How Pink Floyd got their name from Pink Anderson and Floyd Council

Syd Barrett came up with the name by combining the first names of two blues musicians — Pink Anderson and Floyd Council — whose names he saw on the sleeve of a Blind Boy Fuller album. The group had previously been called The Tea Set, but after discovering another band with the same name, they needed a new one that would stick.

Barrett spotted the two names on a 1962 recording by the blues guitarist Blind Boy Fuller. On the liner notes, Fuller was joined by Pink Anderson on one track and Floyd Council on another. Syd liked the accidental poetry of “Pink Floyd” — it sounded both musical and slightly surreal. The band didn’t realize at the time that the name would eventually become one of the most recognizable in rock history, nor that both Anderson and Council would later enjoy a small renaissance in popularity thanks to the association.