D, Page 1

Do you know why a band picked out it's name? Feel free to let us know.

I can't verify all of these stories, so do take them with a grain of salt. I try and delete the ones that I know to be bogus, but I don't know the origins of every band name (and some bands intentionally tell different stories about picking their band name).

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Entries starting with D are split into multiple pages: 1 2 3

There are 4771 Band Name Origin entries on the site.

Name	Origin	Submitted by:
D-12	They are called D-12 because the D stands for Dirty Dozen. In the band there is 6 people each with 2 names, eg.Eminem and Slim Shady. So there is 12 names.	Flick
D-12	The D in D-12 does stand for dirty, and of course another way to say twelve is "dozen". But there are only six members in the group. So how do you get 12, you ask? Easy, each member has an alter ego.	Combat Joe
D-12	The band started it because it's short for "Dirty Dozen"	Donny
D-12	This is a reply to NameMaster: They did not pick their name because they had 12 dogs. It stands for Dirty Dozen.	Tarquin
D-12	All the band members put toghether have 12 dogs, so they called there band D-12. Very random!!!	NameMaster
The D-4's	Got this one from Rolling Stone. The Aussie rockers got their name from a brothel they went by. The "workers" would name their "favors" D-4 was the full monty (all the way)	Roackangel@mindless.com
The D-4's	The lead singer of the band had 4 children and when he met the other members the asked him what his job was. He said he was a D-4 ( daddy of four). They thought this was a cool name for there new band.	NameMaster
D-A-D	Disneyland wouldn't allow the name to be Disneyland After Dark.	Mads
D.A.D.	Quote from their site: " D-A-D began(...) under their original band name Disneyland After Dark." "When the group made their international breakthrough in 1989, they had to change the band name to D.A.D. to avoid an impending lawsuit from the Walt Disney Company"	Ricciardi
D.O.C.	He was a rapper from dallas Texas. When he hooked up with Dr. Dre he took the name D.O.C. Dallas Over Compton.	zoemills
D12	Short for Dirty Dozen. There's only six members, but they all have an alter-ego, so that makes 12.	Teenage Axe Murderer
D12	D12 stands for Detroit 12, since they a) come from Detroit and b)there are 6 of them, but they claim to each have alter egos.	spong_of_the_century
d4l	d4l got there name from a phrase they often use "down for life", which simply means they're down with the hood for life. It pretty much means what it says, "Down for life".	brandi
Da Band	This was just a sad attempt by P. Diddy to think of something unique. Whodathunkitt would have gotten so popular?	Khayotikk
Daddy Bone	I have been playing with the Danse Macabre (aka Bones Band) at the Renaissance Faire for many years. In 1993, my son Edward (almost 2 years old at the time) starting hanging out with the band. Some of the members of the band started calling me Daddy Bone.	Daddy Bone
Daddy Yankee	He wanted to be known as a Big Daddy. And Puerto Ricans use the word Yankee sometimes instead of big. "Daddy Yankee"	U wish U Knew
Daft Punk	This French duo named themselves after a highly critical review of their former band, Darling, in a highly esteemed magazine	Bobo
Dalek I Love You	One band member wanted the name "The Daleks", another wanted "Darling I Love You". They decided to blend them together. (Source: Rough Guide To Rock)	Alfvaen
Damn Yankees	From the Broadway musical of the same name. That and they were all Americans.	rockshow
Dandelion	Named after the 1967 Rolling Stones song.	The Skuz
The Dandy Warhols	A play on the name of famous abstract artist Andy Warhol.	Jubilee
The Dandys	Named it after a song by The Kinks.	paulthompson
Danger Bob	After the popular kid's cartoon "Danger Mouse." However, since none of the band members are rodents, they decided to replace the word mouse with the more human Bob.	word
Daniel Amos	I'm getting this from their official Daniel Amos website... They simply took the name from two of the books of the Bible. Daniel & Amos. And like Pink Floyd, none of the band members have those names!	Jeremiah Witte
Dannii Minogue	According to dailymail she grew up as a tomboy and did therefore prefer to be called Danny.	mads.
