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I’ve noticed a lot of “apotek” or pharmacies are called “Løve Apotek” or similar, even when they aren’t in the same city, or owned by the same people.  This sparked my interest to investigate further, and I found the below on http://www.apotekerforeningen.dk/ (Pharmacist’s Union):

Many of the older pharmacists have animal names, such as lion, swan or dolphin. We can not give any clear explanation, but there are some plausible theories. In the Middle Ages urban houses were given names to identify them. At that time, house numbers were not used as they became common in the late 1700’s. As many people could not read, it was not very useful to write the house name in letters, so a characteristic figure such as an animal was displayed so one could identify the building. From this the tradition was started to give pharmacists a distinctive name and symbol.

Another possible explanation may be that some neighborhoods had animal names, such as Leo Quarter. So it was natural for local businesses to choose the name of the neighborhood.

One other explanation was that pharmacists linked animal names symbolically, as this played a big role in the past in Christianity, alchemy and astrology. The lion was thus used as a name because it radiated power and was an image of vitality. The swan was an image of wisdom, peace and dignity. The deer was the symbol of the ‘spring of life’ and parts of its body were attributed to strong healing powers. The eagle was a symbol of Christ’s ascension and the victory of light over the powers of darkness. The elephant was simply an interesting eye-catcher because of its size and appearance.

In Denmark, there was a total of 45 lion and swan pharmacies in 1998.