Pub names like the Angel or the Bell usually occur in proximity to a church.
Local landmarks, history, and mythology
Not represented in the top 25 most common pub names nationally are the pubs named for local histories, landmarks, animals and mythologies.
For instance, in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, there is a pub and restaurant called the Bustard Inn which is named for the story that England’s last great bustard was shot just outside. There are several pubs in Yorkshire and Lancashire named for the Craven Heifer, a famously large cow bred at nearby Bolton Abbey.
Why do we get so many Bulls and Swans but comparatively few Pigs and Ducks? “It’s probably because the bull would have been the biggest animal on the farm, the most impressive one, so that’s why people wanted to name their pub after it,” says Chaplin.
Names like the Turk’s Head or the Saracen’s Head might commemorate a returning crusader. Others, like the Man On The Moon, in Birmingham, celebrate more modern history.
There are some odder examples. Chaplin has been investigating the Case Is Altered, the name of two pubs, one in Warwickshire and one in west London. “People presumed it was an administrative error when someone bought the pub and renamed it, but it was the title of a Ben Jonson play which had become extremely popular in the early 17th century,” he says. “But you get all sorts of things like that, when people or objects become folk heroes. An example is pubs named after the Victory, Lord Nelson’s ship in the Battle of Trafalgar.”
Pubs in agricultural regions are often named after the Green Man, a Celtic deity associated with fertility and harvests, while Robin Hood gives his name to pubs beyond Nottinghamshire because of how his mythology became a symbol of resistance across the country.
In the modern era, higher rates of literacy have led to pubs with more unusual and interesting names. “You’ll find with Wetherspoons, for instance, they are careful to give their pubs names of local heroes, or things in the local area,” says Chaplin.
“But most publicans take inspiration from more varied sources, from cinema to politicians,” he adds. “There’s a pub in Southampton called the Hobbit.”