In Britain we have a load of royal named things, e.g “The King’s Head,” “The Prince Henry,” or animal themed pubs like “The Three Pikes,” The Red Lion (most common oub name) or something gorey like “The Hanged Man,” “The Village Chopping Block.” On that note, we also have pubs named after landmarks, e.g “The Old Oak,” “The Anvil.”
Any more modern establishment like a bar can have posher or more postmodern names. Sometimes jokey names.
I was struck by a realisation thst i don’t know how other countries name their pubs amd bars. Would be helpful to know, for understanding other cultures. I even don’t know for places like the USA, which also speak English. Excited to hear your responses!
The reason most of our pubs are named like that is because when pubs first became a thing most people couldn’t read, so instead they’d paint a picture on a sign outside to make it easier to direct people to the pub if they asked. They were also just regular houses that had spare beer that they’d sell to the public and wouldn’t always be selling anything, that’s why they were called public houses originally too.
I didn’t think about them being actual public houses until now. Strategy games have lead me astray - you always build a dedicated tavern building in those. I suppose now i understand the distinction between a tavern and a pub, at long last.
Additionally, a lot of them borrowed from heraldry or livery, hence the popularity of the Red Lion, the White Hart, the Crown, the Kings Arms, etc.