A Catelogue of Tavernes in tenne Shires about London, or The honorable, and memorable foundations, erections, raisings, and ruines, of divers cities, townes, castles, and other pieces of antiquitie, within ten shires and counties of this kingdom by John Taylor, published in 1636, is, at heart, an guide for thirsty travellers in the shires surrounding London. It gives a brief description of the history and things to see in each town, and then lists the name of each town, each tavern keeper in that town, and most of the inn signs of the inns they keep. This document is a list of the sign names found in this document.
So, suppose you were a Jacobean innkeeper, had just gotten a license and wanted to name your tavern? What are the most popular names? The list below is the sign names found in the ten shires sorted by frequency. Each name is followed by the number of taverns with this sign name found in the source.
The Lyon : 16
The Bull : 14
The George : 13
The Crown(e) : 11
The Kings Head : 11
The White Hart/White-Hart : 11
The Bell : 10
The Rose : 10
The Ship : 10
The Bush: 9
The Angel(l) : 8
The Princes Armes : 8
The Mermayd : 7
The Sun(ne) : 7
The Cock(e) : 6
The Kings Arm(e)s : 6
The Swan : 6
The Hart : 5
The Saracens Head (The Sarazens Head) : 5
The Dog : 4
The Greyhound : 4
The Maydenhead/The Maidenhead : 4
The Katherin Wheel(e) : 4
The Nagshead : 4
The Red Lyon : 4
The Antelop : 3
The Bear(e) : 3
The Christopher : 3
Sign Names that occur twice
The Anker, The Black Lyon, The Castle, The Cat, The Chequer, The Dragon, The Elephant, The Garter, The Globe, The Goat, The Golden Lyon, The Hoope, The Queenes Armes, The Queenes head, The Three Tunn(e)s, The White Lyon
Sign Names that occur only once
The Armes of the East India Company, The Black Boy, The Bulls-head, The Crane, The Crosskeys, The Estrich, The Faulcon, The Flower de Lice, The Fountaine, The Glove, The Golden-Fleece, The Greene Dragon, The Halfe Moone, The Hand in Hand, The Harrow, The Horne, The Horse, The Miter, The Popes-head, The Popinjay, The Raine-Deere, The Salutation, The Three Cranes, The Three Kings, The Three Pidgeons, The Three Squirrels, The Two Lyons, The Two Neck'd Swan, The Vine, The Wheat-sheafe, White Horse
And here's the list again, sorted alphabetically:
The Angel(l) : 8