Danny Wilson	From the 1952 film starring Frank Sinatra 'Meet Danny Wilson' Also the name of their first album...	steve wheatley
Danny Wilson	The band (yes it's a band and not a male solo singer) was originally named Spencer Tracy, named after the famous actor. They got a record deal and proceeded to record their first album. When they were about to release it, they and their record company were given notice by the late actor Spencer Tracy's estate that if they continued to call themselves "Spencer Tracy" the estate was going to sue them. So forced by the situation (and understandably from pressure from their record company) to quickly come up with a new band name, they chose Danny Wilson. They took it from a 1950s Frank Sinatra movie Meet Danny Wilson. Which was a favorite movie of the father of band members Gary Clark and Kit Clark.	Edward
Danza Team	The member's of the band would always watch "Who's The Boss?" late of night after work, and thought Tony Danza was unitentionally funny. So they wrote their first song about him and kept his name in the name of the band.	Jay Lessard
Danzig	Glenn Danzig got his last name from an old family name, who were persecuted during the war with Hitler.	KT
Danzig	Glenn Danzig (born Glenn Allen Anzalone) took his name from the Polish city, Danzig, which is now called Gdansk.	hairfarmer
Danzig	After its leader, Glenn Danzig.	obscure
Daphne Loves Derby	In high school, Kenny Choi knew a hot couple who were "Daphne and Derby".	Pwnerer
Darkthrone	The band was called "Black Death" before. They changed it after they realised "Black Death" is a really (bad) name.	sanguis
Darude	This Club DJ used to play 'Rude Boy' ALOT during his sessions, and everytime, people would call out The Rude which eventually evolved into Tha'rude and finally Darude	Paul
Dash Rip Rock	After the fictional director Dash Riprock, played by Larry Pennell on the T.V. series "The Beverly Hillbillies".	punker
Dashboard Confessional	From the song "a sharp hint of new tears" its goes something like this: "... the car hears my confessions..."	Sam Jean
Dashboard Confessional	Chris Carrabba would sit in his car, cry, and write songs on his Dashboard. It is like the song The Sharp Hint of New Tears	Laura
Dashboard Confessional	To be more specific, in Chris Carrabba's song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears," he repeatedly uses the phrase, "on the way home, this car hears my confessions..." which triggered the creation of his band's name, "Dashboard Confessional."...kinda nifty, eh?	Bobo
Dashboard Confessional	Actually, He took it from his own song on the Swiss Army Romance album, The song it's from is A Plain Morning.	The Last Emotion
Dashboard Confessional	Taken from a song on Chris Carabba's first album	me
Dashboard Confessional	Taken from the line "this car hears my confessions" in the song "Sharp Hint Of New Tears"	Lauren
Dashboard Confessional	In "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" (one of Chris' first songs), the first line is, "on the way home, this car hears my confessions/I think tonight I'll take the long way home..." He liked the image it brought to mind: sitting alone and talking to oneself (your car's dashboard, which can't talk back) and hearing your own thoughts aloud, and hoped that his music would be the same thing for fans -- that is, listening to their own thoughts reflected back to them.	Carrie
Dashboard Confessional	Chris's song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" had the line "On the way home, this car hears my confessions...." and the thought of Dashboard Confessional just popped into his head.	kenneth
The Dashes	The singer Alec Follenz was looking for a new band name. When he once flipped an english dictionary open, the first word he randomly picked was "dash". As there were no other suggestions, the band chose the name.	BryDee
Dave Clark 5	The leader of the band is Dave Clark and they had five members.	Don
The Dave Matthews Band	Dave Matthews was working in a jazz club bar tending whilst at the time whilst also writing his music. He had compiled a band of his peers and also scored a gig at the club in which he worked. As it was a particularly busy club in which he worked, all the bands who played there had to write their names on a quasi time-sheet type affair as the bands played in allocated time slots. The first night Dave actually played at the club the manager/band organiser asked what their band was called. A few 'umms' and 'ahhhs' later and the manager simply put down 'Dave Matthews and a Band' on the time sheet. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that over time 'Dave Matthews and a Band' evolved to 'The Dave Matthews Band'.	Michael
