Ska Band Name Generator

Upbeat, horn-heavy names for ska bands of every wave

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Generate ska band names with the right bounce: rude boy and two-tone throwbacks, goofy third-wave puns, trad rocksteady revival names and ska-punk crews built for a sweaty all-ages show. Find one that looks good on a checkerboard flyer.

About ska band names

Ska band names track the genre's three waves. First-wave Jamaican acts used tidy, almost showbiz names: The Skatalites, The Maytals, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker and the Aces. Two-tone in 1979 Britain went for sharp, short plurals that looked right in black-and-white print: The Specials, The Selecter, Madness, The Beat, Bad Manners. Third-wave American ska in the 1990s threw all of that out and embraced the pun, the food reference and the in-joke: Reel Big Fish, Mustard Plug, Skankin' Pickle, Less Than Jake, The Aquabats. If you are naming a band today, you are probably borrowing from one of these three registers.

The list here mixes them. You will find rude-boy and pork-pie-hat names for two-tone revival bands, bandleader formats ("Rocksteady Freddie and the Late Shift") for trad and rocksteady acts, a healthy run of ska puns (Skapocalypse Now, Skanksgiving) for the goofier third-wave crowd, and blue-collar, bus-stop and cheap-suit names that fit ska-punk and the current fourth wave. There are also plenty of horn-section and brass references, since a trombone is most of the reason people come to see you.

Pick a name that matches your tempo. Upbeat puns wear thin if your set is mostly minor-key two-tone, and a dead-serious rude boy name looks odd on a band with a kazoo solo.

How to choose ska band names

  • Decide which wave you sound like before you pick. Trad and rocksteady bands suit bandleader names and tidy plurals; two-tone revival suits short, punchy nouns; third-wave and ska-punk can get away with puns and food.
  • Ration the ska puns. One "Ska" pun in the name is a genre tradition; a second one in the album title is already a lot. If every joke is the same joke, the name dates fast.
  • Picture it on a checkerboard flyer and a trombone case. Names of two to four words fit, and all-caps two-tone styling flatters hard consonants.
  • Search Bandcamp, Discogs and the Ska Punk Daily archives before committing; ska has decades of regional bands and the obvious puns are usually already taken by a 1997 seven-inch.
  • Say it in front of "Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up!" If it sounds natural shouted over an upstroke, it will work live.

Frequently asked questions

What makes a band name sound like ska?

Three things show up again and again: references to the scene's uniform (pork pie hats, loafers, checkerboard, rude boys, two-tone), references to the horn section (brass, trombones, trumpets), and cheerful wordplay on the word "ska" itself. Bandleader formats like "Somebody and the Somethings" also read as ska because that is how the original Jamaican and rocksteady acts were billed.

Do I need a pun with the word ska in it?

No. Many of the best-known ska bands have no pun at all (The Specials, The Slackers, Hepcat, The Interrupters). Puns are a third-wave habit and they work best for bands that are openly goofy. If your band leans two-tone or trad, a plain two-word name usually ages better.

Are these names suitable for ska-punk and ska-core bands?

Yes. The list includes plenty of harder, working-class and anti-boss names alongside the sunny ones. Scan for bus passes, overdrafts, rent, cheap suits and curfews rather than horns and hats if you want a ska-punk feel.

How do I check a ska band name is not already taken?

Search the exact phrase on Bandcamp, Discogs, Spotify and Instagram, then do a quoted web search. Ska has a huge back catalog of short-lived regional bands and compilation-only acts, so expect a collision or two and be ready to swap one word.

