In general, you can choose any name you want for your company, but there are several regulations that can affect your choice. For example, a company name must end with the words ‘Limited’, ‘Public Limited Company’, or ‘Limited Liability Partnership’ or the appropriate abbreviations or Welsh equivalents. Guarantee companies may apply for exemption from using 'limited'.

Could my choice of name be rejected?

We will always check your name before submitting any application to the Registrar. A name cannot be used if:

• it is 'the same as' a name already on the index
• it includes the words 'limited', 'unlimited' or 'public limited company' anywhere except at the end of the name. This applies equally to abbreviations or the Welsh equivalent of the words
• it is offensive;
• its use would be a criminal offence.

In addition, some names need the approval of the Secretary of State before they can be registered. These include names which contain words prescribed by regulations (see Sensitive Names ) and names that suggest a connection with central or local government. If these categories are avoided, you can normally have your choice of name.

What does 'the same as' mean?

When deciding whether a name is "the same as" another name on the register, the Registrar ignores punctuation, the company's status (unless dissolved), and certain words, symbols or expressions as follows:

• The words 'and/& company' or 'and/& co'
• Words and expressions such as:
  • "biz"
  • “co”
  • "co uk”
  • “com”
  • “company”
  • "EU"
  • "Exports"
  • "Group"
  • "Holdings"
  • "Imports"
  • "NI"
  • "Northern Ireland"
  • “UK”
  • “United Kingdom”
  • “Wales”
  • “Cymru”
  • “net”
  • ”GB”
  • “Great Britain”
  • "org"
  • "org uk"
  • “org.uk”
  • “services”
  • “international”
  • and various Welsh language equivalents
  • see exceptions below for circumstances when these may be allowed)
• A blank space between or after a word, expression, character, sign or symbol
• Punctuation including a full stop, comma, colon, semi colon, hyphen, apostrophe, bracket, exclamation mark, question mark
• Permitted characters “*”, “=”, “#”, “%” and “+” if they are used as one of the first three characters in a name
• “s” at the end of a name
• “the” and “www” at the beginning of a name
• any but the first 60 characters in a name.
  
  

For example, if the name 'Hands Limited' is already registered, then the following would be rejected:

• Hands Public Limited Company (or PLC)
• H and S Limited (or Ltd)
• H and S Public Limited Company (or PLC)
• H & S Limited (or Ltd)
• any of the above, with the addition of 'Company', 'Co', 'and/& Company', or 'and/& Co'

While a company name may be sufficiently different from a name already on the Index to allow it to be registered, this might not be enough to avoid the two names being considered 'too like' each other if an objection is lodged after the second company has been incorporated. In such cases, your company could be directed to change its name.

You should be aware that if you adopt a name which misleads the public into believing that your business is that of another business - for example, trading as a department store under the name 'Harrods' - then you may face a legal action for 'passing off' by the person whose business you have affected. Registration of a name by Companies House is no guarantee that you are safe from such an action.

Exceptions to “same as” rules

Where two or more companies are in the same group, they may have names that differ only by certain specified words and expressions (such as “biz”, “co”, co uk”, “co.uk”, “com”, “company”, “UK”, “United Kingdom”, “Wales”, “Cymru”, “net”, ”GB”, “Great Britain”, “org.uk”, “services”, “international”). This is permitted only a the member of the group whose name is already on the Registrar’s Index of company names gives its consent to the other company adopting the name that differs from its own in this way. The application for the proposed name must include a copy of a statement in which the existing company consents to the other company adopting the proposed name and confirms it will be part of the same group.

Sensitive Names

These are words and expressions which, when included in a company name, may imply business pre-eminence, a particular status or a specific function. For this reason, you must seek approval of the Secretary of State before the proposed company can be incorporated (or requesting a change to a company’s name). The aim is to ensure that the inclusion of the word is justified so that its use in the name does not mislead the public. Companies House administers the approval process on behalf of the Secretary of State.

See our sensitive names page for further information.