Dave Matthews Band	The band did not actually pick the name.. At one of their first gigs, they had not chosen a name yet, but Dave Matthews himself was already pretty well known around the area. So the flyers were supposed to say Dave Matthews and band.. but because of a typo or whatever.. the flyers ended up saying The Dave Matthews Band. The name stuck, and eventually they lost the "The" and are now known as Dave Matthews Band.	Hunter
Dave Matthews Band	Obviously, the band was named after leader Dave Matthews. The band used that name as a sort of "placeholder" until they came up with a better one. They never did.	plasket
Dave Matthews Band	Now if anyone listens to Dave, you'll know that he's a lot more creative than to call his band 'Dave Matthews Band'. You'll also know that he's not self-centered. The name allegedly was derived by mistake. When he was still small-town, he had been in a band (can't recall the name) that booked a gig at a rather large college-gathering bar/restaurant. When he called to book the band, the operative asked what the band was booked as. Dave, not knowing she was referring to the band's name, said it was booked under Matthews, Dave Matthews. That night they were announced as 'Dave Matthew's Band because he never left the name. The band had tried to change that name, but it just stuck with the college kids who now called the hot new band the Dave Matthews Band.	Dixie Chicken
Dave Matthews Band	Dave matthews is the name of the singer and former of the group; beeing this true, the rest of the members were reffered to as "band".	Carlos
David and The Giants	After the Biblical tale of David and Goliath.	Christian
David Bowie	David Bowie's name comes from the Bowie knife... His real name is David Jones. Another Davey Jones was a member of the Monkeys. David Bowie had previously recorded as Davey Jones and the King Bees (without success). At the time he recorded Space Oddity, his first single as David Bowie, he was roommates with Marc Bolan, vocalist for T-Rex. He discussed the Davey Jones of the Monkeys issue with Marc, and how he wanted to create a new stage name for himself. David liked the name "Mick Jagger" because it sounded like a dagger and told Marc that he wanted a name that sounded like a knife. Marc Bolan suggest David Jones change his name to Bowie, like a bowie knife.	ChrisG
David Bowie	He named himself after the American frontiersman Jim Bowie (which was actually pronounced BOO-ee, incidentally), because of his fascination with America.	Lois
David Bowie	His real name was David Jones, but when he started out, there was already a member of the Monkees named Davey Jones, so he was forced to pick a different name.	Pierre Savoie
David Bowie	Bowie comes from the infamous bowie hunting knife. Bowie, real name Jones, didn't want to be confused with the other Davey Jones, who was lead singer in the Monkees.	Brett
David Bowie	So far true, but the story is better. When David Jones was already taken, Bowie was roomates with Marc Bolan of T-Rex. Bowie liked Mick Jagger because he said it sounded like a Dagger and he wanted a name like a knife. Marc Bolan suggested "David Bowie" like a Bowie knife. (Prior to solo success, Bowie recorded as Davy Jones and the King Bees).	Chris
David Bowie	His original name was David Robert Jones, usually called Davey Jones. Somewhere in the '60ies he found out there already was a famous musician with that name, so he decided to name himself after the Bowie knife, to give himself a sharp, aggressive image.	Lord Uriel
dc Talk	dc Talk was named because they started in Washington D.C. And the Talk is pretty self explanatory. When they became a bigger band the record label wanted them to think up something for the DC to mean. Thus they thought of "decent christian talk".	RK_FAN_FOREVER
DC Talk	Any hardcore fan of dc Talk will know how they got their name. All you have to do is listen to "When DC Talks" off of their album Nu Thang. In it, Toby sayd "D is for decent, I mean what I say. But obscene, I don't play that way. C is for Christ to the I-A-N. That's right, y'all, I'm born again." Hopefully this clears it up.	Aaliyah
