I think The Butthole Surfers were the type of band who never had any desire nor expectation of having mainstream success. I think “Pepper” becoming a hit was just as surprising to them as it was everyone else.
According to the Wikipedia article, the singer once told Rolling Stone that if he could go back in time and pick a different name, he would’ve gone with “I’m Going To Shit In Your Mom’s Vagina”, so that sounds about right.
On the topic of radio-friendly names, Lemmy originally wanted Motörhead to be called “Bastard” but was told by his manager they’d never get on the radio with a name like that, so he decided to go with the name of the song he’d written for Hawkwind before they fired him for getting arrested with a baggie of meth while crossing from the US to Canada. (Meth actually wasn’t yet illegal in Canada at the time, but the customs agents mistook it for cocaine, and the delay caused by his detention caused them to miss several shows.)
Similarly, Greta Van Fleet was the name of a woman who lived near the Kiszka brothers in their hometown of Frankenmuth, MI.
When Pearl Jam first got together, they called themselves Mookie Blaylock, after a professional basketball player they liked. When they got signed to a record deal, they changed it to Pearl Jam. I imagine being named after a well-known person would have caused legal issues.
I heard that Casey Kasem introduced them as B.H. Surfers.
It worked out just fine for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Not really a great comparison.
Even by the time that the band which would become Pearl Jam briefly named themselves after Mookie Blaylock, in 1990, he was already pretty well-known as a basketball player: Blaylock had been a consensus All-American while playing for the University of Oklahoma in 1989, and had been drafted in the first round of the NBA draft by the Nets. Blaylock went on to play thirteen seasons in the NBA, and was named to the league’s All-Defense team six times.
Lynyrd Skynyrd, on the other hand, took their name from their high school gym teacher; he was by no means a “well-known person” when they based their name on him. The only reason that Mr. Skinner became well-known was that a famous rock band was named after him.
Love them or hate them, and even as a fan I get how cheesy they are, but we all have to admit Creed worked much better as a band name than the one they used for some of their first performances- Naked Toddler.
Country rock pioneers Poco originally wanted to call themselves Pogo, but Walt Kelly objected.
Soft White Underbelly went through several other name changes before deciding on Blue Oyster Cult.
I remember reading an interview with Micky Dolenz in Playboy in the mid 1980s (my college roommate had a subscription). In it, Dolenz was asked about newer bands that he liked; his reply included something along the lines of: “Butthole Surfers. Shame about the name, though.” 
Their first single was credited to Jethro Toe on its label, apparently due to the disc factory mishearing Tull.
Their record company wanted Free to call themselves The Heavy Metal Kids, which I belive some other group ended up as. Phew.
Dammit!
As a consolation prize, they’ve sometimes claimed their name was an anagram of their favourite brew Cully Stout Beer, but that was a retcon - they were named by Sandy Pearlman to fit in with his mythos, often referenced in songs he wrote for them too.
You forgot the ever-forgettable JAPAGE 3.
They also briefly went by “Heaven and Hell” in the late 2000s during the last reunion of the Dio-Iommi-Geezer-Appice lineup, when Iommi and Ozzy were engaged in a legal battle over the name and they wanted to differentiate themselves from the classic lineup. I saw that version of the band live in 2007/2008 or so and it was a great show - they only did songs from the four albums Dio recorded with the group, but they did some amazing renditions of “I” and “Children of the Sea”.
Naming your band after the Japanese film The Pornographers is a bold move. Unfortunate, though, under certain circumstances. Carl Newman didn’t deserve this.
‘The Goo Goo Dolls’ is a terrible band name, IMO.
But before that they had an even worse name: Sex Maggots.
Weren’t they calling themselves simply “Starship” when they released that catchy tune?
I have their “Live from Radio City” DVD and you’re right, it is amazing. And “The Devil You Know” is amazing too. I saw the Ronnie James Dio and Vinnie Appice lineup in Ottawa in '81 or '82 and that was a great show.
Brave Belt became Bachman-Turner Overdrive, a much stronger and more distinctive name, usually shortened to the much cooler BTO.
The Tradewinds sound like a lite jazz combo that should be performing at the Ramada Inn.
I haven’t read the entire thread but if it hasn’t already been mentioned Chicago changed its name from the earlier Chicago Transit Authority. The band heard from the real CTA one day suggesting a name change would be in order if they didn’t want to lawyer up. Probably a good decision to change the name
I feel like that band basically went defunct and morphed into a new 5 piece while technically under that name. They weren’t founded by a Yes member, but Squire replaced one of their driving forces and brought in the original Yes line-up.
Yes is to Mabel Greer’s Toyshop what Led Zeppelin is to the Yardbirds.