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All 500 ska band names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 3 names

  • Ackee Attack
  • All-Ages Anarchy
  • Alley Cat Strut

B: 52 names

  • Backseat Brass
  • Backstage Passengers
  • Backyard Brass Brigade
  • Bad Parking Brass
  • Baldhead Bridge
  • Bank Holiday Hooligans
  • Bar Tab Brass Band
  • Bargain Bin Brass
  • Baritone Bandits
  • Bass Culture Club
  • Beat Street Barristers
  • Bedroom Window Serenade
  • Beer Money Brass
  • Big Audio Weekend
  • Big Roy and the Rent Collectors
  • Big Skank Theory
  • Big Tent Brass
  • Big Tip Tuesday
  • Bigger Than Elvis
  • Black and White Weekend
  • Blue Beat Bakery
  • Blue Mountain Brass
  • Blue Plate Special
  • Bluebeat Babylon
  • Bluebeat Barbershop
  • Bluebeat Brothers

B, continued

  • Bluebeat Bruisers
  • Bluebeat Brunch
  • Bootleg Lemonade
  • Borstal Brass
  • Boss Sounds Social Club
  • Bottle Rocket Summer
  • Bottom Shelf Bourbon
  • Bottomless Brunch
  • Bouncing Checks
  • Bowling Shoe Shuffle
  • Brass Cactus
  • Brass Knuckle Boogaloo
  • Brass Lantern Society
  • Brass Monkey Business
  • Brass Pocket
  • Brass Section Eviction
  • Brassbound
  • Brassknuckle Sandwich
  • Brighton Rock Steady
  • Bumper Sticker Brigade
  • Bus Fare Bandits
  • Bus Pass Buccaneers
  • Bus Stop Skank
  • Bus Terminal Romance
  • Buster's Barbershop Quartet
  • Buzz Cut Brass

C: 28 names

  • Cash Only Horns
  • Cheap Suits
  • Cheap Sunglasses Club
  • Checkerboard Cadillac
  • Checkerboard Chowder
  • Checkerboard Curfew
  • Checkerboard Lightning
  • Checkout Lane Charmers
  • Chili Dog Conspiracy
  • Circle Pit Picnic
  • Clock-In Crew
  • Coin Laundry Lovers
  • Cold Pizza Parade
  • Corner Store Commandos
  • Coronation Market Horns
  • Couch Surfers Union
  • Cousin Clive and the Closing Time Horns
  • Crombie Coats
  • Crossing Guard Crew
  • Crosstown Skank
  • Crosstown Trombones
  • Crosswalk Crusaders
  • Crown Street Cutups
  • Crumpled Receipt Revue
  • Cul-de-sac Kings
  • Curbside Royalty
  • Curried Goat Collective
  • Cut the Brakes

D: 23 names

  • Dance Craze Survivors
  • Dance Hall Derelicts
  • Dance Hall Dropouts
  • Dancehall Dentists
  • Dancing Shoes Riot
  • Dapper Dan and the Dole Queue
  • Dead Man's Pork Pie
  • Detention Hall Brass
  • Dial Tone Dancehall
  • Diving Board Rudies
  • Dockside Dandies
  • Doctor Bird
  • Door Money Dandies
  • Double Shift Dandies
  • Downbeat Debutantes
  • Dr. Ring Ding's Nephews
  • Dress Code Violation
  • Drive-Thru Dandies
  • Dry Cleaning Riot
  • Dub Club Dropouts
  • Duchess Dee and the Deadlines
  • Duke Reid's Paperboys
  • Dumpster Dive Dandies

E: 5 names

  • Easy Skanking Orchestra
  • Encore Evictions
  • Everybody Gets a Trombone
  • Eviction Notice Horns
  • Exit Row Orchestra

F: 15 names

  • Fat Larry's Horn Factory
  • Fat Lips Horn Club
  • Fat Tuesday Horns
  • Ferry Dock Farewell
  • Fire Drill Brass
  • Fire Escape Orchestra
  • Fish Fry Friday
  • Flat Tire Fiesta
  • Flea Market Horns
  • Floor Tom Fiasco
  • Flugelhorn Fugitives
  • Foggy Harbor Horns
  • Freeway Flyers
  • Frostbite Fiesta
  • Fruit Stand Revival

