List of Band Name Etymologies - A

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• a-ha — The origin of the name "a-ha" comes from a title that member Pål Waaktaar contemplated giving to a song. Morten Harket was looking through Waaktaar's notebook and came across the name "a-ha". He liked it and said, "That's a great name. That's what we should call ourselves". After checking dictionaries in several languages, they found out that a-ha was an international way of expressing recognition, with positive connotations. It was short, easy to say, and unusual.
• A-Teens - The 'A' stands for ABBA since they started as a cover band for the group, but the name was changed upon the request from Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson to avoid confusion. The group later did other songs, such as Upside Down.
• ABBA — a palindromic acronym from the initials of the first names of the band members: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.
• AC/DC - Malcolm and Angus Young developed the idea for the band's name after seeing "AC/DC" on an electric sewing machine.
• Ace of Base — the band's first studio was in the basement of a car repair shop, and they considered themselves to be the "masters" of the studio. "Ace of Base" was retrieved from "masters of the basement".
• Adiemus — Creator Karl Jenkins invented the word, unaware at the time that it means "We will draw near" in Latin.
• Aiden — after a character from the 2002 film The Ring.
• Air Supply — 5 years prior to the band's signing, Graham Russell saw the name in a dream.
• AKB48 — Named after Tokyo's area Akihabara (colloquially shortened to Akiba), a mecca for electronics shopping and geeks. The group was formed as theater-based, to perform at its own theater at Akihabara on a daily basis, so that fans could always go and see them live. It still performs there every day, although, after the group's popularity went up, tickets started being distributed only via an online lottery.
• Alexisonfire — from contortionist stripper, Alexis Fire, which nearly resulted in a lawsuit from the stripper's representatives.
• The All-American Rejects — The "All-Americans" and "the Rejects", both suggested to the band as names, were merged.
• Alice Cooper — Alice Cooper was a band before one of its members started a solo career under the same name. Allegedly, Alice Cooper was the name of a spirit members of the band came in contact with through a ouija., though the frontman has also claimed that he wanted their name to contrast with their sound, and Alice Cooper sounds like somebody's grandmother.
• Alice in Chains — A parody of Alice in Wonderland, implying sadomasochism.
• Anberlin — band member Stephen Christian has offered the explanations that he planned naming his first daughter Anberlin and that the name was a modification of the phrase "and Berlin" from a list of cities Christian wanted to visit. The one story that Christian asserts is true, however, is that he heard the word in the background noise of the Radiohead song "Everything in Its Right Place".
• …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead — initially claimed to be a line in a Mayan ritual chant, though lead singer Conrad Keely has since admitted the story was a joke.
• Arctic Monkeys — The name was made up by the guitarist, Jamie Cook, while at school.
• Art of Noise — Named after the 1913 manifesto called The Art of Noises by Italian Futurist Luigi Russolo.
• As I Lay Dying — Named after the 1930 novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner.
• Atreyu — Named after a character in 1984 movie, The NeverEnding Story.
• Audioslave — according to lead guitarist Tom Morello the name supposedly came to singer Chris Cornell in a vision.
• Automatic Pilot — from psychiatric testimony characterizing Dan White's state of mind while killing George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
• A Wilhelm Scream - The Wilhelm scream is a frequently-used film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums. The band were previously named 'Koen' and then 'Smackin Isaiah' before finally settling on the current appellation.