DC Talk	They all met in Washington DC, and from that, they got the "DC" part. They then called it "DC Christian talk", meaning in their music they talk about Christ, and since they were in Washington DC, they just shortened it to dc Talk.	Amira
DC Talk	Actually the "DC" stands for Disciples of Christ.	BD
DC Talk	DC Talk began at the beginning of the Christian music movement, and thought that it was time for some "decent Christian talk" in the music scene.	Merdog
DC Talk	According to Toby McKeehan, it stood for "decent Christian talk" and was subsequently shortened to reflect their location: Washington DC.	the speter
DC Talk	Every source (including the early albums) reveals that "DC" stood for "decent christian." It also stood for Washington DC, being that Toby McKeehan was once referred to as DC Talk. Later, he met up with Michael Tait, and soon after, Kevin Max, and called themselves "DC Talk and the One Way Crew." In their first album, the name DC Talk is the name of the group, but in the picture, you will see "One Way Crew" written on the wall. The One Way Crew part disappeard in the second album, and by Jesus Freak, the reference of Washington DC is gone, making the name officially from DC Talk to dc Talk (although uppercases are still used occasionally.) I've also heard that the name of the group was changed yet again to all lowercases. It seems that way, but I am not yet sure.	burgerjohnson
DC Talk	The name stands for Decent Christian Talk.	BladeX
DC Talk	It's Dedicated Christian. NOT Decent Christian....	Quin
DC Talk	The boys explain their name in the song "When DC Talks." An excerpt: "D is for decent, I mean what I say, but obscene? I don't play that way. C is for Christ to the I-A-N. That's right, y'all, I'm born again. TALK's my tool, my gift to use. R-A-P to spread the news of God...." There you have it!	Theophile
Dc Talk	dc actually stands for decent christians, so thats decent christians' talk.	yamjen
DC Talk	DC TALK= Devout Christians Talk	Chuck
DC Talk	I would like to add that they were once a Christian rap group. That's how they got the "Talk" part.	church
DC Talk	The DC stands for "decent Christian".	Christian
Deacon Blue	From the Steely Dan song, "Deacon's Blues"	DDT
Deacon Blue	They took their name from a Steely Dan song.	Bobo
Dead Kennedys	The name was not meant to insult the assassinated Kennedy brothers, but to quote vocalist Jello Biafra, "to bring attention to the end of the American Dream".	Robert D. Arndt Jr.
Dead Kennedys	"Dead Presidents" was a popular slang term for money in the 1970s (because, of course, American banknotes feature pictures of dead political leaders, mostly Presidents.) The J. Geils Band put out a song by that title. John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert were then (and still are) two of the last three American political leaders to be assassinated.	Tim Horrigan
Dead Kennedys	This band took this name because John F Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy were shot and killed within ten years.	dj organic
Dead Kennedys	it is true the name was derived from the kennedy assasinations, but in Jello's own words it was to "Make the comfortable, uncomfortable and the uncomfortable, comfortable.	Patrick
Dead Moon	Driving home after a gambling spree in Reno, looking for a band name for their new garage power trio, a huge red moon inspired Fred and Toody Cole to 'Red Moon'. However, a mixture of superstition and graphic insight made them turn that into two 4-letter words: Dead Moon. Besides, it made a great logo.	Eric
Death By Srereo	From the film 'The Lost Boys' of which the line is featured in their first album 'If Looks Could Kill I'd Watch You Die' ...	Rafe
Death By Stereo	Taken from a line from the movie 'The Goonies'. [Ed.'s Note: It was actually from that other Corey Feldman picture "The Lost Boys".]	Lisa Gee
Death Cab For Cutie	One of the band members saw it in a Beatles film and thought it was cool	tyler k
Death Cab For Cutie	They took their name from a song by the sixties-band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.	Snoozle
Death Cab For Cutie	This band took their name from a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (see Bonzos entry if you don't know who they were) song. The song was performed by the Bonzo Dog Band in "Magical Mystery Tour," when the Beatles wandered into a bar where there was a stripper.	Mark
