The Beach Boys were originally called The Pendletones, reflecting their Southern California surf-inspired image and clothing style. Their record label Candix wanted a more marketable name, and studio executive Russ Regan ultimately renamed them The Beach Boys without the group’s knowledge; the name became central to their early commercial identity.

Candix had first proposed The Surfers, but that name was already in use. Brian Wilson later said the band only discovered the change when they saw their first records, while labels encouraged surf-themed songs to exploit the early-1960s craze. As tastes shifted with the British Invasion, the group moved beyond that image, culminating in the influential 1966 album Pet Sounds.