Some pub names just sound "right" to me. Others are obviously
invented by outsiders, whether foreigners or just people not steeped
in the culture. Here's a guide to the good ones.
An old pub may be named after its distinctive sign: The Three
Horseshoes, The Wheat Sheaf, The White Horse, The Stag's Head, The
Dolpin. Usually that sign will have been inspired by a local activity,
or perhaps a legend.
They may be named after a prominent local family (who might be
absentee land-owners, especially in London): The Devonshire Arms. Or a
local place is very common, particularly if it was the first pub to
serve that place: The Ambleside Inn.
As for suffixes, an "Inn" traditionally has accommodation while a
"Tavern" does not; it may not be true now but it's probably in their
history. "Hotel" as a primarily drinking establishment is unusual in
England but shows up in Scotland. Occasionally "Tap", usually
indicating a close association with (and often proximity to) a
brewery.
Later pubs may be named for monarchs: The Edward VII, Georges I-V (or
"Royal George"), and variants on the Queen Victoria, but others are
less usual (Kings James, John, William IV, Charles I, Richard III;
Queens Anne, Elisabeth, and more rarely Adelaide, Charlotte and
Matilda). Or just The King's/Queen's Arms.
"Commercial", often "The Commercial Hotel/Inn", usually indicates that
it was built for commercial travellers rather than locals. There are
practical names like The Railway Tavern.
Deliberate jokes are almost always modern. Renaming a pub when one
buys it is a sure way to lose all previous goodwill from the locals,
not to mention bad luck just as for ships.
- Posted by Chris at
01:59pm on
17 July 2026
I am reasonably sure that The Wheatsheaf (I think it is a real pub of that name, or used to be) was called The Mushroom Cloud by the characters in Dave Langford's "The Leaky Establishment". It would be a grave error for any new owner to change a pub's name to the one the locals use; they would immediately go back to using the original name, while looking reproachful.
Our local when I was a child, The Queen's Head, was always known as The Knob, and the landlord as Nobby. Last time I looked the sign was still The Queen's Head, not The Knob, so common sense has prevailed there.
And there was a pub in Bristol whose new owners re-named it and lost literally all their custom: nobody set foot in it until they reluctantly changed its name back from The Dolphin to its real one. I think that was a serious case of a new name bringing bad luck.
But not all names fit your categories, not quite; I never did know where the name The Jack Of Both Sides came from; the pub was between the two roads of a v-shaped junction so the reason was obvious, but who thought of it? That was its name in 1841, apparently, and is said to have dated back another thirty years at least, so it wasn't newfangled "humour" like its second subsequent name this century, The Upin Arms. It has had three new names since 1998, and ceased to be the slightly sleazy place I knew (and the police knew even better) but didn't venture into; it is now trying hard to be chi-chi, with leather armchairs and polished wooden tables, but I feel that it may not last.
- Posted by RogerBW at
02:35pm on
17 July 2026
When I was boardgaming in Reading the Jack was one of the usual meeting spots; in the year or two I was going it was three separate would-be trendy pubs, sometimes with a name change, sometimes not. It is now the Hope and Bear, part of the Castle Pubs chain.
There's a country dance recorded in 1750 called "Jack of Both Sides" which might be an influence.
I wasn't trying to give an exhaustive list of categories, but rather to suggest what invented names are likely to sound plausible and what are not. (A "King Henry VIII" pub might seem to an outsider as though it would be entirely reasonable, for example, but I have never heard of one.)
- Posted by DrBob at
03:37pm on
17 July 2026
I recall we had a book of Games to Play on Long Car Journeys, which had a game where the first person to spot a pub was awarded points equal to the number of 'legs' the pub name implied. So the Queen Victoria was 2 legs, the White Horse was 4 legs, etc. With a rule of 20 points for undetermined big groups of things with legs like the Horse & Hounds.
It was a dismal failure. Apparently Scottish pubs aren't as keen on names with animals or royalty in them. No legs in the Ship Inn, Tilted Wig, Abbey Pub, Old Brewhouse, Anchor Hotel, Fife Arms, Blue Lamp, etc etc.
- Posted by Robert at
08:34pm on
17 July 2026
I wonder if the royal names correspond to times of expansion of travel. Like the rail or canals and has a similar commercial connection
For what it’s worth, the two pubs in London I frequented as a student were The Marlborough Arms and Ye Olde Surgeon
- Posted by John P at
08:44pm on
17 July 2026
There's a pub in Bury called "Help Me Thro". Not sure how long its been that, but apparently it is a 19th century pub and the only one in the country with that name.
Re the Ship Inn, surely that scores one per pirate? LOL
- Posted by Owen Smith at
03:05am on
18 July 2026
In Milton one of the nearest pubs to me is in a 400 year old building and had been The Jolly Brewers for at least 150 years. Then new owners came in about 10 years ago and changed the name to The Brewers Inn. There was a lot of local unhappiness about this, but they're still running the place and haven't changed the name back. It used to be a very good pub for food but after new owners and name change it's just as mediocre as all the other pubs in Milton.