The initials 'DB' that prefix the string of legendary Aston Martins going back to the Atom based DB1 in the late 1940's through DB2, DB3, DB4, DB5, DB6, DB7, DB8 (officially V8 Vantage) and DB9 where and always have been used in honor of (the late) Sir David Brown, under whose guidance Aston Martin became the respected marque it is today.

Far from 'the same old boring design for decades', the often limited production DB cars where never sold for more than a few years each. Most were only produced for a span of 3-6 years with the most successful Aston Martin, the DB7 being produced for 10 years.

As for building cars without the DB designation, Aston has done that too. There have been several models (Aston V8, Vantage, Virage, Vanquish) that don't follow the naming convention.

There is also the up coming One-77 supercar that is in the wings.