How The Beatles Got Their Name

Where did The Beatles name come from?

After a number of name changes and experiments with their identity early in their career that included The Quarrymen, The Blackjacks, Johnny and The Moondogs, Long John and The Beatles, The Silver Beetles, and The Beat Brothers, they finally landed on The Beatles.

John Lennon is widely credited with coming up with the name. There are several explanations as to it's origin:

Buddy Holly and the Crickets

The origin of the name is most probably a derivation of the world "beetles" (an homage not to insects, but to Buddy Holly and the Crickets) while cleverly changing the word "beet" to "beat" as in a drum beat.

The Beat Generation

Others see the name "The Beatles" as a reference to Beatitude, a concept which found popular expresion in the identity of "The Beat Generation".

Flaming Pie

I had a vision that a man came unto us on a flaming pie, and he said, 'You are Beatles with an A.' And so we were. - John Lennon, 1961.

Lennon was almost surely being his humorous self when he made this claim to journalists in 1961... or maybe not. This remains the most interesting explanation for the origin of the name "The Beatles". Paul McCartney released a critically well-received album called Flaming Pie in 1997 recalling Lennon's clever quip.