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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 L are split into multiple pages: 1 2 3

There are 4771 Band Name Origin entries on the site.

Name	Origin	Submitted by:
L Shape Lot	Named after public access parking lot number #4 at Wrightsville Beach, NC.	Eric
L'Arc~en~Ciel	Tetsu saw it in a movie and thought it sounded nice, so...	larukufan
L'Arc~en~Ciel	The head of the band, Tetsu, saw a french movie with the same title and liked it so much that he decided to use it for a band name. Translated to English it means 'rainbow' (literally 'ark in the sky').	Lyme
L'Arc~en~Ciel	The name L'Arc~en~Ciel was chosen by leader Tetsu, and this name means "an ark in the sky " in french, which literally means rainbow. This was a name of a french movie that tetsu watched, and he thought that the name sounds nice ( and yeah no other paticular reason ) he chose it for their band name.	Duo Maxwell
L'Arc~en~Ciel	The band name came from the title of a French movie which Tetsu (Bassist) had watched. The name translates to 'rainbow'.	Tet-chan
L. A. Guns	From the last name of guitarist Tracii Guns and the fact that they were from Los Angeles.	ChrisPC
L7	When forming these letters with the thumb and forefingers of both hands, this forms a square - L7 is a 50's slang term for "a square"	Jay
L7	Put the L and the 7 together and they (sort of) form a square. In Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs' "Woolly Bully" one line goes "Let's don't take no chance. Let's not be L-seven, come and learn to dance."	Darryl Wilson
L7	They got the name from a lyrics in "Wooly Bully", the Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs novelty song.	shehateme
La Oreja de van Gogh	For people that speak Spanish, I think they know who they are, this band was named by all the members of the group. When they first started, they didn't know what name to call their band. They wanted a cool name, and also a name that could be artistic. So Amia Montero said, 'Let's call it La Oreja de van Gogh. (You know the famous painter Vincent van Gogh, the one that cut his ear, so they called it 'the ear of van Gogh').	amoskero
Lacrimosa	The goth metal/darkwave/symphonic band Lacrimosa was named after mozart's requiem, whom the main singer admires.	Diekatze
Lacuna Coil	It means "empty spiral." They chose this after changing their name from Sleep Of Right in 1997 and finding out the name Ethereal was already taken.	Ravvie
Lady Antebellum	On the BBC Radio 2 Drivetime Show August 9, 2010, the band explained to the host, Liza Tarbuck, that the name Antebellum comes from when the group were photographing "antebellum" homes. The antebellum architectural style describes the large plantation homes in the American South. "Antebellum" more commonly refers to pre-Civil War America. While photographing the houses one of the group said that there's a great band name in there, and they adopted the Lady Antebellum name shortly after.	Robert D. Arndt Jr.
Lady GaGa	From Queen's song "Radio GaGa"	Alex
Lagwagon	Named after the cart they put dead people on during the plague, the lagwagon	lamby
Laibach	This Slovenian band chose the German name of its hometown, Ljubljana.	Roderick
Laika	Named after the first creature to go into space, a dog.	Bobo
Lamb of God	Thought their original name (Burn the Priest) was too immature, and that a change was in need. So they chose Lamb of God, a name with religious connotation, yet not so "evil" sounding.	Josh
Lamb Of God	Formerly known as Burn The Priest but didn't want to be pidgeon holed as a crap Satanic band, so changed it to the equally religious sounding yet not as offensive to some as the former name.	Paul
The Largemouth Bass Band	Kurt Beren loves Fishing & rock. The Largemouth Bass has a long Black Band on both sides that detects vibration action from minnows and lures.	Kurt Beren
LaRue	No surprises - it's the siblings' last name.	TCfan
Lasgo	Lasgo comes from the Scottish city of Glasgow minus the "G" and the "W". David (one of the producers) is pretty possessed by Scotland and he also has family there.	Steve
The Lawrence Arms	Their name comes from the apartments where they lived/practiced, if I remember correctly. Either it was where they lived, or it was the old abandoned building where they practiced.	Chris Kilo
Lazarus	Band in 1990's named themselves after their favorite dept store in West Virginia.	Lazfan
The Laziest Men On Mars	Taken from a line in the classically rancid movie "Santa Claus Vs. The Martians": "Droppo, you're the laziest man on Mars!"	Kielle
LC9	League of Competition #9	Robert D. Arndt Jr.
