How to pick a band name that lasts
A good band name survives three things: the poster, the search bar, and the ten years after you choose it. Most names die at the second one. You fall for something, print it on a run of shirts, then find out a covers band two states over has been using it since 2009.
Say it out loud before you decide. A name has to work when a promoter reads it off a list, when a stranger tries to spell it into a search box, and when it sits in small type on a festival poster next to fifty others. Names that look clever written down often collapse the moment somebody has to say them at a door.
Check what it collides with
Before you commit, search the name on the streaming service you plan to release on, then search it as a hashtag, then check whether the domain is free. That last one is a decent proxy for how contested a name is. If the .com went years ago and every handle is taken, you will spend the rest of your career fighting for the first page of results.
The generator above checks .com availability for any name you like, so you can rule out the crowded options before you get attached to one. Availability is approximate, a name can read as free here and still be held back as a premium listing, so confirm at the registrar before you plan around it.
Give it room to change
Bands change. The name you choose while making bedroom demos has to still fit when the songs get louder, quieter, or stranger. Names that lock you to a single genre or a single joke tend to age badly. Names built from concrete, slightly odd words tend to travel.
Once the name is settled, the next thing that decides how you are heard is how the record is finished. Mastering is where that gets handled.