What’s in a name?

That’s a question most famously posed by William Shakespeare, but most recently posed by me. Spending my whole life as a music obsessive—and now SPIN’s social media lead—I’ve always been fascinated by the origins of bands: what town they come from, how they decide their album cover art, the timeline of the members that come in and out of their lineups, and on and on. Naturally, one of my areas of wonder has always been how band names get decided on. 

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Whether it’s a band I’ve loved for decades or a band I haven’t gotten into yet, I’m curious just the same as to how, why, where, and when these musicians stuck themselves with a particular moniker. And sure, plenty of bands have explained where their names have come from over the years in one form or another—a mention in an interview, an aside in a written profile, a possibly fake explanation on a grainy clip from 1993—but never before had there been a video series dedicated to the topic. I wanted to hear the stories straight from the mouths of those who coined the names.

Working with SPIN editors, numerous PR groups, and anyone who can help me connect to a band, I’ve coaxed out 100 answers so far, dating back to April 2025. “Tell the story that led to the name however you feel is best,” I instruct them, “even if you’ve explained it before. You have the chance here to say—or show—how it came to be in a way that you’ve likely never been able to before.”

So, what’s in a name? Well … it depends. Read on for 10 of my favorite moments from the first 100 episodes, and click here to access them all.

311

Our most popular episode so far, hearing frontman Nick Hexum detail how the band got their name not only struck a personal chord, it also clearly resonated with a lot of people, especially Millennials (like myself) and Gen Xers, who enjoyed their peak chart success in the late ’90s and early 2000s. The origin of the name was shrouded in lore back in my middle school days, and Hexum directly addressed some of the, um, unsavory speculations as to where those three numbers came from. We also learned the band’s former, much, much more cringeworthy, two-animal-related name. ?

OK Go

This one was just our fourth episode, but the L.A.-by-way-of-Chicago rock band set a high bar in terms of recreation that has yet to be surpassed. Telling the story wasn’t enough for them, and their physical reinterpretation of the thing that happened that led to the band name still cracks me up every time I watch it. Let’s see another act get on their level! ?

The Darkness

The Hawkins brothers were messing around and it was hard to hear them, but that was just part of the charm. The story of how they came to be known as the Darkness is both … dark, and darkly funny, as only they can be. And if their reenactment of their name didn’t get you, stay tuned for the absolutely ridiculous names they discarded before they settled on the Darkness. ☁️

Peaches

For an artist that can be so unapologetically abrasive, her story of how she came to perform under the moniker Peaches is truly endearingly sweet, and helps to carry on the legacy of one the most iconic musicians from the civil rights era. ?

Run-DMC

Darryl “DMC” McDaniels delivered an episode of “Behind the Name” unlike any other. He gave us a masterclass in not only how the legendary hip-hop trio Run-DMC got its name, but also presented the most welcome lecture you’d want to receive about the essential history of hip-hop. We cut the eight-minute Dropbox file down a bit, but kept it long enough for him to tell his story. You’re missing out if you haven’t heard him passionately drop the knowledge yet. ?

American Football

Prior to American Football reuniting for their recently-released album, last year we got drummer and trumpeter Steve Lamos to explain how the overwhelmingly-revered Urbana, Illinois, emo/post-rock band got its name, and it’s pretty funny. Well, it was funny at the time. That’s one of the charms of this series: seeing some of these musicians reminisce about the halcyon days of their youth when they felt compelled solely to make music, and nothing was going to stand in their way of doing so. If a potential band name seemed funny or quirky to them, they’d just run with it, not knowing they’d be stuck with it decades later. ?

Midlake

This one from the Denton, Texas-based folk/psych rock band surprised me because it was an unexpectedly hilarious story. I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t seen it yet, but suffice it to say: that is one genius way to get your bandmates to come to like your name suggestion.  ?

Def Leppard

Joe Elliott being cheeky (“You want to know where I got the name from? I’ve never been asked that question before, ever, in 49 years!”) but then actually taking a few minutes to explain the story behind one of the most unforgettable band names of all time was a real treat. Here’s an example of a person (spoiler: a school art teacher) that you could never initially envision leading to a five-decade career down the road in another discipline. ?

The Flatliners

Naming your band after a movie makes sense. Naming your band after a movie you’ve never seen makes a little less sense. Meeting the star of the movie you named your band after and telling him you named your band after his movie, but that you’ve never seen the movie? Risky move … Said star telling you “you’re not missing much” to your admission? Priceless. ?

The Verve Pipe

NSFW, hysterical, and—let’s be real—probably not true. ?

The “Behind the Name” series is continuing onto its next 100 episodes on SPIN’s Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.