Their tunes might be catchy and their lyrics appealing, but today’s would-be rock stars are having difficulty with the most creative challenge of all - thinking up a name for their group that has not been used before.

The best band monikers - the Beatles, the Clash, Oasis and U2 - can easily be imagined in lights above Madison Square Garden and are emblazoned across millions of T-shirts.

But after 50 years of rock, most of the obvious targets, puns and word combinations have been taken. Lawyers advise new bands to check that their names are unique through the MySpace website, which hosts the pages of thousands of groups.

The latest hopefuls are choosing names too obscure for widespread appeal or so similar in appearance that fans are becoming confused.

The NME apologised last week for giving its track of the week to a band that has sparked a bidding war – Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong.

“Yes, yes, yes, the name’s a shocker,” the “indie” music bible admitted. Even fans of two other tipped bands, The Dykeenies and I Was A Cub Scout, would be chortling at the “ludicrousness” of the Jing Jang Jong, it said.

The name was not so amusing for the Ting Tings and Jing Jings, two bands that are already suffering understandable confusion with the Jing Jang Jong.

A similar problem afflicts Good Books, a Radio 1-backed guitar band who have been mistaken at gigs for Good Shoes, another Radio 1-tipped band.

Bands are dipping into the past to revive defunct names – the Liverpool rockers the Rascals should not be confused with the Sixties New York soul group of the same name, but they probably will be.

“It’s a problem because naming a band is as important as naming a brand,” said Nick Stewart, a 30-year record industry veteran who signed U2 to Island Records and worked with Sir Elton John.

He added: “Bands like U2, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones realised that choosing a name is part of designing a commercial product. The directness and clarity of their names helped sell millions of albums, tickets and T-shirts.”

Mr Stewart said that he once refused to sign a band called the Donkeys because of their “silly” name, even though the demo tape was promising.

Calling a band I Was A Cub Scout suggested a “naive attitude to a commercially competitive business”, he said.

But I Was A Cub Scout, a teenage techno-rock duo from Nottingham, believe that their name helped them to get signed to XL Records, which discovered the White Stripes, and it has not proved a barrier to securing Radio 1 airplay.

Todd Marriott, singer, said: “We knew there would be no other band with the same name. It’s distinctive when so many bands are just called ‘the so-and-sos . . .’.” The name happens to be true. “I found my Scouting certificate when I was moving rooms at home, that’s how the name came about,” said Marriott, 18. However, their unique Baden-Powell-inspired status was threatened when a band called Scouting for Girls swept into the Top Ten this Summer.

Some bands, such as Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin, who come from Missouri, are destined for obscurity. But tangential names can be an asset, Mr Stewart said: “No one had combined a Nazi prison with a delicate art form before Spandau Ballet. It gave them an early mystique which their music ultimately didn’t justify.”

Solo stars, such as David Bowie and Elton John (formerly Reg Dwight), are invented personas as much as bands.

Infamous starts for famous bands

The Beatles In 1957 John Lennon, left, assembled the Black Jacks, and then the Quarry Men. They became Johnny and the Moondogs, the Beatals, the Silver Beetles, the Silver Beats, and the Silver Beatles, before The Beatles

The Clash From The 101’ers, bassist Paul Simenon snatched a name from a tabloid headline

Pink Floyd Called Tea Set until they shared a bill with a band of the same name. Syd Barrett combined two blues musicians, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council

U2 Originally The Hype, a friend suggested a name change to the spy plane piloted by Gary Powers, who was shot down in Soviet airspace. Legend says Bono let crowd decide

The Who Began as The Detours and The High Numbers but chose a shorter name so it would be printed in larger letters on gig billboards After every new name idea, band members would say: “The who?”

Led Zeppelin The Who drummer Keith Moon suggested a supergroup featuring himself and the guitarists Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Moon described it as “going down like a lead balloon, or a lead zeppelin”. Page took the hint

The Spice Girls Originally called Touch, changed their name after a song written for them called Sugar and Spice

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