I think the same thing happened to cause Chicago Transit Authority to shorten it to just “Chicago” to avoid legal issues. Before that they were The Big Thing.
Jethro Tull went through a lot of name changes. Since they were a bit out there musically, they often found it difficult to get repeat gigs, so they kept changing their name so that they wouldn’t be recognized. They changed names so often that once the band even saw a poster and didn’t realize that the band in the poster was them. When they finally did get a repeat job, they were like “That’s great. Who were we?”
Wikipedia lists the names Navy Blue, Ian Henderson’s Bag o’ Nails, and Candy Coloured Rain, but there were many more. Their booking agent was a bit of a history buff, and inserted a few historical names into the mix. When the name Jethro Tull finally stuck, the band didn’t even realize that it was a historical name until later. Ian Anderson later said that he would have chosen something less historical if he would have been given the chance.
I think we should all be grateful that Ian Henderson’s Bag o’ Nails wasn’t the name that finally got the callback.
Jayne County & the Electric Chairs, a relatively obscure '70s punk band, was called Wayne County & the Electric Chairs before its eponymous singer transitioned. Before that, they were the Backstreet Boys, which would’ve caused some confusion if they’d stuck with the name for another 20 years or so.
The Band was originally called the Hawks (after Ronny Hawkins).
I thought they changed the name because they planned to record and release the worst song in modern history (We Built This City) and didn’t want to stain their legacy.
The band Tesla was once called City Kidd. I wonder if they are considering another name change due to current events.
Kidd Rock, maybe?
According to Wikipedia, Jefferson Airplane reformed as Jefferson Starship in 1974.
I always liked the original “Chicago Transit Authority” vs “Chicago”.
Yeah, there was no legal dispute at that time. Jefferson Airplane ended when Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady left. Marty Balin was already gone. Kantner had used the Jefferson Starship moniker for his cast of thousands that backed him on his 1970 solo album. So the remainder of Airplane went into Starship with a new guitarist and bass player. Balin also came back as a “guest” on the first album then re-joined the band.
Jefferson Starship became Starship when Kantner left and prevented the remaining people from using the full name.
As far as other changes, thought the Iveys to Badfinger was an improvement, Iveys was too wimpy and kind of passe.
Oh yeah, I misread the wiki article I linked to. The subhead I linked to, “1984-1985: Kantner departs and transition to Starship” threw me. It meant, the transition from ‘Jefferson Starship’ to just ‘Starship’, not from ‘Jefferson Airplane’ to ‘Jefferson Starship’, which indeed happened in the 70s.
The Butthole Surfers similarly went through a lot of names early on, including “Ed Asner Is Gay”, “9cm Worm Makes Own Food”, “Fred Astaire’s Asshole”, “The Right To Eat Fred Astaire’s Asshole”, “The Inalienable Right To Eat Fred Astaire’s Asshole”, and “the Dick Clark Five”.
I guess they decided to stick with the only one that would let them get on the radio.
Spinal Tap started out as The Originals, the New Originals, and then the Thamesmen. 
The Van Halen brothers named their band Genesis before they found out there was some British group with that name.
That was a different group from the Experience. Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding came along later.
Didn’t they then become the Thamesmen?
I forget. Are they the ones whose drummer died?
I, however, am a Black Sabbath fan 
. After they were the Polka Tulk Blues Band, they changed their name to Earth, which caused a problem when they were booked at an event which was apparently quite formal. It turns out that there was another band called Earth. So, one day, when in their rehearsal space, across the street from a repertory theatre, they noticed a long line of people lining up for the 1964 horror movie “Black Sabbath”. Either that time or some other time, one of the members wondered “if people are willing to pay to see scary movies, would they be willing to pay to listen to scary music?”, or something of that nature. And thus we were blessed 
Don’t even get me started on Mouse Rat.
Nobody in the Marshall Tucker Band is named Marshall Tucker. When the band was forming, someone found that name on a receipt somewhere, and they went with it.
Around the time I graduated from high school in 1981, there was a central Iowa-based blues-rock band called Hawks (not The Hawks) that generated quite a bit of interest. They never achieved huge success, but they did release at least one critically acclaimed album.