Free company name check for UK companies and LLPs

Want to check if a company name is available? Enter the name you have in mind in Coddan’s free company name checker above. Choose the intended entity type where the form asks for it, review the result and try more than one idea before deciding which name to put on an application. The check is free and you do not need to buy a formation package to explore a name.

A search is useful because it brings an obvious conflict to your attention early. It is not an advance decision from Companies House. The registrar considers the proposed name, the type of entity, any supporting evidence and the application submitted. A name that appears clear in a preliminary search can still require further work or be refused. Equally, a similar result may call for closer examination rather than an automatic conclusion that every possible variation is prohibited.

This guide explains how to use a UK company name search, what a company name availability result can and cannot tell you, and how to move from a promising name to the appropriate registration route. It covers companies limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee, charitable companies, community interest companies, LLPs and the important differences for partnerships and registered societies.

How to use the free company name checker

1. Decide what you are registering. A private limited company, a company limited by guarantee and an LLP are different legal forms. The ending and the application route depend on that choice.
2. Enter the proposed name. Start with the main words you want customers and members to recognise. Where the checker asks for an entity type or ending, choose the option that matches the intended registration.
3. Review the result and close matches. Look beyond a single exact spelling. Consider words placed in a different order, punctuation, small spelling changes and names that sound or look close to yours.
4. Check the naming rules. A name may raise questions about sensitive wording, an official connection, a protected expression or its required ending even when a preliminary search finds no exact match.
5. Check rights outside the companies register. If you will use the name publicly, search relevant UK trade marks and other businesses in your market. A Companies House search does not do this work for you.
6. Apply through the correct route. Incorporation, registration of a limited partnership and changing the registered name of an existing organisation are separate procedures.

The free company name check does not place an order. An application to incorporate or change a registered name is a separate service. Any Coddan service fee, official fee, options and taxes should be checked against the current order page or a written quotation for the work you select. You can also compare a proposed name using the official Companies House name availability checker.

What does a company name availability result mean?

Companies House company name rules beyond the free check

The rules are more than an exact-match test. Before you settle on a name, consider the following points in the context of the entity you are forming.

Practical approach: make the name distinctive in substance, use the correct legal ending, check any restricted words early and leave time for supporting evidence if your name is unusual.

Choose the right legal form before you finalise the name

A company name checker can help with several Companies House routes, but it does not turn those routes into the same type of organisation. The structure affects the name ending, documents, governance and subsequent filings.

England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland

Companies House is the UK registrar for companies and LLPs, but the incorporation application identifies a registered jurisdiction. England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are not interchangeable registered-office locations. The company or LLP needs an appropriate registered office in its jurisdiction, and a later change of address does not simply transfer an existing entity from one UK jurisdiction to another.

A preliminary name search is therefore only one decision in the formation process. Decide the legal form, the jurisdiction, the registered office and the people or corporate bodies involved before submitting the final application. A client living abroad can also form a UK entity where the requirements are met, but overseas residence does not remove UK naming, address, identity or filing requirements. If you are based outside the UK, review Coddan’s overseas-client company formation information or contact us about the intended structure.

References on this page to the UK register do not include the Republic of Ireland. A company incorporated there has a separate registrar and naming process.

Company name search, trading name, domain and trade mark: four different checks

A business may use its registered company or LLP name in contracts and filings and a different trading name in its public marketing. A domain name identifies an internet address. A trade mark can protect a brand for particular goods or services. None of these checks replaces the others.

A practical checklist before you commit to a name

• Easy to recognise: Can a customer, member or funder identify and spell it after hearing it once?
• Distinctive: Does it stand apart from businesses already active in the same field, rather than relying on a small addition to a familiar name?
• Accurate: Does it describe or suggest your activity without claiming an official role, protected status or qualification you do not hold?
• Suitable ending: Does it use the correct company, CIC or LLP ending, or is a properly supported exemption being sought?
• Suitable structure: Have you chosen between a share company, CLG, CIC, LLP, LP, registered society or another form before selecting the final version?
• Future use: Will the name still make sense if the organisation expands its work, location or membership?
• Other rights: Have you considered relevant trade marks and existing market use rather than relying only on Companies House?
• Practical identity: If important to you, have you checked a suitable domain and how the name will appear on documents and signs?

Try several genuine alternatives. A distinctive second choice is often more useful than many versions of a name that is already close to an established organisation.

From a promising search to a registered organisation

Coddan can help with the formation route and available connected services, including a registered office or service address where selected and appropriate. What is included depends on the package or separate service agreed. We can identify an unusual name for closer review and explain the evidence or further steps that appear necessary; Companies House and any other regulator make their own decisions. Contact Coddan if the name contains a sensitive word, an apparent conflict or a special legal ending.

For an existing CLG, see Coddan’s CLG name-change and corporate amendments service. If the change affects charitable status, the objects or a protected expression, establish the appropriate charity-regulator and constitutional steps as well.

How Coddan can help after the free check

The free search lets you explore possible names without buying a formation package. When you are ready, Coddan can help you select the correct available formation or name-change service and identify any naming issue that needs more than an automated response. That may include a sensitive expression, a CLG exemption question, a charitable-company name, a CIC ending, an LLP name or a case involving an existing company.

Tell us the proposed name, legal form, registration jurisdiction and whether this is a new entity or a change to an existing one. If you found a similar company or trade mark, include its details. We can explain the administrative route and the scope of any Coddan work before you order. Where the issue requires a legal opinion on competing rights, a dispute or specialist charity or trade mark advice, that should be considered separately.

Coddan serves UK and overseas clients for appropriate UK formations. The same Companies House decision-making applies regardless of the client’s residence. We do not promise that a searched name will be approved, that a trade mark is clear or that an application will be completed within a fixed number of hours.

Explore limited company formationExplore CLG formationExplore LLP formationSpeak to Coddan

Free company name check: practical questions and answers

Ready to take the next step?

Run the free company name check above. If your preferred name looks promising, decide the legal form and check the points that the search cannot settle. You can then choose a Coddan formation service or ask us about a complex name or an existing-entity change. We will confirm the work and current price for the route you select before proceeding.

Contact Coddan about your proposed name