A Review of Trends in Naming Bands

Danny Fournier, a reader from Edmonton, has been musing about the various trends in band names. If you’ve got a group searching for a monicker, best read what he has to say.

Coming up with a band name is hard to do. All the good ones seem to have already been taken and the last thing you want to do is come up with something that coincides with a current band name trend.

Through the years there have been a handful of band name trends. Surprisingly the majority of which happened by accident and usually around the time the trend gets acknowledged, the trend has gotten over used and the novelty has already worn off. Here’s some examples of some trends through the years.

The “THE” trend (early to mid-2000s) – The White Stripes, The Datsuns, The Strokes, The Vines, The Exies

The “Add A Number” trend (mid ’90s – mid 2000’s) – Blink 182, Maroon 5, Eve 6, Matchbox 20

The “Three Words” trend (most of the 90s) – Stone Temple Pilots, 3 Doors Down, Third Eye Blind, Our Lady Peace, I Mother Earth, Jars Of Clay, Wide Mouth Mason, (this was probably and still is one of the biggest band naming trends)

Oh, there’s more. Keep going.