After experimenting with band names, such as Childish Intentions and Stricken, they decided on Evanescence, which means "disappearance" or "fading away" (from the word evanesce, which means "to disappear"). Lee has stated she loves the name because "it is mysterious and dark, and places a picture in the listeners' mind."[4][5]


They took the name Paramore, which is derived from the maiden name of one of the group's former bassists during the time in which they were "still playing in the garage"[12] once the group learned the meaning of the homonym; paramour ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.[10]