Le Tigre	The band girls all decided to be tigers for halloween and this was before Le Tigre started and they thought the tigers would be cool. They all ready had a band the tigres so they changed it to le tigre	Kristin Mendisi
Led Zepellin	Jimmy Page, formerly of The Yardbirds, in a conversation with the late Keith Moon, drummer for the Who, mentioned his intention to form "The New Yardbirds". Moon assured Page that such a group would "sink like a LEAD BALLOON"	Richard Garcia
Led Zeppelin	They were told their band was gonna go up like a lead Zeppelin, which won't go up very well at all. They changed the lead into led so Americans wouldn't pronounce it "leed" zeppelin	Spike
Led Zeppelin	The first time that Keith Moon, the drummer for The Who heard them play, he reportedly said, "They're going to go over like a Lead Zeppelin." I read this in the liner notes of Led Zeppelin's 4 disc box set.	Nick G.
Led Zeppelin	This came from a conversation with The Who. Keith Moon said to Jimmy Page that his band The New Yardbirds would "Go over like a lead balloon." This prompted Page to change the band's name to Lead Zeppelin, but taking out the A in Lead to avoid confusion.	Smi
Led Zeppelin	Heard from radio show that from early auditions for a record company that they had as much chance of making it as a lead zeppelin flying. After their early success they adopted the cliche as the band's name.	djb
Led Zeppelin	The John Entwhistle/Keith Moon joke supergroup explanation is reputedly the correct one, but it was Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant who took out the "a" to avoid promoters mispronouncing the name as "leed".	Mark T
Led Zeppelin	When they were first starting out, one of the people at the record label said that they would go down like a lead zeppelin, so they changed it into Led Zeppelin	Obsidi0n
Led Zeppelin	In the book "Hammer of the Gods" about Led Zeppelin, it says Ringo Starr saw them playing in a pub when they were first starting out and they weren't very good. He didn't like them. He said the band will "go over like a lead zeppelin." They changed the spelling slightly, and the rest is history.	Vince
Led Zeppelin	Yardbirds reformed with Jimmy Page, called 'Jimmy Page's New Yardbirds' (original...). tHey weren't well recieved. One listener said to Page that they '...went down like a lead zeppelin...' and the rest is history.	eric clapton
Led Zeppelin	The name is a trilingual pun. A Zeppelin is a type of airship, named after German Count Zeppelin. A zeppelin is also a rigid dirigible, another type of airship. The word dirigible come from Latin dirigere, to direct., or lead. Led is the past tense of lead. So the name means an airship that can be and is directed, or led.	John A. Barry
Led Zeppelin	Keith Moon of the Who said that the "New Yard Birds" would go over like a lead zeppelin.	Eric O'Mercill
Led Zeppelin	The info you have on Led Zeppelin is inaccurate. Below is the correct info, as I have heard and read it reported several times over the years, from various credible sources. "Led Zeppelin" was not born from a negative review. Actually, a reporter mentioned the new band to late Who drummer, Keith Moon, as well as the fact they intended to call themselves the New Yardbirds, because Page had been a member of the Yardbirds and started Zeppelin. In reference to the name, New Yardbirds, Moon remarked; "That'll go over like a led zeppelin."	Brian Venners
Led Zeppelin	When Jimmy Page joined the Yardbyrds he was hired as a former studio musician by the record company to save their investment, so to speak. He had good lawyers and as part of his contract, he even stipulated that the label would give him ownership of the rights to the name "Yardbyrds" in order to join the band. The label agreed, but also held him liable for any contractual obligations the band might have as the new "band owner". Part of the way through a European tour, the band fell apart. Page was contractually obligated to complete the tour dates. He moved fast and in two weeks he put together a whole new band using a couple of studio pros he knew from the industry (John Paul Jones and John Bonham) and a young singer named Robert Plant who had never played to an audience larger than a bar. He then billed them as the "New" Yardbyrds and went on to complete the tour obligations. At one particular show, Keith Moon of the Who was in attendance. At an after show party, Keith came to congratulate Jimmy Page on the band's new line-up and proclaimed "When you guys land, you're gonna' hit the ground like a Lead Zeppelin". A couple of dates latter and Page changed the billing to Lead Zeppelin, and latter abbreviated it to Led Zeppelin. For a band who's line-up was formed in two weeks, it never had another personnel change for the life of the band.	Chris