G: 10 names

  • Garage Sale Brass
  • Gas Station Gentlemen
  • Ghost Town Gentlemen
  • Ghost Town Tourist Board
  • Good Time Charlies
  • Grandma's Pork Pie Hat
  • Gravel Road Rollers
  • Greasy Spoon Hepcats
  • Guava Jelly Junction
  • Guns of Brixton Lane

H: 28 names

  • Half Step Heroes
  • Half Way Tree Horns
  • Half-Price Sunday
  • Hand-Me-Down Horns
  • Hang Ten Horns
  • Hangover Horns
  • Happy Hour Hepcats
  • Harbor Lights Horn Club
  • Hellshire Beach Brass
  • Hepcat Half-Life
  • Hepcat Heartbreak
  • Hepcat Hotline
  • Hold the Anchovies
  • Honky Tonk Rudies
  • Horn Pilots
  • Horn Section Heist
  • Horn Stab Holiday
  • Horns Across the Water
  • Horns for Hire
  • Horns in the Hallway
  • Horns of Plenty
  • Horns on Loan
  • Horns Up Collective
  • Hot Dog Cart Cartel
  • Hot Sauce Horn Section
  • Hot Shot Horns
  • Hotel Skalifornia
  • Hush Money Horns

I: 1 name

  • Ice Cream Truck Chase

J: 9 names

  • Jackfruit Justice
  • Jamaican Breakfast
  • Jamaican Me Skank
  • Jukebox Jumpers
  • Jukebox Jury
  • Jump Start Johnny
  • Jump Street Skank
  • Jump Up Jimmy and the Deadbeats
  • Jump-Up Janitors

K: 6 names

  • Kazoo Solo Society
  • Kettle Drum Kids
  • Kingston Calling
  • Kingston Commute
  • Kingston Skyline
  • Kitchen Sink Skank

L: 23 names

  • Landlord's Lament
  • Last Call Horns
  • Last Train to Montego
  • Late Fee Lovers
  • Laundromat Lovers
  • Lawn Chair Social Club
  • Layaway Lovers
  • Left Foot Forward
  • Lemonade Stand Rebellion
  • Lighthouse Loafers
  • Lipstick and Loafers
  • Little Kingston Social
  • Little Winston and the Wage Slaves
  • Lloyd Brass and the Lunch Breaks
  • Load-In Loafers
  • Loafer Lane
  • Lollipop Skank
  • Loose Tie Rebellion
  • Lost and Found Horns
  • Lost Luggage Brass Band
  • Low Tide Loafers
  • Lucky Seven Skank
  • Lunch Money Horns

M: 23 names

  • Mad Marvin and the Morning Shift
  • Madder Than Madness
  • Mailbox Money
  • Mango Chutney Massacre
  • Mellow Moods Unlimited
  • Merch Table Romance
  • Meter Maid Moonstomp
  • Mezzanine Moonstomp
  • Midwest Moonstomp
  • Minimum Wage Moonstomp
  • Mischief Night Horns
  • Mods vs. Everyone
  • Monday Morning Moonstomp
  • Monkey Man Mondays
  • Moon Stompers
  • Moonlit Skankers
  • Moonstomp Monarchs
  • Moonstomp Motel
  • Motel Moonstomp
  • Mouthpiece Mutiny
  • Mr. Toots and the Testers
  • Mudflap Moonstomp
  • Mutton Chop Shop

N: 11 names

  • Negril Night Shift
  • Neon Loafers
  • Nervous Energy Brass
  • Nice Guys Finish Ska
  • Night Boat to Kingston
  • Night Bus Romance
  • Night Shift Nurses
  • Nightshift Nine
  • No Loitering
  • No Sleep Till Kingston
  • Nothing But Upstrokes

O: 11 names

  • Ocho Rios Overtime
  • Off the Clock
  • Offbeat Accountants
  • Offbeat Brass Authority
  • Offbeat Orchestra
  • One Drop Wonders
  • One Step Behind
  • Orange Street Revival
  • Overdraft Orchestra
  • Overtime Orchestra
  • Oxblood Boots

