Do you think this may be an "example" flyer, by any chance?
So you’re ready to start DJing out in bars and clubs, and of course will need a name. This is your one chance to get it right, and whatever you choose now will stick with you for your whole DJing life. So how do you do it? What are the mistakes to avoid? And how do you know when you’ve found a good one?
Over a long DJing career, I’ve heard great DJ’s and bad DJ’s – and I’ve heard great and bad DJ names too. And I reckon I can give you some pointers. So here’s my advice on how to choose your DJ name:
1. Try your own name
You may have a really cool name, or at least an OK one. I have an OK one (“Phil Morse”) and I stuck with it, but you may be really lucky and have a great “real” name. (An old DJ partner of mine, Herbie Saccani, had such a name.)
Drawbacks? If you’re DJing for “cash-no-invoice” (damn you!) and the taxman hits you in 10 years with a load of flyers and the question: “Where did all the money go?” you may have some swift answering to do. (I know someone who was arrested at an airport on the way to a gig abroad for this very reason.) Also, if you are a merchant banker by day, do you really want your DJing alter ego showing up all over the web when your boss Googles you? Think it through now while you can.
There are doubtless also other people with your name, maybe even some who are DJs. That makes your real name less ideal for you. If so…
2. Try a variation on your name
Keep it personal, but alter something. Change your surname or first name. Use your middle name and last name instead of first and last. Add something in quotes between your first and last names (Harry “Choo Choo” Romero did that). Pick something foreign for your surname (try Italian, Spanish, Russian dictionaries. Just makes sure you don’t use the word for “foot rot” or something by mistake).
You get instant “ownership” over such a name, as it is similar to your real name, but you have the luxury of changing it to make it more cool/unique/memorable.
3. Use your nickname
The hard work’s been done here. Your school friends have tried and tested names for you, and one stuck. I was “Flipper” (Philip? Flipper? I guess that’s how the transition was made. Actually, DJ Flippa sounds kinda good…). Or use your nickname as the bit in quotes, between your first and last names (“Phil ‘Flippa’ Morse”? Mmmm, maybe not so good now.) Obviously if you were called “spekky twat” or worse at school this won’t work as well.
So – you’ve got a name But before you go and buy the URL and register your Facebook page, there are a few pitfalls to avoid. Consider the following:
4. Make sure it’s “radio friendly”.
If someone can’t write down your name easily having been told it in person, over the phone, or on the radio, it’s not too good. You’ll get misspellings of it or just complete miscomprehension, when people see it written down and don’t connect with what they’ve heard verbally.
Not a DJ, but here’s a good example: There’s a Scottish politician called “Alex Salmond”. When I hear that on the radio, it sounds like “Alec Samond” Or “Alex Hammond” – definitely not “Alex Salmond”. So pick something people will write down correctly every time. You’ll be thankful for this when you’re famous.
5. Consider having two DJ names if you play two styles
Say you play extreme hardcore techno, and deep house. You may love “DJ Destroyer” for your face-chewing sets, but would that really work for your loungy, beach house afternoons? More people have wider tastes than they’re given credit for, but still, there are limits. I have friends who’ve play in bands, DJed and work in serious day jobs. Using your real name and TWO musical alter-egos in such a case can be a good idea.
6. Be sure your name is not taken
UK DJ/production duo the Chemical Brothers were originally called The Dust Brothers (I’ve still got the early 12″s, value racking up nicely now, thank you very much). But when US band The Dust Brothers caught wind, legal flurrying led to “The Chemicals” (as they’re often called) changing their name. No need if they’d only have done a bit of research first. So do yours.
One good resource is the website www.ud.com, where you can check if websites, Facebook/Twitter names and lots of other potential places you may want to use your DJ name still have it available for you to grab.
7. Ask your best friends, not your groupies, if your name is any good
Fans will tell you anything. Ask your girlfriend, oldest mates or brother/sister what they think. They’re more likely to tell you the truth.
Good luck choosing your name if you haven’t got one, and if you have, we’d love to know how you chose yours…
Now go to:
Choosing a Digital DJing Controller
Why Packing a Good Box of Tunes is More Important Than Ever
7 Reasons Why You Should Compile a DJ Chart
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Tags: choosing a dj name, dj names, how to choose a dj name
I want to the eye doctor to get some “Mock” glasses to make me look a little more “Prestige” and found that I actually needed prescription glasses… Hence the name “DJ Urkel Dee”
[ link ]Thanks for sharing the link to http://www.UD.com! I love learning how people are using the site; we expected it to be popular with startups, but I’m hoping it can be a continued research for DJs!
