From Sigma 6 to The Pink Floyd Sound: A 1965 Name Evolution

The band that became Pink Floyd started as Sigma 6 in 1963, a student group named after a science building at Regent Street Polytechnic. Its core members—Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright—played covers and original songs, but the name wouldn’t last long. By 1964 they’d cycled through The Meggadeaths, The Abdabs (often mixed up with The Screaming Abdabs), and eventually The Tea Set.

The Tea Set was the name they used most consistently in 1965, until they discovered another band already called The Tea Set. That forced a last-minute change for a gig. Bassist Roger Waters remembered a record cover for two blues musicians named Pink Anderson and Floyd Council—so they grabbed “Pink Floyd” and tacked on “Sound” to make it feel more like a group rather than a solo artist. The Pink Floyd Sound debuted that same year, and within months they’d drop “Sound” and become just Pink Floyd.