What is the meaning behind the name "Pink Floyd"?

The name Pink Floyd combines the names of two blues musicians: Pink Anderson and Floyd Council. Syd Barrett reportedly took their first names from liner notes connected with a Blind Boy Fuller blues record.

Before settling on Pink Floyd, the London group used several names, including Tea Set and the Pink Floyd Sound. Barrett used the new name when another band with the name Tea Set was scheduled on the same bill. The shortened form, Pink Floyd, eventually became permanent.

Pink Anderson was a South Carolina singer and guitarist associated with Piedmont and country blues. Floyd Council was a North Carolina blues musician who also worked in the Piedmont tradition. Neither man was a member of Pink Floyd, and the name was not intended as a reference to the color pink, a flower or a psychedelic visual effect.

The connection also reflects Barrett’s interest in American blues, which influenced the group’s earliest rhythm-and-blues repertoire before its music developed into psychedelic and progressive rock.