16 Foreign Bands Whose Names Look Completely Different When Translated

Foreign band names are often pleasing to the ear, and it is believed that there is always a hidden meaning behind them all. Sometimes it’s really like that. However, many musicians prefer to only choose the most melodious options, which, when translated, can seem eccentric and even fun.

O awesome.club analyzed the literal translations of the names of some of the most famous international groups and had a lot of fun.

The Danish name was not chosen by the Italian band by chance. Bassist Victoria De Angelis is half Danish and it was she who suggested the name Måneskin, which means “moonlight”.

The group took its name from a French magazine of the same name, which can be translated as “fashion news”, “fashion news” or “latest fashion”.

The Korean band name has two meanings. At the beginning of their careers, artists called themselves “Bulletproof Scouts”. When they gained worldwide fame, they kept the acronym, but changed its meaning to Beyond the Scene (“backstage”, in Portuguese), in order to attribute a symbolic meaning: the singers open the doors to their achievements.

It is said that, early in the band’s career, someone joked that the group would “go down like a lead zeppelin”. This is the literal translation of the English expression go down like a lead zeppelin, which means “to fail” and which inspired the name. The members only removed one letter from the word lead.

The name Maroon 5 came after the fifth member joined the band. Apparently, the number 5 refers to the number of musicians in the group. The adjective maroon means “reddish-brown”. However, according to an alternative version, the song Marooned, by Pink Floyd, gave rise to the name. In this case, the word in question is translated “abandoned.”

The members gave several ideas for the name, such as Childish Intentions (“Childish Intentions”) and Stricken (“Devastated”), but all were rejected. It was then that the band Evanescence was created, with a sonorous name that means “transience”.

The band was named AC/DC after the older sister of the group’s founders, Malcolm and Angus Young, saw that initials on a sewing machine.

In the case of American artists, the word skillet, translated into Portuguese as “frying pan”, can be interpreted as a reference to a mixture of different styles of music. This pretty much defines the essence of this rock band, which has expanded into many different genres.

The band’s name comes from the phrase Here’s your nickel back that bassist Mike Kroeger used to say to his customers when he worked in a coffee shop. In Portuguese, it means “Here’s your change nickel”. One nickel equals US$0.05.

Vocalist Hayley Williams says: “Paramore is the maiden name of the mother of a friend of ours, and we like the sound of the word.” Only later did the gang discover its true meaning.

Both soloists were born in South Africa, so they decided to create a name in one of the country’s official languages. Die Antwoord means “the answer” in Afrikaans.

Originally, the band was called The Cranberry Saw Us (“O cranberry saw us”, in Portuguese). However, after Dolores O’Riordan took over vocals, the group was renamed The Cranberries.

The duo’s business card was modern rhythms. Perhaps that is why the famous chose a name that translates from English as “modern talk”.

According to George Harrison, the musicians took a long time to name their quartet. It was John Lennon’s creativity that solved the dilemma. The group’s name is a pun on beat (“beat”) with beetles (“beetles”).

The literal translation of black eyed peas is “string bean”. This plant is grown in the southern United States, where the band was formed.

Drummer Joey Kramer drew inspiration from the album Aerial Ballet (“Balé Aéreo”, in Portuguese), by Harry Nilsson, when he was still studying at school and only dreamed of having a rock band. Kramer thought of a name with the prefix aero- and invented the famous “Air Blacksmith”, which would be the literal translation of the original name.

And you, did you already know the origin of the names of some of these groups? Who would you add to our list?