Blues Name Generator

The popular joke formula is an ailment or physical trait, then a fruit, then a president's surname, giving names like Blind Lemon Jefferson (a real player who inspired it) or invented ones like Pegleg Plum Garfield. This generator includes a few of those but mostly follows the real tradition of trait or hometown nicknames, such as Memphis Lou Garvey or Stovepipe Willie Crane.

Most were given by family, bandmates or record labels. Blind Lemon Jefferson, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Boy Fuller were actually blind; Big Bill Broonzy and Little Walter were named for size; Memphis Minnie, Tampa Red and Mississippi John Hurt for their home turf; Howlin' Wolf and Lightnin' Hopkins for how they sounded; Washboard Sam, Harmonica Slim and T-Bone Walker for what they played or a childhood mispronunciation.

Yes. Classic blues had as many women stars as men, and the list includes names in the Big Mama Thornton, Ma Rainey, Memphis Minnie and Sister Rosetta Tharpe moulds: Big Bertha Kincaid, Mama Lou Thibodeaux, Sweet Loretta Hines, Washboard Annie Pruett, Hurricane Hattie Broussard and Sister Odessa Vance among them.

Take the nickname and attach a band in the old style: Howlin' Ezra Tate and the Levee Camp Boys, or Memphis Lou Garvey's Juke Joint Four. Name the band after a place, a vice or an object from the songs you play, then keep the spelling consistent on posters, streaming profiles and your social handles. Our blues band name generator has hundreds of ready-made band names to pair with these.