P: 29 names

  • Paper Route Prodigies
  • Parking Ticket Parade
  • Patty and the Pastries
  • Pawn Shop Pickups
  • Paycheck Friday
  • Payphone Prophets
  • Pedal Steel Skank
  • Penny Loafer Parade
  • Phone Bill Blues Band
  • Pick It Up Pauline
  • Picket Fence Panic
  • Pickle Jar Riot
  • Pie and Mash Massive
  • Pier 13 Pickups
  • Pinstripe Rudies
  • Pit Stop Pickups
  • Pocket Change Pickups
  • Pocket Protector Posse
  • Porch Light Brass
  • Porch Swing Panic
  • Pork Pie Parade
  • Pork Pie Picnic
  • Pork Pie Pressure
  • Port Royal Pickups
  • Pressure Drop Radio
  • Prince Buster Keaton
  • Prom Night Horns
  • Public Pool Party
  • Punch Clock Pirates

R: 34 names

  • Rain Delay Brass Band
  • Red Eye to Nowhere
  • Reggae Spaghetti
  • Rent Due Tomorrow
  • Rest Stop Romeo
  • Returns Desk Rudies
  • Riverside Rumble
  • Road Trip Regrets
  • Roadside Revival
  • Rockfort Rock Steady
  • Rocksteady Freddie and the Late Shift
  • Rocksteady Rent Party
  • Rocksteady Rollers
  • Rocksteady Romeo
  • Rocksteady Ruby and the Repossessors
  • Roller Rink Romance
  • Rooftop Moonstomp
  • Rooftop Reception
  • Rotten Mango
  • Rubber Bullet Brass
  • Rude Awakening Orchestra
  • Rude Boy Bingo
  • Rude Boy Radio
  • Rude Boy Revival
  • Rude Boy Roll Call
  • Rude Boy Rumble
  • Rude Boys Don't Cry
  • Rude Girls Club
  • Rudeboy Rodeo
  • Rudie Rocket
  • Rudie Rudie
  • Rudie's Revenge
  • Rudy and the Overdrafts
  • Rust Belt Rudies

S: 112 names

  • Salt Water Skank
  • Saturday Night Fixtures
  • Saturday Skank Fever
  • Savanna-la-Mar Social
  • Scooter Rally Romance
  • Screen Door Skankers
  • Second Wave Regulars
  • Secondhand Horns
  • Secondhand Suits
  • Selector Sunday
  • Selector's Revenge
  • Sidewalk Sermon
  • Sister Sylvia and the Night Owls
  • Sixpence Shuffle
  • Ska Barons
  • Ska Boom
  • Ska Face
  • Ska Fi
  • Ska-B-Q
  • Ska-lar Eclipse
  • Ska-ttle Royale
  • Skafari Park
  • Skaffolders
  • Skalamari Rings
  • Skalamity Jane
  • Skalapeno Poppers
  • Skalaxy Quest
  • Skale of the Century
  • Skalgebra
  • Skallywags
  • Skalvador Dali
  • Skalypso Kings
  • Skamaica Inn
  • Skamera Obscura
  • Skamikaze
  • Skampus Police
  • Skanarchy

S, continued

  • Skandalous
  • Skandinavian Airlines
  • Skandle in the Wind
  • Skanimal House
  • Skank Sinatra
  • Skank Tank
  • Skank Williams
  • Skankenstein
  • Skankety Clank
  • Skankhaus
  • Skankin' Shakespeare
  • Skanking Nuns
  • Skanking Pete and the Pickups
  • Skankle Biters
  • Skankrupt
  • Skanksgiving
  • Skankshaw Redemption
  • Skanktuary
  • Skanktuary City
  • Skapegoat Revival
  • Skapital Punishment
  • Skapocalypse Now
  • Skaptain America
  • Skaquarium
  • Skarabiner
  • Skarecrow
  • Skarface Killah
  • Skarlet Letter
  • Skarma Police
  • Skastronauts
  • Skat Stevens
  • Skatanic Panic
  • Skatch-22
  • Skatterbrains
  • Skattle of the Bands
  • Skaturday Matinee
  • Skavolution