Led Zeppelin	It was Keith Moon and John Entwhistle. While working with Page and Jeff Beck in rehearsals for the instrumental "Beck's Bolero", the two unhappy Who-members took the English joke about an unattractive proposition going down like a "lead balloon", and turned it into a spoof band called Lead Zeppelin and even went so far as to create the mock artwork for the eponymous debut album. Although Entwhistle subsequently dropped out of the recording with Beck, the four musicians came very close to forming a band - it was only the unavailability of a qualified singer - the shortlist consisted of the Steves Winwood and Marriot - that prevented a Led Zeppelin being formed two years ahead of time. Interestingly, when Entwhistle had to drop out of the Beck session, he was replaced by John Baldwin. Later John Paul Jones.	Prada-Meinhof
Led Zeppelin	After the "Yardbirds" broke up, Jimmy Page was telling friend Keith Moon (drummer from the Who) that he was thinking of getting a new band together. Keith Moon is alleged to have said sarcastically, "Yeah, that ought to go over like a lead zeppelin..." A zeppelin is a lighter than air craft also known as a blimp. Obviously, a lead zeppelin would not fly very well. Page removed the "a" in lead and the name was born.	Danger-us
Led Zeppelin	I read in the book "Hammer of the Gods" (biography about Led Zeppelin) that Keith Moon came up with the name when they were at a bar drinking beer because he was joking around saying that Robert plant and his band were going to crash and burn...like a Lead Zeppelin. (Plant took out the "A" in Lead so people wouldn't get confused with the word Lead (leed)	Kara Goldstein
Led Zeppelin	Stories vary, but evidently Keith Moon told Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones that their new project would go over like a lead balloon, hence, Led Zeppelin. Another story is that Page stole the name from a band "Lead Zeppelin" that Moon and Entwistle almost started in the early 60's. The "Led" spelling was to make sure people pronounced the name right.	Bobo
Led Zeppelin	The band was sitting in their studio thinking about their first new album, which the band's name was already called the Yardbirds at the time. One of the members said their songs would go down like a lead zeppelin, and voila!	Sarah
Led Zeppelin	Pete Entwistle of the WHO said that they would go down like a led zeppelin when they were formed.	facelikeamonkeysarse
Led Zeppelin	According to "Hammer of the Gods", one of the definitive biographies of Led Zeppelin, Keith Moon is credited with the name of Led Zeppelin, who said they would "go over like a lead zeppelin (paraphrase). And there was no "Pete" Entwhistle in The Who, his first name was John.	batai37
Led Zeppelin	Keith Moon, drummer of The Who learned of this band forming, with the members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. As a joke he said the band would go down like a "lead balloon." It stuck!	Fred From Ace
Led Zeppelin	Jimmy Page told Jeff Beck, " I'm planning on naming my new band, ' The New Yardbirds '." Beck replied, "That'll go over like a Lead Zeppelin." ' Lead ' was changed to ' Led ', so Americans would pronunce it the way it was intended. - Hammer Of The Gods	BonZZZo
Led Zeppelin	(I can't believe I am the first to post this!) when Jimmy Page was re-organizing the "Yardbirds" and calling the band the "New-Yardbirds",Page was disscusing the details and of the new members of the band with his friend Keith Moon. At one point in thier conversation moon had replied "that will go over like an led zeppelin",and the rest is history!	musicmaker0128
Led Zeppelin	They called their band 'Led Zeppelin' because one of the guitarist's friends said the band would go down like a led balloon, and a type of a balloon is also called a zeppelin.	Yahwingy
