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.