Pub quiz team names

Over two hundred team names by category, from clever and punny to musical and rude, and what actually makes one land when it is read out to a room.

Last reviewed 14 September 2026

What makes a team name land

It is read out loud, once, to a room that is half listening. That is the only test.

Which rules out most of what people write down. A name that needs explaining does not work. A name that is funny to read and not to hear does not work. A name six words long has lost the room by word four.

The ones that land are short, say out loud cleanly, and do one of three things: pun on something everyone knows, describe the team honestly, or set up a joke the host has to deliver. The third kind is the best kind, because it makes the host part of it.

One practical note: whoever is reading the results has to say it in front of everybody, including whoever is nearest the bar with their family. Aim for the side of clever rather than the side of shocking: the laugh is bigger and nobody has to look at their shoes.

Puns on famous names

The largest category and the most reliable. A recognisable name bent around a quiz word.

Quizteama Aguilera: The most-used pub quiz team name in the country, and still gets a laugh.
Quizzee Rascal: Ages well. Say it fast.
Agatha Quiztie: Clean, instantly readable, works in any room.
Les Quizerables: Better the more theatrically you read it.
Quizlamic State: Gets a reaction; read the room before you use it.
Tequila Mockingbird: Not a quiz pun at all, and it beats most of them.
Menage a Trivia: Reliably the biggest laugh in this list.
Norfolk and Chance: The construction is older than the pub you are in.
Beer Pressure: Short, true, and easy to say.
The Quizzy Rascals: A gentler version for a family-friendly room.
Universally Challenged: Self-deprecating and instantly understood.
Trivia Newton John: Works in every room, every time.
Sir Quizalot: Simple, and it plays well when read with commitment.
E=MC Hammer: For the table that will win the science round.
The Scoreminators: Read it in the voice. Everybody does.

Honest self-assessment

Names that tell the room exactly how the night is going to go. These are the ones that get the warmest reaction, because everybody recognises the team.

Here For The Beer: The most honest name in any pub.
We Thought This Was Speed Dating: Long, and worth it.
In It For The Crisps: Understated and reliably funny.
Hopeless And Thirsty: Sets expectations generously low.
The Wooden Spooners: Claiming last place before the first question is a strong move.
Google's Mates: Says the quiet part out loud.
Better Late Than Never: Ideal for the team that arrives in round two.
Two Girls, One Brain Cell: Works better the more of them there are.
The Participation Trophies: Modern, and it lands with a younger room.
Simply Red Wine: Does two jobs at once.
Last Place Or Bust: Commitment to a plan.
The Answer Is Definitely 12: Works best when it is not.

Food and drink

Always a safe category in a pub, and the easiest to make local by swapping in whatever the bar is known for.

Fish and Quiz Chips: Groan-worthy in the right way.
The Lager Louts: Traditional.
Gin and Tonic Quizzers: Say it with a flourish.
Bready Or Not: Short enough to work.
The Cheeky Nandos: Dates itself, which is part of the joke.
Nacho Average Team: Reads better than it looks written down.
Pint Sized Brains: Self-deprecating and clean.
The Crisp Sandwich Society: Absurd, and absurd works.
Ale Or Nothing: Compact.
Quiche Lorraine Kelly: Two references in three words.

Music and film

For teams who intend to win the music round and want everyone to know about it in advance.

The Rolling Scones: Old, still good.
Smarty Pints: Works in any room.
Fleetwood Mac and Cheese: Longer than ideal and it survives.
The Beatles Juice: Say it out loud before deciding against it.
Lord of the Rings Of Fire: Chaotic, which is the appeal.
Dumbledore's Army: Gets a cheer in the right crowd.
The Spice Curls: Gentle.
Star Warsome: Terrible, and it always gets a laugh.
Quiz Khalifa: For a younger room.
Blankety Blanks: Perfect for a team that expects to draw a blank.

Topical names, and their short shelf life

A name about something in the news this month is the funniest name in the room on the night and completely dead six weeks later.

That is fine, it is a one-week name and everybody knows it. The mistake is a team keeping one for a season, by which point the host is reading out a reference to something nobody remembers.

If you run a weekly quiz, a point for the best team name is the cheapest possible way to encourage people to keep inventing new ones. It costs you nothing and it means the results are worth reading out.

Naming a team, practically

Do it before you sit down. Teams that arrive and then spend ten minutes on a name are the reason quizzes start late.

Pick something you would not mind hearing read out in last place, because you might be.

And keep it if it works. A team that has been the same name for two years is part of the furniture of a quiz night, and hearing it read out is half of why they come.

Read them all out

Every team's name is on the leaderboard all night, which is the point of having a good one. The first session is free.

Start free, no card needed