Some popular English pub names are corruptions of much older inn and tavern names. In some cases the truth of this is easy to infer, since a renamed pub will sometimes stand on or near the site of a much earlier tavern, the name of which was remarkably similar. Two examples:
Bag o' Nails, while no longer extremely widespread, is nevertheless a fairly well-known pub name. It is a corruption of 'Bacchanal', which Webster 1913 defines as 'Engaged in drunken revels; drunken and riotous or noisy'.
George and Cannon is also a less widespread name now than it once was. This name is a corruption of George Canning, who was a 19th century British Prime Minister.
There are also some far more uncertain examples, one of which at least is very popular, but almost certainly untrue:
Goat and Compasses is often claimed to be a corruption of 'God encompass us', (or sometimes 'God encompasses', from the phrase, "And God Encompasses Us All"). However, there is no evidence for this claim, and it is now regarded as almost certainly false. Compasses are a recurring motif in pub names and signs, and are probably derived from Masonic symbolism. I don't even want to speculate where the goat might fit in.