Led Zeppelin	Jimmy Page met bassist John Paul Jones while the two worked on Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in April of 1968, and the two discussed the potential of joining forces. That summer, Page traveled to Birmingham to see and potentially recruit a young singer named Robert Plant, who was fronting his own group, Band of Joy. The trio was now lacking only a drummer, and Plant recommended his Band of Joy bandmate John Bonham. In September of 1968, the four played their first rehearsals in London, and, billed as the New Yardbirds (to honor a pre-existing contract), embarked on a short tour of Scandinavia. They took the name Led Zeppelin at the behest of the Who's Keith Moon, who joked that Page's new project "would go over like a lead balloon."	Golem
Led Zeppelin	The name originated from the British term, "like a lead zeppelin". In other words "like a lead balloon." When asked about the bands performance "How did you go over? if poorly, the answer would be "like a lead zeppelin"	Bryan
Led Zeppelin	The quote was "they will go down like a lead balloon" which the band heard and changed ever so slightly!	BaldBastard
Led Zeppelin	When they first joined, there producer said that "there band would go down like a lead balloon" "zeppelin"=balloon, but then they were worried that people would pronounce it "lead zeppelin" with a long E so they just took away A. Led Zeppelin.....	Sam
Led Zeppelin	The band name came from a reference that someone made that they thought the band would go over like a LEAD ZEPPELIN. It was shortened to LED Zeppelin.	JRK
Led Zeppelin	Their original name was The Yardbirds, then The New Yardbirds...They went to a party where Keith Moon was in attendance. They were discussing Zep's music and he said they would "go down like a lead zeppelin". The name stuck, but the band changed the spelling to "Led" for the American market.	ilovealexcauser
Led Zeppelin	John Entwistle: There were several occasions with The Who when both Keith Moon and myself were going to leave the band. Once when we were in New York, I sat down with Keith and our chauffeur, a guy called Richard Cole, and tried to come up with possible new names for the band we were going to form. That's when I flashed on Led Zeppelin, and I also came up with an idea for a first album jacket with a Zeppelin going down in flames. Not long afterwards Richard Cole, the chauffer, went to work for Jimmy Page and Peter Grant and he must have told them the idea. But I was definitely the one who thought of it. Later on Keith Moon claimed that he came up with it, which made me very angry. When I heard Jimmy was going to use it, I was a bit pissed off about it, but later on I didn't care that much. Jimmy Page: Well, I don't know about that at all... to start with, the thing about the cover is completely wrong. We did that quite separately. The other - well, Keith Moon gave us the name. We've always credited him with that. Maybe John Entwistle did think of the name and told it to Keith Moon, in which case I suppose he might have cause to be a bit angry. Whoever had the original idea, though, it began as Lead Zeppelin, and only got shortened when Peter Grant realised that punters across the Atlantic, might mispronoune it. David Breshears: I'm not sure who started calling them "The Mighty Led Zeppelin", but the moniker stuck and all true Zep officianados now call them that... always.	David Breshears
Led Zeppellin	(from VH1): Jimmy Paige and Robert Plant were at a party telling someone about the band they were going to form, and the person told them they were told that they were going to do about as well as a "lead balloon".	JoCo
Led Zepplin	Named after a critical review which stated that the band had gone down like a Lead Balloon. Hence Led Zepplin (Zepplin being a German Airship)	Dr Jimatha O' Boogie
Left Eye	Left Eye got her nick name from a guy that told her that her left eye was prettier than her right eye. "I'm Left Eye cause the eye is right".	SaRiZ
Leftover Crack	The true story is, from the mouth of Stza himself, "The bandmates were living off of royalty checks for a while and would buy crack, a lot of crack. So much crack that they're would even be some leftover in the morning. Thus, Leftover Crack."	Corey
Leftover Crack	They thought it was the ultimate oxymoron, as there is never any crack leftover when you're an addict.	Andy
The Lemonheads	Named after the hard candy sold in rectangular boxes at movie theaters.	newave
