloaks. 

Related Reading

Instead of just offering our own list of best band names (which we do), we thought we’d go a step further and query some music industry types for their favorites. Here they are, on behalf of a few writers, editors, and musicians in the know.

Mark Stock / The Manual

Gaytheist

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Bands love to play with words. Portland trio Gaytheist goes by a picture-perfect name in that sense. Not only is the band unbelievably noisy and all kinds of punk rock, it’s fronted by a gay atheist who sports a delightful zero-fucks-given mentality.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Some of the best band names are longwinded and showy. This Aussie band opts for just that with a name that, if written on the back of a jersey, would have to be in a very tiny font size. King Gizzard’s audacious name seems to reflect both the size of the band (a seven-piece) and its cerebral, psych-rock sound, so heady it’ll put you on a different plane.

Yeasayer

Yeasayer
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Yeasayer just feels so positive and optimistic and bright, you want to shout it from the mountaintops. It helps that Yeasayer’s music is wonderfully complex, like a modern day Pink Floyd.

Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot
Image used with permission by copyright holder

An ear-turning name from a band that has made activism its driving force. The name is designed to piss off the patriarchy and defy goons in power who favor censorship.

Digable Planets

Digable Planets
Image used with permission by copyright holder

An ultra-thoughtful name from a band that defies most genres. And yet, the name also comes off as effortlessly cool. It’s spacey, earthy, and thought-provoking.

Matt Singer / Willamette Week Arts & Culture Editor

X

Simple, mysterious and utterly un-Google-able, which probably explains why their legacy as one of the great American rock bands of the ’80s faded in the internet age.

Public Enemy

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Mainstream acts that take hard-left political stances often announce themselves with all the subtlety of a flash-bang, but the most radical of them all manage to hint at their dangerous ideas without proclaiming their intentions to rage against the system — the epitome of the phrase, one might say.

OutKast

OutKast
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The “k” is capitalized because it does the heavy lifting here. “Outcast” looks limp written out. With the “k”? Cooler than a polar bear’s toenails. 

Funkadelic

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The band is funky. They’re also psychedelic. What more do you need to know?

Tommy Franzen / Mothertapes Drummer

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Unknown Mortal Orchestra
Image used with permission by copyright holder

A fittingly enigmatic name for an enigmatic band.

The Band

The Band
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The definitive “The” name. Who needs Dylan anyway?

Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age
Image used with permission by copyright holder
A playful name for a band that straddles rough-edged rock and radio-friendly hits.

The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Supposedly named by pure chance, it fits the ethos of a band whose music was central to a counter-culture revolution.

Jeni Wren Stottrup / Musician, Editor, Gritty Birds Podcasting

Thunderpussy

Thunderpussy
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This Seattle band’s name is as fun and raucous to say out loud as their high-energy shows are to experience.

Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino
Image used with permission by copyright holder

I love saying this off my tongue and that Daniel Glover came up with the moniker from a Wu-Tang name generator, proving that you shouldn’t always take yourself too seriously.

The Band

The Band
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This iconic group proved that a name doesn’t need to be complicated if the music speaks for itself.

MF Doom/Madvillain

MF Doom/Madvillain
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This hip hop artist goes by many names and I love the playfulness he uses with his villain monikers, all of which shift depending on what his sound is and who he’s working with.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
Brunswick to Olhausen: The 12 best pool table brands in 2024
Imperial Pool Tables the Nouveau best pool table

Pool is a lot of fun, but also requires a lot of practice. You could always visit your local bar or billiard and play there, or you could get your own pool table for your home. The best part is that it's a classic game with no screens, no modern tech, but still offers an incredibly fun experience to all, and would be a great way to spend some family time. Even if you just want to kick back with some drinks, cigars, and have a little fun with your buds, it's fantastic for that, too. A guide on How to Play Pool Like a Pro will only take you so far. At some point, you'll need to pick up a pool cue and shoot some balls into pockets. So, this guide will explore some of the best pool table brands, from brand1 to brand2, to help you choose the perfect table for your home.
Brunswick

Brunswick has been in the pool scene since 1845, which is one hell of a track record. It also makes some fantastic tables, many of them the industry's top-sellers, including those used for championship games. We're talking about real wood tables, premium slate, enhanced rail sights, and high-performance exceptional materials all around. From the seven-foot Allenton to the 9-foot Glenwood, there are a host of options to choose from, and really, you can't go wrong with any of Brunswick's tables. Brunswick also sells a variety of pool accessories, furniture, and other recreational products, like shuffleboard or foosball tables.

Read more
Ranked: The best Disney movies of all time (for kids of all ages) – Up, Toy Story 2, and more
Does your favorite Disney movie make our list of the best Disney movies?
The cast of Coco

As the old saying goes, Disney is for both the young and the young at heart. Although the studio continues to deliver great new movies for the kids of today, kids of days past still have fond memories of their days spent watching the movies that the studio used to make. Now, with the advent of Disney Plus, watching those beloved classics is easier than ever.

Because the best Disney movies are so wrapped up in what you loved as a kid, everyone's list is going to be different. And now that Disney owns mega properties like Marvel and Star Wars, the roster of available movies now on Disney+, continues to grow. You might not agree with this list, and there are plenty of great Disney movies not on it, but if you're looking for some other options, we also have a list of the best Disney Plus movies to stream right now.

Read more
From college to the barbershop, here are the 10 best Simpsons episodes of all time, ranked
These early episodes of The Simpsons are all the proof you need that the show deserves its extended run
The Simpsons

Wherever you look in the streaming ear, you're likely to find a great animated series to watch. Some of those series are serious, while others are basically sitcoms with animated characters. That latter category is entirely indebted to The Simpsons, the longest-running scripted series in TV history.

The difference between The Simpsons and many of the other great comedies in TV history (animated or not) is that The Simpsons, at its best, was always pushing its own limits. Although the show has famously had its ups and downs over the years, few shows in TV history can stand up against what The Simpsons was doing when the show was at its best. Generations of viewers grew up with Homer, Marge, and their family, and they grew to love the characters, even if they didn't reliably tune in every week. In its way, the show has become an institution.

Read more