[ link ]I know this post is two years, old, but we still traffic from it, so I wanted to let you know that the UD.com site is now located at http://www.namecheck.com. We recently updated it to add new social networks, and new gTLDs, including .radio and .music, which you might be interested in.
[ link ]My friends gave me my stage name back in 1991. Even now I just never saw the need to change it…even when DJ AM blew up big.
I have a big Greek last name that just didn’t seem to ring well in other variations, hence why I never bothered to change the name.
I would also suggest for DJs that when they think about their name to also check domain names (web addresses) on a service like dotster or godaddy, and buy the domain name when they find one they want. Sometimes putting that limit might make it easier.
[ link ]Great blog!
I actually spent the last few years TRYING to make myself a DJ name, but I unfortunately my first name is “teejay”
and i just got sick of having to correct everyone when they said is your dj name ‘dj teejay’ so i recently gave in & just launched my website (www.teejay.clubdj.net.au) under that name! lol at least now if people that know me but dont know my DJ name google me I will come up, whereas before they had to konw it to find me..
so yea that just echoes the points in this blog, great advice!
[ link ]Supertoy was the first handle I used when I got my first Internet account and could choose my own name. It was so long ago I forget how I ended up with it. Anyways, I still use it to this day so I thought why not use it for my DJ name.
[ link ]I used to read a comic called “Y: The Last Man” and one of the characters was named ‘Ampersand’ and I got to liking it after I found out what it was ‘&’ and I used it as an alias for writings I did. When I started DJing it wasnt flowing well as DJ Ampersand so I changed it to Amp.DJ then DJ Amp. and I learned of DJ AM and it felt like I was copping out by just adding a ‘P’ so I played with it and added the ‘ero’ so now I’m sticking with the DJ Ampero, I like it and aside from a DJ Amparo it’s kinda unique and people like the ring of it.
[ link ]putting “DJ” in front of your name is super lame
[ link ]Agreed!
[ link ]I got mine a few years back when I got into Fatboy Slim’s beats and as I was 17 when I started DJing, I decided to add ‘boy’ to my middle name.
I suppose choosing a handle is probably one of the most difficult parts of starting out as a DJ cos it’s probably a name you wanna stick with in the long run.
[ link ]I started with my name then I switched to ‘Illegal Cuban DJ’ my old xbox gamer tag and the fact that I’m cuban what does everybody else think? please email me at illegalcubandj@aol.com or go to soundcloud.com/lunit75..
[ link ]I’ve gone thru so many names back when I was djing the college radio circuit… Dj Krem de la Krem or just DJ KREM(nickname short for my name Kremlin), Dj Ibdubz or Dj Infinite (play on mc name: InfiniteBW or IBW), Dj Gin (oldschool tag), Dj Brugal, etc…. until I stared djin small bars/clubs that some of my friends frequent stuck me with the name Cabezza. a name I hated at first but alas I made it work and it stuck. there’s actually plenty of people who now only know me as Dj Cabezza thanks to my voiceovers and drops: i.e D-J CA-BEZ-ZA!!!! lol. one thing I hate is being typecast (since I have a spanish dj name people assume I’m going to play Spanish music all night, not realizing I play everything Hip-Hop, House, Techno, Reggae, Latin, Pop, Top 40 whatever the crowd/club dictates)
[ link ]sidenote: to all my non spanish speaking djs out there yes it means head in spanish.
Yo, thanks a lot who ever posted this, I was thinking about the Last name thing and I cam up with taking away the “A” and the “D” from PADILLA and decided to name my self “DJ Pilla” English (piLL-Ahh) spanish (pEE-Yah)… I really like it.
