How to Pick a Name for Your Business
How to pick a name for your business: Companies House 'same as' rules, sensitive names, trade marks and the checks to run when choosing a business name.
How do you pick a name for your business?
To pick a name for your business in the UK, shortlist candidates first, then check each one in order: the Companies House register for names that are the "same as" an existing company, the sensitive words list, the trade mark register, domains and social handles, and a plain web search for businesses already trading under it. Only incorporate once a name passes all five, then file a trade mark.
You pictured the moment the name arrives. It lands, the domain is free, the logo almost draws itself, and the business suddenly feels real. What actually happens is a spreadsheet of forty business name ideas, three of which belong to dormant companies in towns you have never visited, a .co.uk held by a parked ads page, and a quiet worry that the registrar will bounce the one you love. Knowing how to pick a name for your business has very little to do with inspiration. It has everything to do with running a shortlist through a sequence of checks that most founders discover only after the signage has been ordered.
In this article you will learn how to name your company the safe way: which names Companies House refuses, which words need written permission, how to pressure test a shortlist for legal and commercial risk, and what a name change really costs once you are trading.
Key Takeaways
- Companies House refuses any name that is the "same as" one already on the register, and its comparison ignores words such as "the", "limited", "company", "group", "holdings", "services", "UK" and symbols like "&" and "+", so bolting one of those onto a taken name almost never creates a different name.
- Sensitive words including British, Royal, Institute, Trust, Bank, Chartered, Accredited and Group need supporting evidence or a letter of non objection from a specified body before the registrar will accept the name.
- A company registration is not ownership of the name in the market. A registered trade mark costs £205 for the first class online plus £60 for each additional class and will generally give stronger rights than a Companies House entry alone.
- Incorporating digitally costs £100 and changing the name afterwards costs £20 digitally or £85 same day, but the registrar's fee is the cheapest line in any rebrand by a factor of hundreds.
- Where a name was registered opportunistically against a business with existing goodwill, the Company Names Tribunal can order a change for a £400 application fee, and cost awards of £800 to £900 appear regularly in published decisions against the company and its director personally.
- Descriptive names are easy to explain and hard to protect. Invented names are easy to protect and expensive to explain. The right choice depends on how you plan to win customers, not on which one sounds better out loud.
Fees correct as at October 2026.
Which four tests does every business name have to pass?
A name must be legally registrable, available to use in the market, practical across every channel you sell through, and durable enough to still fit the business in five years. Most founders optimise for the fourth test, and the first one quietly fails at 11pm on a Tuesday.
Registrable means the registrar accepts it. Available means nobody with prior rights can force you off it. Practical means it survives a phone call, a voice assistant, a customer typing it from memory, and a 40 character bank mandate field. Durable means it does not pin you to one city, one product or one founder if the plan works.
Those tests pull against each other. "Clapham Blinds" scores brilliantly on practicality and terribly on durability. An invented word scores the reverse. Choosing a business name is really the act of deciding which test you are willing to score lowest on.
Which five searches should I run before I commit?
When picking a company name, run the company register, the trade mark register, the domain, the social handles and a plain search engine query. Each covers a different risk, and passing one tells you nothing about the others. No single business name checker covers all five, so run them separately.
Start with the Companies House register, which functions as a free company name checker. It applies a "same as" test under section 66 of the Companies Act 2006 that strips out a long list of words and characters before comparing. It disregards the legal ending, so Limited and Ltd are identical. It disregards punctuation, spacing and case. It treats "and" and "&" as the same thing, "plus" and "+" as the same thing, and the numeral 1 as the word one. It also disregards certain words wherever they sit at the end, including UK, GB, company, co, group, holdings, international, services and exports. So if Harbour Interiors Ltd exists, then Harbour Interiors UK Ltd, The Harbour Interiors Company Ltd and Harbour Interiors Group Ltd are all the same name to the registrar.
Beyond "same as" sits a looser "too like" power. Where a new name is close enough to confuse, the registrar can direct the new company to change it within twelve months of registration (Companies Act 2006 s.67), and that direction cannot simply be ignored.
Next, search the trade mark register for the word itself, obvious misspellings and the dominant element on its own. Then check the .co.uk and .com and the handles. Finally, search the name in plain language alongside your sector, because an unregistered business with ten years of local reputation can still cause you problems. Goodwill does not need a certificate.
What are sensitive names at Companies House, and will mine need permission?
Sensitive names at Companies House are words the registrar will not accept without supporting evidence, usually a letter of non objection from a specified regulator, department or professional body. The rules come from sections 55 and 56 of the Companies Act 2006 and the Company, Limited Liability Partnership and Business (Sensitive Words and Expressions) Regulations 2014. There are roughly 150, and several appear in ordinary commercial names without founders realising. Companies House publishes the full list, and the body to contact for each word, in its Incorporation and names guidance.
Words implying national or official status. British, National, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Royal, King, Queen, Crown, Windsor, Government, Authority, Board, Council, Parliament.
Words implying scale or authority. Group, Holdings, International, Association, Federation, Institute, Institution, Society, Foundation, Trust, Academy. Several of these only require evidence that the structure genuinely exists. Group normally needs more than one company in the arrangement.
Words tied to a regulated activity. Bank, Banking, Insurance, Assurance, Reinsurance, Investment Fund, Charity, Charitable, Fund, Deposit, Mutual, Benevolent.
Words tied to a protected profession. Chartered, Accredited, Registered, Licensed, Dental, Optician, Pharmacy, Midwife, Nurse, Veterinary, Architect, Solicitor, Police, Tribunal, Judicial.
