- Alphaville - Named after the dystopian 1965 French film by Jean-Luc Goddard (Roxy Music wrote a song about it too)
- Blondie - Named after the "Hey, blondie!" catcalls regularly hurled at Debbie Harry while walking through New York
- Elvis Costello - "Elvis" was given by his managers as a memorable stage name. Dylan added "Costello" to honor his paternal grandmother
- Squeeze - Took its name from Squeeze, the final album released under the Velvet Underground name
- Human League - Borrowed from the title of a faction in a 70s sci-fi board game
- Duran Duran - named after the villain from the sci-fi movie Barbarella
- Devo - short for "de-evolution", the bands' core philosophy
- New Order - Chosen after Joy Division ended following Ian Curtis' death, with the phrase itself borrowed from a newspaper headline about Cambodia
- Thomas Dolby - A childhood nickname inspired by the Dolby noise-reduction system because he was always tinkering with recording equipment
- Falco - Hans Hölzel adopted the name in tribute to champion ski jumper Falko Weißpflog, changing the "k" to a "c."
- B-52s - named after the beehive hairdo worn by Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, shaped like the nose cone of a B-52 bomber
- Madness – Named after a song by ska legend Prince Buster, one of the band's biggest musical influences
- A Flock of Seagulls – Took its name from a line in a Stranglers song, with a possible nod to the novel Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- Howard Jones, Nick Lowe, and Ian Dury? Their parents picked those names
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