S, continued

  • Skinhead Moonwalk
  • Skinny Dipping in Kingston
  • Skinny Tie Affair
  • Slacker Saturday
  • Slide Rule Trombones
  • Slingshot Sundays
  • Slow Lane Skank
  • Small Town Skank
  • Snow Day Brass Band
  • Sock Hop Hooligans
  • Soda Jerk Society
  • Soul Shakedown Society
  • Soundcheck Saints
  • Soup Kitchen Serenade
  • Spanish Town Stompers
  • Spare Change Orchestra
  • Speakeasy Skankers
  • Spit Valve Society
  • Spring Heeled Rudies
  • Sta-Prest Saints
  • Stand Clear of the Doors
  • Static Shuffle
  • Stiff Upper Lips
  • Stomp Box Cathedral
  • Stop Sign Skank
  • Stoplight Skankers
  • Strike Fund Social
  • Stuck Window Social
  • Studio One Dropouts
  • Sugar Minott's Milkman
  • Suit and Tie Riot
  • Sunburn Skankers
  • Sunday Dinner Brass Band
  • Sunday Scaries Brass Band
  • Sunset Strutters
  • Sunshine Shift
  • Supersonic Selectors
  • Sweet Tooth Skank

T: 58 names

  • Taxi Dancers
  • Telly Savalas Trio
  • Temp Agency Titans
  • Ten Past Midnight
  • Ten-Dollar Tuxedos
  • The Braces
  • The Checkered Pastimes
  • The Curfew Crew
  • The Dapper Ruffians
  • The Gentle Rudies
  • The Harringtons
  • The Hat Racks
  • The Loafers
  • The Monochrome Mob
  • The Nutty Professors
  • The Parking Lot Pilots
  • The Pork Pie Committee
  • The Reckless Loafers
  • The Rubber Soles
  • The Rude Mechanicals
  • The Sixth Wave
  • The Ska Dads
  • The Suspenders
  • The Tax Refunds
  • The Tenth Bus
  • The Tonic Suits
  • The Trench Coat Brass
  • The Upsetters' Nephews
  • The Upstroke Kings

T, continued

  • The Valve Oilers
  • The Wailing Loafers
  • The Wingtip Wasters
  • Third Wave Lifeguards
  • Thirty-Cent Raise
  • Three-Minute Heroes
  • Thrift Store Tuxedos
  • Thursday Night Trombones
  • Tight Suits Loose Horns
  • Tighten Up Tuesday
  • Tipsy Trumpets
  • Toaster Ovens
  • Toll Booth Tango
  • Tommy Tone and the Testers
  • Tram Stop Toasters
  • Trash Day Trombones
  • Trench Town Tourists
  • Trombonaparte
  • Trombone Cowboy
  • Trombone Polka Party
  • Trombone Tsunami
  • Trombone Zombie
  • Trombones at Dawn
  • Trumpets of Doom
  • Tuba or Not Tuba
  • Two Left Feet Orchestra
  • Two Tone Tenants
  • Two-Tone Telegram
  • Two-Tone United

U: 5 names

  • Uncle Roy's Rocksteady Revue
  • Union Hall Hepcats
  • Upstroke Avenue
  • Upstroke Undertakers
  • Uptown Saturday Social

V: 4 names

  • Van Breakdown Brass
  • Velcro Shoes Social Club
  • Vespa Vespers
  • Vinyl Siding Rudies

W: 8 names

  • Walk Don't Skank
  • Walt Jabsco's Cousins
  • Walt's Checkered Jacket
  • Water Tower Waltz
  • Wet Paint Warning
  • Whiplash Waltz
  • Windbreaker Weather
  • Wobbly Pete's Horn Section

Y: 1 name

  • Yard Sale Yardies

Z: 1 name

  • Zero Hours Orchestra