Companies House Naming Rules

The exact rules for what Companies House will and will not accept.

Trademark Lens Team

Companies House rejects 35% of name applications. Most failures come from founders who didn't read the prohibited words list first.

Prohibited Words

"Royal," "British," "Police," "Government" require approval or are banned outright.

Sensitive Words

"Bank," "Insurance," "Charity," "University" need regulatory approval (2-3 months).

Same-Name Rule

Can't register if identical to existing active company. "TechHub Ltd" vs "TechHub Limited" = identical.

Confusingly Similar

Companies House blocks names "too similar" to existing ones. No clear definition - they decide case-by-case.

Punctuation Ignored

"Tech-Hub," "Tech.Hub," "TechHub" are treated identically.

Check Variations

Use Trademark Lens to test morphological variations automatically.

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