%%Examples have been alphabetized. Please place yours in the correct place.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/DiaryOfAWimpyKid https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/capture1.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"If you told Rodrick how 'Loaded Diaper' is really spelled, it would be news to him."]]

->''"...take a really cool word but then spell it all wrong. You know, like... 'Lazor', or 'Bigg Nife', or something like 'Taranchula', or maybe like 'Limozeen'..."''
-->-- '''[[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad]]''', ''WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail'' #16 "[[Recap/StrongBadEmailE16BandNames band names]]"

Sometimes musicians like to make their band's name oddly spelled for one main reason: [[RuleOfCool It's cool]]. [[note]] Also, deliberate misspellings can usually be trademarked whereas extant words and phrases cannot.[[/note]]

A combination of XtremeKoolLetterz, often FunetikAksent and MyNaymeIs, and bonus points if they have a [[HeavyMetalUmlaut Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut]].
This type of band name is usually associated with music movements like HairMetal and the NewWaveOfBritishHeavyMetal, but can be used with any type of rock music (and probably any kind of music at all).

Subtrope of XtremeKoolLetterz and MyNaymeIs when applied to music.

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* Music/TheBeatles, playing with "beat", is probably the UrExample.
** Music/JohnLennon would irreverently explain the band's name thusly:
--->'''Lennon:''' One day a man on a flaming pie came down and said to us "From now on you are Beatles with an 'a'". We said "Thank you, Mr. Man."
** One anecdotal story was that when Apple Records band The Iveys wanted to change its name, Lennon suggested The Prix[[note]]pronounced "The Pree", as in "Grand Prix"[[/note]], [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer suspecting full well]] that the music press, like as in the reason Music/LedZeppelin deliberately misspelt their name so that people would give it the proper pronunciation, would predictably get the name wrong anyway.[[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke The Pricks]][[/note]]. The name the band would settle on would be Music/{{Badfinger}}.
*** Similarly, Phil Lynott named his band Music/ThinLizzy as a riff on the way the Irish would pronounce "thin" as "tin".[[note]]"Tin Lizzie" was a nickname for the Ford Model T[[/note]]
* Music/LedZeppelin, probably the {{Trope Maker|s}} and/or [[TropeCodifier Codifier]]. Originally meant so that "thick Americans" wouldn't mispronounce "lead".
* Amorphis
* Do music ''labels'' count? There we have "Ata Tak" [[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ata_Tak (=art attack).]]
* Basement Jaxx
* Music/TheBlackCrowes
* Blessid Union of Souls
* Bomshel, a short-lived country music group.
* Music/BonIver ("bon hiver" is French for "good winter")
* German example: the band Böhse Onkelz's name should be spelled "Böse Onkels."
* Music/{{brokeNCYDE}}
* Music/TheByrds
* Caramell, the band responsible for the song behind [[JustForFun/CaramelldansenVid a certain animation meme]]. The Swedish word is properly spelled "karamell".
* Carissa's Wierd
* Chantoozies
* Music/{{CHVRCHES}}: They've said the "v" is meant to be a roman numeral 5, and that the entire reason for spelling it that way is to make it easier to search for information about them online; If you just typed "churches" into a search engine, you'd mainly get sites about actual churches.
* The Cyrkle ("Red Rubber Ball"). John Lennon gave them the suggestion to spell their name that way.
* Music/DefLeppard
* Music/EazyE
* Music/EpikHigh
* Music/{{Eurythmics}}, after the eurhythmics musical teaching method.
* NewWave band the Fixx added an extra "x" to their name to avoid the drug use connotations of "fix" as a noun.
* Music/GEazy