Leper Mesiah	They took their name from a line in David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust". However, the name attracted a large heavy metal crowd so they changed it to Deep Blue Something. (But that is another story.)	Brian Kelly
Less Than Jake	Jake, in 1920s slang, means "good". Less Than Jake means "not that good".	Eduardo
Less Than Jake	One of the band member's parents had an 80 pound english bulldog. He had his own private space on the couch, his parents would get take out food just to feed him, and he was treated like a king. His name was "JAKE". So, everything in his house was less...than...JAKE. Also, "jake" is an old twenties term for "average, smooth, .." I know this is how they came up with it cause I got it off their site.	Foxy
Less Than Jake	Vinnie (the band's drummer and songwriter) had a dog named Jake, and when his parents would go out to Red Lobster, they would bring home leftovers for Jake while Vinnie would be cooking macaroni and cheese for himself, so he felt that he was less than Jake. And also, 1920's gangsters used the phrase "Everything is Jake" to mean that everything was cool or fine. So, "Less than Jake" would imply that something was uncool or wrong.	sociallyXdistracted
Less Than Jake	This is taken directly from their site, so it's definitely right: "My parents had an 80 pound english bulldog. He had his own private space on the couch, my parents would get take out food just to feed him, and he was treated like a king. His name was "JAKE". So, everything in my house was less...than...JAKE. Also, "jake" is an old twenties term for "average, smooth, .."	Jazz
Less Than Jake	The Guitarist had a dog named Jake and his parents always treated the dog better than him. So he was always Less Than Jake.	Arvind
Less Than Jake	One of the band members had a dog named Jake who ate a lot so whenever you ate, you ate less than Jake.	Ravenwolf
Less Than Jake	vinnies parents had an 80 pound english bulldog. He had his own private space on the couch, his parents would get take out food just to feed him, and he was treated like a king. His name was "JAKE". So, everything in his house was less...than...JAKE. Also, "jake" is an old twenties term for "average, smooth, .."	se
Less Than Jake	Quote from their official website: "My parents had an 80 pound english bulldog. He had his own private space on the couch, my parents would get take out food just to feed him, and he was treated like a king. His name was "JAKE". So, everything in my house was less...than...JAKE. Also, "jake" is an old twenties term for "average, smooth, .."	Bobo
Less Than Jake	the drummer vinnies dog was named jake and was one of the kinds of dogs that thought he owned the place so everyone else was "less than jake" get it	alex walston
Less Than Jake	I read in an interview in Kerrang that vinnie from less than jake's parents used to have a dog called jake. Jake was priority over everything and got special treatment, hence vinnie always felt he was 'less than jake'.	Rachel
Less Than Jake	I believe Jake was the brother of the lead singer of the band, who his father was always negatively comparing him to.	Grace
Letlive.	John Steinbeck's novella of the same title.	Anonymous
Letters of November	Their singer (Alex Hov-Ass) just thought it up one day while sitting at home naked.	Swing Shwing Bam Batter
Letters To Cleo	They got this name because the lead singer, Kay Hanley, had a pen-pal as a child named Cleo, hence the letters.	Lisa
Letters To Cleo	As a child, lead singer Kay Hanley's pen pal was named Cleo.	Lauren
Level 42	One of the consistent elements in Douglas Adams' many versions of "The Hitch Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy" (radio show, TV miniseries, record albums, a 5-volume 'trilogy' of books, and a movie coming in summer 2005), the number 42 is the answer to the great question of Life, The Universe, and Everything (the question, however, is unknown). Since "42" was deemed too simple a band name, it was decided to add "Level" to balance the name out. On an interesting side note, the source of the band name became such a popular question (particularly in the 80's, when they were at their peak with such hits as "Something About You"), they made up a few other tongue-in-cheek answers for the media, such as "It's the top level of the tallest parking garage in the world, in Hong Kong". There are several of these "mythical" answers floating around, but the Hitch Hiker's Guide is the true source.	EJSawyer
