I searched google for the name of one of my bands, and the only thing that came up was us. There was another band with half our name and something else, so I'm happy with our name. It reflects the music we play (rootsy Delta blues) and it is unique to us.
Searched for another name of another band I'm in and it, too, is unique.
A Celtic band I used to be in had but one other rival to the name and the other band spelt the name incorrectly.
The bluegrass band I was in was also unique in name.
Some suggestions for naming a band mix some or all of the following:
- Location
- member names
- steer clear of clichés (ex. if you're in a blues band leave "blues" out of the name)
- throw in a superlative
- anagrams (as suggested by someone else in this thread)
- use a dictionary & thesaurus
- solicit suggestions from friends & family and take what you need/like
- use an online band-name generator as inspiration, but not for the actual name (the best names come from thought, not from online band-name generators, IMHO)
- consider the type of music you're playing and intended audience and home in on an aspect of that genre
- mix up some song titles from a short list of songs that epitomize what you do
Not many bands can transcend a schitty name (there's always exceptions); IMO a name is very important, just wish I could convince my fiddler friend of that as he just doesn't give a rat's patootie.