* {{Music/Gotye}} (a phonetic spelling of "Gauthier", the French equivalent of the singer's given name, "Wouter", which is the Dutch equivalent of "Walter")
* Music/GreenJelly, with an umlaut over the Y. Originally they were "Green Jellö", but had to change it for trademark reasons; they claim a Y with an umlaut is pronounced like an O.
* Hanzel und Gretyl
* Hurriganes
* Music/InkubusSukkubus (Pagan/goth rock)
* The Insyderz (Christian rock/ska example)
* Music/{{INXS}}
* Jackyl
* Jypsi, another short-lived country music group.
* Music/{{Kamelot}}
* Koo De Tah
* Music/KoolAndTheGang
* Music/{{KoRn}}
* Kutless (another ChristianRock example - derived from "cut less", not the naval sword)
* Music/TheKovenant: They were called Covenant at first until sued by another band with the same name.
* Music/LimpBizkit
* Music/LinkinPark. Spelled that way not because they thought it looked 'cool', but because lincolnpark.com was already taken.
** The band's original name was ''Xero''.
*** LP's bassist, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, was previously part of a little known band called ''Tasty Snax''.
* Lipps, Inc.
* Music/{{Lorde}}: A feminized version of "Lord". Chosen because she thought an aristocratic name sounded cool, but just "Lord" by itself sounded too masculine.
* Music/{{Ludacris}}
* Music/LynyrdSkynyrd. Leonard Skinner was a gym teacher at the band members' high school who informed them that they would never amount to anything.
** Suthrn Cuzn, a ClubboRecords parody of Lynyrd Skynyrd
* Music/MajorLazer
* Malfunkshun, whose frontman Andrew Wood would later form Mother Love Bone and be eulogized by Music/PearlJam and Music/{{Soundgarden}} in ''Temple of the Dog''
* Music/{{Marmozets}}
* Music/{{Megadeth}}
* Music/MeganTheeStallion (pronounced Megan ''the'' Stallion)
* Music/TheMonkees (a pop rock example)
** And Music/{{Gorillaz}} got their name from the Monkees.
* Music/MotleyCrue
* Nu Shooz
* Music/{{Paramore}}
* The Pharcyde
* Music/{{Phish}}: Though they've given other origin stories, the most commonly accepted one is that it's just a misspelled variation on a nickname for their drummer, Jon Fishman.
* Music/{{Polysics}} (named after their first keyboard, misspelled to avoid copyright)
* The animated band Prozzäk.
* Prymary Colorz
* Music/{{Rammstein}} is called that way because the band members literally misspelled the name rather than it being a conscious decision. The band took the name from the German air base where the 1988 air show disaster took place but that name is spelled with only one M (Ramstein). According to Paul they didn't know this and accidentally spelled it with two M's instead. However, in a cool twist of fate ''Rammstein'' is perfectly fine German for a "ramming stone", or in other words a ''Battering Ram''.
* Redd Kross originally averted this, but had to change when [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cross the real Red Cross]] objected.
* Red Sparowes. The spelling seems like a parody of Music/TheBlackCrowes, a more well-known rock/blues band.
* Music/RelientK (based on a slogan for the K Car one of the band members drove, making this another example of WritingAroundTrademarks)
* Russell Moore and [=IIIrd=] Tyme Out… a ''bluegrass'' group.
* Scaterd Few
* Since Music/{{Slade}} loved to deliberately misspell their song titles ("Gudbuy T'Jane") during their GlamRock phase, their album title ''Slayed?'' implies that the band name might actually be a misspelling, too.
* Split Enz: They originally averted the trope (as Split Ends), but later changed the spelling to honor their home country of New Zealand.
* Music/{{Staind}}
* The Dukes of Stratosphear (Music/{{XTC}}'s psychedelic alter-egos)
* Music/{{Stryper}}
* Music/TechN9ne
* Templeton Pek. [[Series/TheATeam Exactly.]]
* Music/{{Trapt}}
* Music/TwoNEOne
* Music/TheWeeknd
* [[OldShame Y Kant]] [[Music/ToriAmos Tori]] [[OldShame Read]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Book ]]

