Choosing a Company Name

Company names in Ireland must be pre-approved for availability and acceptability.

The Companies Registration Office (CRO) has an advanced electronic name reservation system. A company name can be refused if:

• It is identical to or too similar in style to a name already appearing on the register of companies
• It is offensive
• It would suggest state sponsorship
• It is generally recommended that company names include extra words so as to create a sufficient distinction between names
• Certain words and their abbreviations, together with accents and punctuation marks, are not sufficient to distinguish between company names
• Place names are not considered to be a sufficient distinction between company names e.g. Ireland, Dublin
• Similar descriptive elements e.g. staff/employment agency, or the inclusion of only a general or weak qualification such as holding, group, systems, services, solutions, enterprises, international, etc. may not be regarded as a sufficient distinction between company names
• Names which are phonetically and/or visually similar will be refused. This includes names where there is a slight variation in the spelling and the variation does not make a significant difference between the names
• A number on its own will not be accepted as a sufficient distinguishing mark, unless the company concerned is part of the same group and a letter of association is provided
• If a name includes words which imply specific functions e.g. holding, group, further information may be required by the CRO to support the application
• Names containing certain words cannot be used unless approved by relevant bodies. These include the words bank, banc, banking, banker, insurance, re-insurance and assurance, society, co-op or co-operative, university, institute of technology, regional technical college

Namechecking Service

Please use our free name checking service to check the availability of your proposed company name.