Death Cab For Cutie	The above is true, but it goes a little deeper. As some Beatles fans know, there was a "Paul Is Dead" conspiracy in the mid sixties, in which the Beatles allegedly replacing Paul with an imposter that had won a Paul look-a-like contest. Anyway, according to the conspiracy theory, the Beatles would give the true fans all kinds of lyrical (and otherwise) hints and clues. "Death Cab For Cutie" was a song performed in Magical Mystery Tour as one of these hints, in that Paul was "the cute one". And that the night he died, he was in a car accident outside London with a cab. A long way to go, but interesting nonetheless.	slick nick
Death Club	From the movie "Nightrain to Terror", the second of three portions. The Death Club would meet weekly and devise a game so one would die each meeting.	John Tomai
Death From Above 1979	The Death From Above part is taken from an old paratroopers logo from WWII seen in an army surplus store by Jesse F. Keeler (bass/synth). The 1979 was tagged on for legal reasons as a result of a dispute between DFA records and represents Sebastian Graigner's (percussion/vocals) birth year, or as he puts it "the last cool year of the last cool decade".	Underalus
The Deathray Davies	Named after Kinks songwriter Ray Davies. Added the death part because it sounds so damn cool.	Carlos Davis
The Decemberists	The band name somehow made a connection to an unfinished Toltstoy novel.	Valkyrie
Decorum	Before the band became "Decorum" the drummer and the guitarist ( Abram Breslauer & Adam Gibbins) couldn't find a band name sutable for the bands agressive nature. After ideas and ideas, they took notice to the drummers shirt he had bought at a local thrift store, they settled with decorum after the saw the deffinition wich ironicly described there agressive sound : de·co·rum . The conventions or requirements of polite behavior Appropriateness of behavior or conduct; propriety	Ryan B.
Deep Blue Something	The band was sitting around trying to think of a name, and one of them said "we should name it Deep Blue something"... (like Deep Blue Sea, Deep Blue Lake, ect)...and instead they just kept that.	Erin
Deep Purple	It wasn't the singer, but the guitar player, Ritchie Blackmore's "Granny's" favorite song.	Ron
Deep Purple	More in-depth explanation. There was debate amongst the members between two names 'Roundabout' and 'Deep Purple' They decided that they would go with Roundabout, but if the band did not take off, they would change it to Deep Purple (the name of Ritchie Blackmore's mother's favorite song). After releasing a demo single under the name of Roundabout (an instrumental version of Love/Help me, of which three copies are known to be in existence) and doing a couple of gigs, they got little response and so reluctantly changed their name to Deep Purple. More info on this can be easily read in the biography released with the album Deep Purple - The Anthology.	Omar Serenity
Deep Purple	The leader singer's Granny loved the song "DEEP PURPLE".	Tom Davis
Deep Purple	After the song "Deep Purple," which was indeed from the '30s. Nino Temple and April Stevens did do a version in the '60s, but it wasn't the first.	magyarman
Deep Purple	Listened to an interview with Deep Purple at a Seattle radio station in the late 70's while working as an apprentice. The name is from the Nino Temple and April Stevens hit song from 1963, "Deep Purple". The others are incorrect.	Mark
Deep Purple	Deep Purple got there name from purple haze of a form of cocaine.	speccygirl
Deep Purple	One of the ways to abuse cocaine is to heat it to inhale the fumes. The crystals are white in color but the fumes are DEEP PURPLE	biswarup sarangi
Deep Purple	They took it from a romantic song of the 1930s.	Ugo C.
Def Fx	Defunct Australian band. Came up with their name when a band member threw his record collection in the air and the two records that landed on top were a sound effects album and a record from the Def Jam label.	Camille
Def Leppard	DEF LEPPARD - In November 1977, the first Def Leppard rehearsal takes place in Sheffield (UK). Lead singer Joe Elliott & the members renamed the band from Deaf Leopard (a name first coined by him at school in 1975) to Def Leppard. He wanted to use the odd spelling idea provided by the band Led Zeppelin's logo.	Ronk

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