# What is this "band name" thing that people do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 23, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000 "2009-07-23T15:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/1 "2009-07-23T15:23:51Z")
Every once in a while, someone will chime up in a thread and say “X would make a great band name”. What’s that from and how did it get started? ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/2 "2009-07-23T15:28:19Z")
It’s one of those things that a lot of people have come up with independently or picked up from friends. I know I’ve been doing it for a loooooong time. Hell, I’ve even started keeping a little book of the good ones. In my group of friends, we further qualify the bands as “would see,” “would not go see,” or “would see if [American/Japanese/Swedish],” where the band must or must not be one or more of those nationalities. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/3 "2009-07-23T15:31:37Z")
I think it was originally started by columnist Dave Barry. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/4 "2009-07-23T15:45:48Z")
Yep, definitely a [Dave Barry](http://www.davebarry.com/rockbandlist.html) thing. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/5 "2009-07-23T16:26:14Z")
Link that works (see the ‘band name’ list of his): [http://buoy.antville.org/stories/399291/](http://buoy.antville.org/stories/399291/) And origins: see under “Style” heading > **[Dave Barry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Barry)** > > David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic novels and children's novels. Barry's honors include the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary (1988) and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism (2005). > Barry has defined a sense of humor as "a measurement of the extent to which we realize that we are ... ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/6 "2009-07-23T16:31:53Z")
I don’t see anything yet that points to Dave Barry as the \*\*originator \*\*of the idea, though. I stand by my belief that it’s one of those things that spontaneously evolved from many different points and was independently re-invented by other people with no knowledge of its existence. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/7 "2009-07-23T16:42:24Z")
I’m sure plenty of people had the thought, “Wow. XXXX would make a good name for a band” before Barry did. It’s not all that creative. In fact, a lot of bands probably did get their actual name from such a conversation. Of the top of my head, _Residents_ got their name because a letter was addressed to their house to “Residents” and it amused them and someone said, “hey, let’s make that the name of our band.” There should be little doubt, however, that Barry popularized the concept and made it a common (and now well played out) theme in popular culture. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/8 "2009-07-23T18:48:24Z")
A lot of ones that people say “band name!” to are unusual or odd parings of an adjective and a noun. Just have at it: Char-broiled Ampersands The Bloated Wishbones Caustic Thoughts The Reflective Hangnails ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-band-name-thing-that-people-do/504000/9 "2009-07-23T19:21:26Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I don’t see anything yet that points to Dave Barry as the \*\*originator \*\*of the idea, though. I stand by my belief that it’s one of those things that spontaneously evolved from many different points and was independently re-invented by other people with no knowledge of its existence. I agree. Long ago, Steve Allen would occasionally play Mad Libs® with the audience on his show. One night, it resulted in the phrase “Polish sweatsocks.” Steve cracked up, and he said, “That would be a great name for a band.” Again, I’m not saying Steve Allen was the **originator** , either.