* In the crossover with {{Music/Kiss}}, {{ComicBook/Vampirella}} plays in "Witchkraft".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Wyld Stallyns (*air guitar*) from ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure''.
* Mark from ''Film/EmpireRecords'' wants to call his band... Marc.
* At the end of ''Film/HotTubTimeMachine'', Lou's foreknowledge of the future has allowed him to make some changes, including becoming the lead singer of Music/MotleyCrue but named Mötley Loü this time.
* ''Film/RockOfAges'' has the BoyBand Z-Guyeezz which is pronounced the way it's spelled. "Double the E, double the Z, double the flava!" They share their producer with the hard rock band Arsenal whose lead singer's name is [[MyNaymeIs spelled Stacee Jaxx]]. ([[SarcasmMode Totally no pattern here.]])
* Dethdestro from ''[[WebAnimation/StarWreck Star Wreck 5: Lost Contact]]''.
* The Oneders/Wonders from ''Film/ThatThingYouDo'' - there's a RunningGag early in the movie about other characters trying to pronounce it as it's spelled ("the oh-needers"), which leads to them spelling it the conventional way.
* Before Thorsten Bage joined Music/{{Fraktus}}, they called themselves Freakazzée.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In the ''Literature/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'' series, Rodrick plays in a band called Löded Diper. Greg points out that, even though everyone assumes Rodrick spelled it that way to make it look cool, it's highly possible that he just doesn't know the real spelling.
* In ''Literature/SoulMusic'', CMOT Dibbler, faced with a band of trolls who say they're called Trolls, suggests it would be more Music With Rocks In if they were Trollz.
* In ''Literature/WarForTheOaks'', Eddi, the protagonist starts out the novel as a member of Stuart Kline's band [=InKline Plain=]. It's described as "the most misspelled band in Minneapolis".
* In the ''Literature/WolvesOfMercyFallsSeries'', Cole St. Clair is a member of NARKOTIKA. WordOfGod states that it's in all caps, because "IT'S LOUDER THAT WAY."
* Parodied in ''The Coodabeen Champions Take a Good Hard Look at Australia'': Hymie from Heidelberg tries to take advantage of his son's poor spelling to make bootleg Music/DefLeppard T-Shirts, only for him to spell "Deaf Leopard" ''correctly''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' had "Spydor" (in ''Film/EarthVsTheSpider''), "Hee-La" (in ''Film/TheGiantGilaMonster'') and "Santa Claws" (in ''Film/SantaClaus1959'').

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

* ' 'Theatre/AltarBoyz''

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' had the Kabbage Boy. And Ironheade, though it was less of a band and more of a band-styled army.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Animation ]]

* In ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Strong Bad describes this phenomenon when asked by an emailer how to choose a good band name. Within a couple years, Limozeen and Taranchula would both go on to become [[FakeBand "real"]] bands in-universe, with actual music produced. Bigg Nife took a good deal longer to emerge as a "real" band, appearing over a decade later on the Trogdor Rulebook EP. The remaining band, Lazor, has been mentioned, but we have yet to see or hear them.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Djörk from ''Webcomic/{{PvP}}''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' has Mystik Spiral ([[RunningGag but they're thinking of changing the name]]).
-->'''[[TheSlacker Trent]]:''' Would it help if we spelled "mystik" with ''two'' y's?\\
'''[[TheSnarkKnight Daria]]:''' ''(thinking)'' And I'll spell my name D-A-R-''Y''-A, and be crowned Miss America.\\
'''Daria:''' ''(aloud)'' It might.
* In [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Gravity Falls]], we have &ndra (pronounced "ampersandra") and Sev'ral Timez, the latter crossed with PunctuationShaker.
* The eponymous WesternAnimation/{{Grojband}}, which is derived from "GarageBand".
* Dethklok from ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}''. 'Death Clock' is AGoodNameForARockBand. So good, they had to spell it 'Dethklok' because there is a RealLife thing named 'Death Clock' already![[note]]It's a website that counts down to the day you die based on lifestyle choices and other factors.[[/note]]
* Love Händel, the FakeBand from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''.

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