How bands including Coldplay and The Beatles came up with their names

YOU know their music, but do you know where their name comes from? From Fall Out Boy to The Beatles, what’s the meaning behind these band names.

DAFT PUNK

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter were originally in a band called Darlin’ which even they admit wasn’t great. A music reviewer labelled their music “daft punky thrash” and instead of being offended, the guys formed a new band and used a modified version of the insult as their name.

COLDPLAY

The British rock band were originally known as Starfish. After a friend’s band with the name Coldplay decided to ditch the name, Starfish asked if they could take it for themselves. The original Coldplay group got their name from a book of children’s poems called Child’s Reflections: Cold Play.

MUMFORD & SONS

When Mumford & Sons were looking for a good name for their band, they wanted a name that would give people a sense of an “antiquated family business name”. They decided to go with Mumford & Sons because band member Marcus Mumford was the most recognisable as the lead singer.

THE BEATLES

John Lennon dreamt up the name for the Fab Four’s band. The Beatles is a mixture between beetles and beat.

FALL OUT BOY

Fall Out Boy founding members Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump spent a lot of time arguing over what they should call their band. After creating a long list of potential names, they had friends vote for their favourite. “Fall Out Boy” was the clear winner, as the bandmates were Simpsons fans and the name came from one of the cartoon’s characters.

PINK FLOYD

The British rockers named their band after two blues singers: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.

3 DOORS DOWN

The rock band got their name after the three original members were walking down a street and they came across a door with a piece of wood that read, “doors down” and so they became 3 Doors Down.

GREEN DAY

A “green day” is a slang term for a day spent doing very little but smoking marijuana. Billie Joe Armstrong, whose nickname was “Two Dollar Bill” in high school because he sold marijuana joints, wrote a song about a “Green Day” and liked the term so much he convinced the others to drop their original band name, Sweet Children.

CROWDED HOUSE

Originally called The Mullanes, the band was urged to change their name after they signed a record deal with Capitol Records. At the time they were living in a house in the Hollywood Hills which, because they always invited friends over, was always crowded. And the rest is history.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD

The band’s name came from band members’ Gary Rossington and Bob Burns’ strict high school gym teacher named Leonard Skinner. The teens were often caught butting heads with Skinner for growing their hair long.

The teens eventually dropped out of school but decided to pay homage to their “favourite” teacher by naming their band after him. But in order to “protect the guilty,” as Gary put it, they changed the name slightly to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

ELTON JOHN

The legendary singer’s real name is Reginald Kenneth Dwight and in 1962 he formed a band with his mates called Bluesology. When he decided to go solo, he changed his name to Elton John to pay tribute to two of his Bluesology bandmates, Elton Dean and Long John Baldry.

This article was originally published on Fox News and is reproduced with permission.