Are all names acceptable for Companies?
Most names are acceptable to Companies House when forming a limited company, but there are a few exceptions. These exceptions fall into the following categories:
1. Your proposed name must be different from that of a company already incorporated.
2. Certain words like "Group" or "International" must be substantiated by providing evidence of other related companies or companies operating in at least two different countries. You will need to apply for the use of reserved words.
3. Names containing words likely to cause offence are not allowed.
You can use our up to the minute system to see whether your chosen name is too alike another existing name already on the Companies House register. Should your chosen name be similar to an existing name, that company could object within 12 months and you may be forced to change your company's name.
Important Notice - Similar Names
Since October 2009 Companies House have started exercising stricter regulations in regards to similar names. Unfortunately our current company name search engine can only specify if a name has or hasn’t been taken. For example, XYZ Ltd will be unavailable on our search as the name is already taken. XYZ GB Ltd would appear to be available. However this is not the case, “GB” falls into a category of words and expressions that Companies House feel do not separate the latter from the former. Therefore the company would be rejected. Other such words/expressions that fall into same category are:
- Company
- Com
- co.uk
- International
- Net
- Org
- Services
- UK
- United Kingdom
For the extensive list of words/expressions take a look here.
Please note that if you already owned XYZ Ltd and wanted to form XYZ GB Ltd this would be possible. You would just need to create a supporting document detailing your ownership or directorship of the original company.
Companies House will also reject names split up with punctuation marks. Once again, using XYZ Ltd as our example company, all the below would also be rejected.
- XY-Z Ltd
- XY and Z Ltd (or &)
- XYZ! Ltd
- @XYZ Ltd