Pub names are used to identify and differentiate each public house. Modern names are sometimes a marketing ploy or attempt to create 'brand awareness', frequently using a comic theme thought to be memorable, Slug and Lettuce for a pub chain being an example. Interesting origins are not confined to old or traditional names, however. Names and their origins can be broken up into a relatively small number of categories:

As many public houses are centuries old, many of their early customers were unable to read, and pictorial signs could be readily recognised when lettering and words could not be read.

From Wikipedia Pub Names

Nowadays whilst most people can read (at least before they enter the establishment) trying to find pub's website can be a bit tricky. Typing my local The Three Tuns into a major search engine returns 437,000 results adding the county North Yorkshire drops to 64,000.

Its not so bad if your pub has a Unique name like the "Flying Bedstead" Hucknall.

However with hundreds of King's and Queens' Carpenters and others' Arms and Heads flying around and Dogs with Guns chasing Moor Pheasants up Royal Oak Trees all it gets a bit tricky.

Dog and Gun

Three Tuns

Old Oak Tree

Queens Head

King's Head

Pub Guides