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John Lennon started a band in the late fifties, called the Quarry Men after his high school. Different members came and went.

Lennon met Paul McCartney, was impressed with his talent, and asked him to join. Paul brought in George Harrison, and later they replaced drummer Pete Best with Ringo Starr. They changed names a few times, calling themselves Johnny and the Moondogs, and the Rainbows.

Lennon and McCartney referred to themselves as the Nurk Twins, but won a talent contest as the "British Everly Brothers".

It has never been tied down exactly where the Beatles name came from, but the most common story is that John Lennon liked the name The Crickets (from Buddy Holly's band) because of the double meaning - the insect and the sport. Stuart Sutcliffe, who was Lennon's friend and played bass early in the band's career, suggested Beetles - and for some time the band was known as The Silver Beatles or, occasionally, Long John and the Silver Beatles before becoming The Beatles. This is where it gets a bit hazy, usually Lennon is credited with changing the spelling to Beatles; however Paul has recently said that he suggested the change. It was nearly 50 years ago so memories have faded as well as, alas, most of the participants being dead.

John said a man on a flaming pie came to him in a vision and said,"From this day forward you are Beatles with an "A". Yeah Right!! It is thought it was a play on words of the Crickets, Buddy Holly's back up band.

The main inspiration was Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets. ("The Beetles" were the rival gang in Marlon Brando's movie The Wild One; this may also have been an influence.) Original group bassist Stuart Sutcliffe suggested the name; John Lennon was responsible for the B-E-A-T spelling, from beat music and the Beat Generation.

And there's also the suggestion that the name of Bootle (part of Liverpool) might have something to do with it.

Another reason is that a Group of beetles is called a band, along with the B-E-A-T theory.
The Beatles gave themselves the name. It has nothing to do with the bug but more of the BEAT of a song, which gave them the idea of the Beatles.
The exact truth is a little lost to history as the two people involved (John Lennon and Stuart Sutcliffe) are both dead - Sutcliffe died in 1962 and Lennon was never completely explicit about how the name came about.

However, Lennon particularly liked the double meaning to "Crickets" - he was a big Buddy Holly fan. Cricket means a singing insect, but also was the ball game. Sutcliffe is thought to have come up with Beetles and Lennon changed the spelling to Beatles.

Ironically, the surviving Crickets said that when they were trying to think of a name for their band, they considered "Beetles".
Partly inspired by Buddy Holly's band The Crickets, the Fab Four wanted a name with an insect theme which also had a double meaning. They combined the insect the beetle with the musical term "beat".
John Lennon formed the Quarrymen with some school friends in March,1957. Paul McCartney joined in July and George Harrison joined in February, 1958. In 1960, the name varied from the Beatals, the Silver Beetles and the Silver Beats, the name focussing on the word "Beat". Later in 1960, a slip of the tongue announced the band as the Beetles, which soon became the Beatles.

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