If you are struggling to come up with a unique name for your band then a random band name generator could be just what you need to help inspire some awesome titles!
The internet is chock full of terrible group name generators that seem to do nothing but waste your time by combining completely random words that most of the time make no sense whatsoever.
So in order to save you a ton of time, I’ve scoured the planet and tested all of the apps that I could find. The list below features the 7 best band name generators I could find, which I have ranked based on how useful I thought they were.
Please make sure to take a read through the full list, as each cool group name generator has its own unique features that may make it more useful to your specific situation! For example, if you don’t need a particular word to be included in the name, then some of the more straightforward options may give improved results.
I can tell you that not a single one of these apps will check that the titles are not already taken. So make sure to do your due diligence and perform a quick Google search for any names you like!
Also make sure to check out my huge guide on how to come up with cool band names where you’ll find 27 top tips for creating a unique and memorable title.
Band Name Generators
Indiesound
After testing all of the apps in this list, the generator from Indiesound was my personal favorite. It claims to have over 10 million idea combinations that should work with all genres of music.
The website itself is very simple to use. Either hit ‘generate’ to be given a list of completely random names, or enter an optional keyword if there is a specific word that has to be included.
It will produce a list of 18 names at a time – just hit ‘generate’ again for a fresh page of results. If you spot anything you like just click the plus button and it will be saved to an ideas list for later viewing.
There are no real downsides to this app other than its simplicity. It would also be nice to be able to choose the number of words, or maybe even the specific music genre as well.
The main reason I have placed this band names generator at the top spot is that probably 90% of the band name ideas it spits out sound like they could be actual bands.
The drawback to some of the other sites on this list is that they tend to spit out combinations of words that sound jarring or just plain wrong. I found that this isn’t the case here, so they have clearly put some good thought into how their app works.
Example Band Names: West Wake, Radioactive Journey, Sound Wash, Neon Birds, Sour Guardian, Impure Heaven, Arctic Noir, The Essence
Chosic
Chosic is similar to Indiesound in that it is very simple and straightforward to use, however, it also adds the option to browse by musical genre in order to further dial in your results.
For a totally random set of results, simply hit the generate button. Otherwise, we can enter a unique name to include, or pick a genre to tailor the flavor of names to suit that specific style. Names that you like can be saved to a separate list to revisit later.
An awesome feature that isn’t available on any of the other sites in this list is the ability to quickly check if a name is already in use. To do this, the app scans the artist list on Spotify and will alert you if the band already exists. In addition, if band names exist which are similar to the result it will also list all of those bands. This way you can judge if there could be any potential confusion.
A couple of niggles. If we select a genre without using a keyword it tends to smush together parts of the names of popular bands with other bands. For example, I got ‘3 Doors Zeppelin’ and ‘Killswitch Roses’.
However, keeping things random, or using a keyword with or without a genre genuinely offers up some really great results. I don’t think it would take too long to come up with a big list of potential names with this generator!
There is also a Christian band name generator option if you are looking for names with a religious spin.
Example Band Names: Animal Soup, The Charlie Dimension, August Fold, Dream Avenue, Mahavishnu Five, Paradise Fountain, Rolling Stones, Ice Wish
Group Name Generator
TheNameGenerator easily has the most in-depth app out of all of the websites in this list. Although you can completely randomize the results, it is best to fill in the form with a selection of words related to your band.
The main advantage to this site over most of the others is that due to the large number of boxes you are required to fill in, the results are almost guaranteed to be unique to you.
A downside to this website is that you might find that there are just too many fields to fill in, and many of them probably aren’t relevant to you at all. For example, for some reason, it asks you for the name of an animal and a part of the body. And it’s not as if you can leave these fields blank as all are required before it will spit out the suggestions.
In addition, the site will only show 30 results per search with no way of running the search again. So if you don’t find some good options the first time you’ll need to go back and fill out all 13 text fields again – fairly clunky!
As you’ll see below, the band names it comes up with can be a little hit or miss. But play around with it for long enough by tweaking the seed words, and you’ll surely be able to get a pretty good list of potentials before long.
Example Band Name Ideas: Pointless Angel, Purely Blue, Bookhead, Ronatron, Ron Eats The Book, Divorced Thursday, My Heart Your Fingers, Megabanana
The Story Shack
The band name generator offered by TheStoryShack is super basic, but the results it spits out are pretty much all potential winners.
A great feature is the ability to save your favorites to a separate list so that you can revisit them all later. The site also has a ton of other random name generators that you can test out for further results. I found that the company name generator is especially useful for coming up with some unique single word band names.
The downside is that it only displays 6 names at a time, and there is a fair bit of repetition. In addition, you cannot add any seed words to tailor the results to your needs. But if you’re happy to sit and hit refresh for a while i’m confident that you will uncover some inspiring band name ideas.
