Pearl Jam's original name was supposed to be Mookie Blaylock (after the professional basketball player, of whom Pearl Jam were fans), but was changed after the band signed on Epic Records, as record executives were concerned about the band being named after a professional basketball player who was still playing at the time. In commemoration of the band's original name, they named their first album after Mookie Blaylock's jersey number.

Eddie Vedder claimed that the name "Pearl Jam" was a reference to his great-grandmother, Pearl, who was married to a Native American man and had a special recipe for peyote-laced jam.

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