“And before we get started, one thing you can do for me is think of a team name – it can be something funny, something topical, something rude, something about someone here, whatever you wish. Please think of a team name and write it at the top of every answer sheet”

I say this at the start of nearly every quiz (unless I’m told they already have team names) and the ensuing quiz night team names are always a key part of the quiz night experience. There are various types of name that confront me every quiz, but equally, it is true to say that there are a few names that pop up more often than others…

Quiz Masters has run numerous quizzes over the last four years. I remember with nostalgia when we decided to run our first ever pub quiz. It coincided with the world cup in South Africa and as quiz enthusiasts, we decided to take advantage of the resultant excitement of having a quiz being hosted on African Soil. Indeed, that was one proud moment to be African.

Over the years, the most popular team name has been “The Winners”.  It is the definitive quiz team name, no doubt about it. So often do I encounter it, I sometimes make a wry aside when i read it out – “Nice to see them here again” – before realising that, since these people have not been travelling around to tens of quizzes, there is no reason why they should be amused by the repeated use of “The Winners” – indeed, it may have been made up fresh on the night, and who am i to steal their thunder?

Perhaps it’s due to lack of creativity from the team involved or perhaps its a feeling of superiority that they will eventually prevail over the other participating teams. Needless to say, the Winners, rarely win.

However, the winners are just but one form of different quiz names. are various names. We have other name types, e.g., the “quiz” puns. According to David McGaughey of Quizquizquiz in the UK, who runs hundreds of quiz nights in the quiz capital of the world, QuizTeam Aguilera is the undisputed king (or queen) of that common name type. Not far behind, we have Quizee Rascal and Quiz Quiztoferssons.

What other types of names are there?

• Movie titles – Skyfall and The Avengers top the list. Almost invariably, the most recently released movie always makes it to the list of quiz names. I bet this time during the next quiz night, 12 years a slave and the Wolf of Wall street will definitely make the cut.
• The know- it alls kind of names – The Winners definitely takes the cake on this. Others are the A team, The Pioneers, The Vanquishers, the Aces, Le Meilleur (The Best en francais) et al. As a quiz participant, you almost get  a feeling of ” bwahahahaha” (evil laughter)when you are able to hold your own against a team with any of these names.
• Funny characters names – One famous quiz team name is Papa Shirandula, which seemed to have replaced Mzee Ojwang and Ondiek Nyuka quarter. Mama Kayai also features prominently in this lit as well.
• the cry for help – Need Help With the Picture Round, And in Last Place, We’re rubbish, Can We Bribe you Quiz Master? etc.;
• the casual – Only Here For the Beer, We Thought It Was a Disco;
• Reference to Current affairs – One popular name was Giniwasekao (need i say more) and am sure this time round, The Impeachers will be in the mix as well.
• and, of course, you often get something totally original, where you can’t even guess how they’ve come up with it.

Quiz team names are a massive part of the fun, and surprisingly hard to come up with, as I know from my own experience of pub quizzes.

I know people who are daring enough to go for rude jokes about topical stories, though I’ve always been a bit timid for that. I couldn’t tell you the best pub quiz team name I’ve ever heard, nor even give that much advice – [I have a soft spot for little twists on the name of your company, I’m less enamoured of flat out insults of colleagues in general, but if they are funny, they bring the house down].

What other favourites have you heard down the years?

What is your best team name?