Level 42	I'm pretty certain Level 42 is the floor on which citizens are tortured and dispatched in Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". However, I'm not sure whether the band predates the movie or not.	Zog
Level 42	A supercomputer in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" spit out an answer to basically everything.. it was "42". There were copyright problems with actually calling the band "42", so they tacked on "Level". The rumor that they are named after a sign in the movie "Brazil" is wrong.	Bobo
Level 42	Named after the meaning of life from Douglas Adams' "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy".	Udo
Level 42	They got it from "A Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy".	Laura
Level 42	The origin of the band's name has been variously described as being inspired by a sign in a lift in a very tall building in the US; the top level of the biggest car-park in the world, in Japan; the floor on which Jonathan Pryce lives in the film Brazil; or after Tower 42 (also known as NatWest Tower) a tall building in the City of London. In truth the band was originally called simply 42 after the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, and the word Level was added to make the name more distinctive.	Venus Callipygia
Level 42	Band's name is a reference to Douglas Adams' "The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy", where the ultimate answer to the ultimate question is stated to be "42".	Heathcliff the Cat
Level 42	The band picked the number from Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy series of books, where the super(squared)computer (that would dwarf HAL), finally after an eternity comes up with the answer to The Eternal Question: 42! Then, it goes off to backtrack what the question actually was.	Joerie
The Levellers	A group of travelling people in some part of history called the levellers would smash down fences put up by the king or government because they believed all land belonged to everyone and people should be able to travel free and the band believing the same point adopted the name	nevaready
Levellers	Named after the Levellers, who were a mid 17th century English political movement.	Pat
Levellers	The band were fans of a group New Model Army. The lead singer was called Slay the Leveller.	John Smullen
LFO	They decided that they name would help sound out their music and personalities- Light and Funky Ones. LFO.	HollywoodStew2002
LFO	LFO is a common knob on an analog synthesizer. It stands for Low Frequency Oscillator.	Roderick
LFO	LFO Stands for Lyte Funkie Ones, The Lead Singer Rich Cronin was Dubbed the Lyte Funkie One In High School for his abilty to Rap and being White and this carried over to become the name of the group, It was eventually shortened to LFO becouse a band member left and the group wanted to start fresh	Chad
The Libertines	The band were practicing one night when Pete Doherty (front-man) picked up the book "Lust of the Libertines" and thought it to be a good name for the band. It was shortened to "The Libertines".	Joel
The Libertines	Came about when co-frontmen Pete Doherty and Carl Barat took inspiration from 17th century Marquis De Sade novel, "The Lusts Of The Libertines", a novel about all kinds of sexual perversion, bondage and sado-masochism.	LMG
Liberty X	They were originally called Liberty, but were taken to caught by the another band, also called "Liberty" so they changed it to Liberty X	WeGirlsAreTooBitchy
Liberty X	They were just called Liberty when another band had the same name, so they added the X.	Usher
Life of Agony	Their bassist Alan Robert had a dream where Newpaper headlines kept flashing "Life" "Death" "Agony" so he took Life of Agony from that because it fit their music style and lyrics. Their former name was Capitol Punishment.	Evan
Lifehouse	The band's name was originally Blyss. But when they got their first record deal, the company didn't like it. They gave the band ten days to come up with a new name. When they ended up with nothing, the record company named the band, Lifehouse, themselves. Not a very exciting story, huh?	Leeping4lifehouse

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