Other generators give you a list and leave you to find out
The problem with a name generator is not coming up with names. It is that most of what it gives you cannot be used, and you find out much later.
Every suggestion on this page goes through the actual Companies House rules before you see it: the sensitive words list, the permitted characters, the ending, and the same-as test. So a name that would need a letter to a regulator says so on the list rather than three weeks into an incorporation.
Sensitive words are commoner than you would guess
There are well over a hundred and a lot of them are words a small business reaches for without thinking. Bank. Charity. Institute. Trust. Association. Federation. Society.Anything royal. Every nation name where a connection might be implied.
None of them block a name. Each one means a letter to a named body before Companies House will register it, which is a delay rather than a no, and the delay is what catches people who assumed a name was either fine or not.
Two of your ideas may be the same name
Companies House strips a great deal before comparing: the company type ending, then UK, GB, Great Britain, com, co.uk, org, net, eu, biz, co and company.
So "Naylor Company Limited" and "Naylor & Co Limited"both reduce to naylor. They are the same name. This page collapses those into one rather than padding your list with a choice that is not one, and tells you what it merged.
That is worth knowing about your own shortlist too. Three variations on a theme are frequently one name written three ways.
What it will not do
Tell you whether the name is taken. That needs the live register, it is free on gov.uk, and it takes a minute.
When you check, search loosely. Look for your distinctive word on its own, without your ending and without your UK, because that is what the register is comparing against. Searching for the exact string you typed is how people conclude a name is free when it is not.
Trade in the name, or not
A trade word helps people find you and dates the business the moment you change what you do. Plenty of firms are named after work they gave up ten years ago, which is survivable and slightly awkward every time somebody asks.
A surname or a place travels better through a change of direction. A trade word ranks better when somebody searches for what they need. Neither is wrong. Pick one on purpose.
One small thing on places: a village, a road or a river ages better than a county, because a county name becomes actively misleading the moment you move fifteen miles.
The boring tests decide it
Can somebody spell it after hearing it once on the phone? That single test kills most clever names, and it is the one you will run twenty times a week for the rest of the business.
Does it fit on a van door and still read at forty yards? Is the domain free? Does it still make sense if you double in size, or take on something adjacent?
Clever loses to memorable, and memorable almost always means short and easy to say out loud.
Common questions
Does this check whether the name is available?
No, and nothing running in your browser can. Checking whether a name is taken needs the live Companies House register, which is free on gov.uk and takes a minute per name. What this does is the half nobody checks: whether each name is allowed, whether it contains a sensitive word that needs permission first, and whether two of your own ideas are legally the same name.
Why do some suggestions have a warning on them?
Because they contain a sensitive word. There are well over a hundred and plenty are ordinary: bank, charity, institute, trust, association, federation, anything royal, and every nation name where a connection could be implied. It is not a refusal. It means Companies House will not register the name until you have permission or supporting evidence from a named body, and the list tells you which body.
Two of the names look different but you say they are the same
They are, for registration purposes. Companies House strips the company type ending, plus UK, GB, Great Britain, com, co.uk, org, net, eu, biz, co and company, before comparing. So "Naylor Company Limited" and "Naylor & Co Limited" both reduce to naylor. This page collapses those to one rather than offering you a choice that is not a choice, and tells you what it merged.
Will I get the same names again if I come back?
Yes, as long as you put the same words in. The ordering is seeded rather than random, so a name you liked and navigated away from is still there. "Different order" gives you a new arrangement of the same ideas, and you can keep pressing it without losing anything.
Should I put my trade in the name?
It helps people find you and it dates the business the moment you change what you do. Plenty of firms are called something that describes work they gave up a decade ago, which is survivable and slightly awkward. A surname or a place travels better; a trade word ranks better. There is no right answer, so choose on purpose rather than by accident.
What actually makes a good business name?
The boring tests, mostly. Can somebody spell it after hearing it on the phone. Does it fit on a van door and still read at forty yards. Is the domain free. Does it sound like the thing you want to be in five years. Clever names lose to memorable ones, and memorable usually means short and easy to say out loud.