Example Band Name Ideas: Syndrome of Victory, Voodoo Phenomenon, Little Puppets, Velvet Circuits, Caged Machine, Glass Karma, Physhex, Jetwood, Plexis
Band Name Maker
The Band Name Maker is another generator with a good number of options, but a few niggling problems prevent it from being placed higher in the list.
This site sets itself apart from most of the rest of the competition by adding a number of fields and checkboxes which you can use to really dial in a unique band name. We can add keyword(s), choose the musical genre, and even add a style to flavor the results.
In addition, we can also choose to have numbers, acronyms, plurals, or names that start with ‘the’.
However, the website seemed to experience problems when we start using too many of the options. For example, if you enter a keyword and choose a style, it seems to forget the keyword completely with none of the results featuring it. Similarly, the checkbox to include numbers only seems to work if we don’t choose a genre or style.
Niggles aside, during my testing I found that sticking with just a keyword and a genre gave some pretty good results which mainly sounded like genuine band names. It also gives a lot of ideas that include more than two words, something most of the other apps don’t offer.
Example Band Name Ideas: Kult Pain, Suffering Shadow, Mystical Pellet, Exotic Twinkle and the Grandma, Majesty of the Agonist, Hazy Princess and the Lips, Bot Injustice
Zing Instruments
Zing Instruments makes the bold claim that theirs is the best app as it will come up with names that are a good fit for your band’s specific genre. In addition, the names are pulled from their enormous music database of unused band names.
The main reason to use this site over the group name generator sites is that it will allow you to select the style of music that your band plays in order to come up with a list that is more suited to that specific genre. So, if you’re after a rock band name generator this could be the choice for you.
Additionally, if there is a certain word you need to be in your band title you can enter it into the text field in order to really personalize the results. You can also leave this field blank if you don’t need that level of specificity.
I found that the names it spits out are generally quite odd, with many of them being jarring mishmashes of popular band names and random words. However, if you require a title for a specific genre, and particularly if you demand a certain word in there, you’ll probably find some useful suggestions if you dig deep enough!
Example Band Name Ideas: Royal Dodo, Night Aretha, Something Modern, Known Company, The King Bee, Reed Curse, Old Atom, Order The Bruxa
Metal Band Name Generator
If you’re looking for a death metal band name generator then this site will give you an unlimited list of all the evil-sounding titles that you could hope for! If you’re in a jazz band you might like to explore on of the other options above.
Simply choose the number of results you want, and hit ‘generate’. You can also check the ‘include non-evil words’ box if you’re happy to consider less satanic options!
Because the database of words that this site uses is laser targeted to this specific genre, the majority of the results are all potential winners. They do get a little weird if you tick the box for non-evil options, however!
Example Band Name Ideas: Vehement Lobotomy, Eminent Chaos, Crimson Pit, Eternal Gorgon, Demonic Remains, Corroded Assault, Brutal Rainbow
Bonus Generators
One Word Band Name Generator
None of the websites above feature a specific option for generating single word band names. However, I do have a recommendation that may work for many of you!
While it isn’t technically for constructing band names, the company name creator at TheStoryShack works as a pretty decent one word band name generator as well.
There are no text fields or checkboxes here, just keep hitting refresh and the site will continually spit out single word business names, most of which could potentially be great one word band names as well.
Funny Band Name Generator
Many of you have emailed in to ask about options for a funny band name generator. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a solution for this specific need.
In this situation, I would try one of the band name generator with keywords above. This way you can at least gently guide the results in the right direction by experimenting with a various humorous words and phrases.
Alternatively, head to the bottom of this page for a link to my guide on coming up with a band name. In there, you will almost definitely find some good methods for coming up with a funny band name.
Similarly, a girl band names generator doesn’t seem to be a service that currently exists. Try the same solutions in this situation.
Guitar Name Generator
Here’s one that is slightly different. Rather than naming your band, what if you want to name your new instrument?
Why not check out this guitar name generator to come up with the perfect nickname for your new pride and joy?
Conclusions
If you’ve made it this far then hopefully you’ll have found at least one of two good options for your particular situation.
These generators certainly aren’t a foolproof way for coming up with good band names, but they should at the very least help to inspire you and get those creative juices flowing.
When you do come up with a few contenders, make sure to check that they are not already in use or that no similar-sounding bands exist. You can do this via a quick Google search, or Spotify is also a good option. Make sure to check the domain availability as well.
You’ll probably also want to make sure that whatever name you settle on can easily be found in search engines. I was a big fan of ‘Live’ when I was a kid, but they’re not even on the first page of Google with a name like that!
And if you feel that there is a better option out there that deserves a spot in the list, please drop me an email! You’ll find the contact form in the footer at the bottom of the site.
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