Some are protected twice over, by the naming rules and by separate legislation that makes misuse a criminal offence regardless of what the register shows. Calling yourself a bank, an architect or a chartered accountant without authorisation is an offence whether or not the name was accepted.
Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, the registrar also has newer powers to refuse or direct a change where a name suggests a connection with a foreign government or international institution, or where there are reasonable grounds to believe it is intended to facilitate crime. Those sit alongside compulsory identity verification for directors, so a name that only works if nobody looks closely is a poor foundation.
Which naming style should I choose, and what does each one quietly cost me?
Choose the style that matches how customers will find you. Descriptive names do the marketing work for free but leave you legally exposed. Distinctive names are defensible, but you pay to explain them for the first three years.
The hidden invoice behind every naming style
| Naming style | What it buys you | What it costs you | Trade mark strength | Best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Descriptive (Leeds Gutter Cleaning) | Instant comprehension, strong local search relevance | Very hard to register as a mark, competitors can use near identical wording, caps you at one trade and one place | Very weak | Local trades, single service businesses |
| Compound (two real words joined) | Clear enough to understand, distinct enough to own | Crowded space, most good combinations are already registered somewhere | Moderate | Service businesses planning to scale nationally |
| Evocative (a borrowed or shortened word) | Memorable, flexible across product lines, usually available as a domain | Needs marketing spend to attach meaning, can read as vague in a tender | Strong | Consumer brands, software |
| Invented (a coined word) | Cleanest trade mark position, usually the cleanest availability position, no prior goodwill to trip over | Spelling it by phone becomes a permanent tax, zero inherent search relevance | Strongest | Products sold on brand recognition rather than search |
| Founder surname | Credibility, personal accountability | Hard to sell on, awkward if a partner leaves, surnames are frequently taken | Weak to moderate | Professional practices, family businesses |
Two practical notes. Other people share your surname and have their own right to trade under it, which limits how aggressively you can police a name built on it. If you go invented, buy the obvious misspelling on day one.
Is a company name the same as a trade mark?
No. A company registration stops another company registering the identical name on the register. It does not stop a competitor trading under that name, bidding on it as a search advert, or registering it as a trade mark and then objecting to your use of it. Trade mark versus company name is the single most expensive misunderstanding in UK company formation.
Three separate sets of rights are in play. The register governs what appears at Companies House. A registered trade mark, under the Trade Marks Act 1994, governs who may use a name for particular goods and services, and will generally provide stronger protection than a company entry alone. Goodwill, built by trading publicly under a name, can support a passing off claim even with nothing registered at all.
A UK trade mark application costs £205 online for the first class and £60 for each additional class. Classes matter more than founders expect. A business that makes a product and also sells it through its own shop usually needs two, and picking one is a common and expensive mistake. Renewal falls due every ten years at £245 for the first class. If budget is tight, file one class covering your core revenue now rather than waiting until you can afford three, because an early filing date is worth more than perfect coverage.
What happens when two businesses end up with similar names?
Where a name was registered to extract money from an established business, or to block it from using its own name, the Company Names Tribunal can order the name changed under sections 69 to 74 of the Companies Act 2006. The test is opportunism rather than simple similarity, and the route is faster and cheaper than court.
The sequence below is a composite drawn from outcomes that recur in published tribunal decisions, with figures taken from awards actually made.
A landscaping company trades under a distinctive name from 2019, builds a reputation across three counties, and never registers a trade mark. In 2024 a former subcontractor incorporates a near identical name with "Patios" added, puts it on a van and starts taking calls meant for the original firm. The original firm sends a warning letter, gets no reply, and files a CNA1 application for £400. The respondent files no defence. The adjudicator orders the name changed within one month, bars the adoption of another offending name, and awards £900 in costs, being the £400 fee plus £500 towards preparing the case, payable by the company and its sole director jointly and severally.
Awards in that range recur throughout published decisions, commonly £800 split as £400 for the fee and £400 for the statement of case. The lesson cuts both ways. If somebody takes a variation of your name, the remedy is affordable. If you pick a name that shadows an established business, budget for giving it up.
How to Pick a Name for Your Business: What Order Should the Checks Go In?
Work cheapest check first, because each step eliminates candidates before you spend money on the next one.
Pre-filing checklist
- Shortlist 30 to 40 names across all five styles, without judging them
- Phone test: say each one aloud and spell it to someone
- Company name search on the register, allowing for the "same as" disregards
- Trade mark search in your likely classes, plus the dominant word alone
- Sensitive word check before you fall in love with anything
- Domain and social handle check
- Five year growth test: second service line, second city, second founder
- Incorporate, then file the trade mark application
Steps one to seven cost nothing but an afternoon. Skipping them is what turns a £20 problem into a five figure one.
What does it cost to rename once you are already trading?
The registrar's fee is trivial. Everything attached to the name is not. Here is the arithmetic for a consultancy that incorporated in June, started trading in July, and received a letter from a trade mark owner in November.
Total: £5,495. The Companies House element is £20, which is 0.4 per cent of the damage.
The rest is the cost of checks that were never run. Doing it properly at the start costs £100 to incorporate, £265 for a trade mark in two classes and about £15 for domains. Under £400, paid once.
What should you do before you file?
Give the name one honest week. Run the register, trade mark, sensitive word, domain and goodwill checks before you tell anyone the shortlist, because enthusiasm from friends is the enemy of a clean legal result. Knowing how to pick a name for your business is really knowing which checks to run and in which order, and the whole sequence costs less than an afternoon of a designer's time.
Name it, register it, protect it, then stop thinking about it and go and sell something.