[ link ]A friend of mine , based on symbols that i love to have in my clothes and the ones i stick to my guitar , he gaved me :
” Pranse ” as a DJ name
Whats your Opinion about it !? I’ll be so thankful if you give me your opinion
[ link ]I was going to go for dj dexxter for no reson but I changed it to dj RA which stands for nothing and then later decided to go with dj rc on account of my name being Ryan Casey. Although since I’m 13 years old I don’t get much respect from kids in my school because well being a dj is unfourtuntly going hand in hand with tool. As soon as realesed my first 3 tracks and they thought it was cool and I started getting booked for there parties. Then my 16 year old brother decided that even though my dj name is spray painted on my room he was going to call me dj rc racer which is in my opion the stupidest name ever… I’m now worried that I’m going to start losing gigs if this gets out.
[ link ]I spent years trying to come up with a dj name. Loads of my friends are using their own name so they can be recognised as themselves by friends and family etc. Dj phil cain doesnt really have much appeal for myself. Dj bamboo already exists (gutted). Tried skinny phil. (im 6’5 and skinny, duh) sounds very ammeteur. Anyway i have been da noise for 4 years now and everyone in my area knows the name.
[ link ]Thanks for sharing your knowledge. It is very useful and covers everything for bedroom djs upto club regulars.
Hey Phil, I have been reading your articles and it’s really helping me to be a better digital DJ. I am from India and have been spinning for almost 10 years now. I have moved to New York three years ago. It took me a while to adjust to music scene here but I am back spinning now. I need a DJ name, lol, my name is Sandeep Mehta and nobody understands it the first time I say it and it’s kinda annoying for me. My friends are suggesting me some names like San-Deep, Deep Cut, DJ Deep etc. but I want something real simple and something that make sense. Any suggestions?
[ link ]This is the perfect thing to post over on the forum, my friend!
[ link ]I think DJ Mehta is a freaking great DJ name. It sounds powerful and official.
[ link ]Flippin’ your name a bit, I’d say:
[ link ]SounDeep
Deep Sound
Knee Deep
needeep
NeeDeep
Nice article! I especially resonate with the paragraph about having more than one DJ moniker for diverse styles. As a basic mobile DJ I work under the name DJ MOJO (easy, memorable, sounds like my name), but for more underground & alternative venues I now to use the handle ChillAchilles (a pun on my favorite Mexican breakfast dish, with musical/mythological entendres). I’ve yet to build a site for ChillAchilles, but that’s next in the works.
[ link ]Djdigitaltips is an awesome blog btw! I’ve stayed up loong nights reading all the articles. Good work.
Great article, I went with George Thoms, its my name, it isnt a dumb DJ strawberry icekream kone name. I can book at a club, corporate event or even… *gasp* wedding if strapped for cash lol.
[ link ]My friend gave me a DJ name idk if i should use it.. its DJ PEZ and thats cause my last name is Lopez what do you think?
[ link ]I wanted to go with DJ Beetzz… But its not radio friendly..
[ link ]I also thought of DJ BeatEscape
[ link ]I also thought of DJ BeatEscape
[ link ]My DJ name is just my first and middle names (my last name doesnt have a nice ring to it at all and sounds quite common! lol)
It’s not often I’ll use the ‘DJ’ prefix as it seems to be mostly cheesey hardcore DJs that are called DJ something. Most known DJs dont use the DJ prefix.
‘Adam Daniel’
[ link ]was just wondering if klimax kelly works???
[ link ]Sounds like a porn star, my friend!
[ link ]I’m looking at getting into the DJ business and finding all the little nuances, such as choosing a name, to be very interesting. One of my first ideas was DJ EWreckShin, a little play on words, if you will. I like the idea of using different monikers for the different genres. To the guy above who was going to use Dexxxter… great name. I would use something like that if you don’t.
[ link ]I’ve been DJ’ing for over 5 years now and I’m sick and tired of being DJ Matt. It is driving me crazy. When I was a kid people used to call me matches cause I was as skinny as a match stick. So I’m thinking about incorporating that somehow, not sure though. I’ve played around with DJ Matix but not sure how that is going to translate on paper or with the audience. What do you guys think? Thanks.
[ link ]Im DJ Tidal Wave and my buddy in DJ Alarmixx
[ link ]my nickname is guimo i think sounds nice in english and in my native language (portuguese)
got from my middle name and last name (GUIMar… / Oliv…) = GUIMO
[ link ]I can’t think of a dj name hey phil any ideas my real name is Kyle Sobota!?
[ link ]how about Boysabato
[ link ]I love tech house & techno,so i came up with InfecTech,what do u think guys?
[ link ]