How to choose a Perfect Company name

A company name is more than just a label of your business, it is the soul of the company that creates the first impression on your business investors and clients. A good company name could give you many business opportunities as it plays an majestic role in corporate branding and perceptions. Your company name could be witty, funny or precise, but it cannot be offensive and contrary to the public’s interest. To come up with a brilliant name, you may want to take notes of the following tips that help to boost up your company image. 

1. Using multisyllabic words

Human brains tend to retrieve new information with our visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop. When we encounter a new word, we would subconsciously read the word in mind, the processing of a new word may last for a few seconds and be stored in our working memory. To create an impressive company name, try to use multisyllabic words that could stay longer in the reader’s brain thus creating profound and lasting impressions. For example, words like ‘Diligence’, ‘Super’ and ‘Momentum’. The longer the word stays in our mind, the easier to retrieve the word from our memory. When the customers are in need of your goods or service, the first thing that pops up to their mind would be your company name. 

2. Avoid using common adjectives

We understand that positive adjectives are the good source of naming your company. However, since most of the companies use these positive adjectives, if you wish to outdo your competitors with similar names, you should name your company with a peculiar and distinctive name to avoid confusion. For example, you may use ‘Vigorous’ instead of ‘Healthy’; ‘Homelike’ instead of ‘Comfortable’.

3. Try to think of a witty and catchy phrase for your company name

In order to draw attention, try to come up with a witty and catchy name that suits your services and goods of your business. You can have a pair of rhymes, an irony or an alliteration.  For example, you can start with a pair of rhyming words like ‘Glory Flory’ for your florist business, a witty irony ‘Hygienes Muds’ for your cleaning company, or an alliteration ‘Wonderful World Wayfarer’ for your travel agency business. 

Once you have an intended name ready for company registration, you should conduct a name search on Companies Registry Cyber Search Centre. The Search Centre enables you to search company’s particular and download the filed forms and documents on the current data maintained with and kept by the Companies Registry. The Registrar of Companies would only accept names that are not identical to the name list of current registered companies.  

Choose ‘Unregistered User’. 

You will be directed to the login page of the search centre, then enter the verification code accordingly and tick the correct statement as to the purpose of conducting search(es). Click ‘Accept, Submit & Login” for the next step. 

When you have entered the main page, click ‘Company Name’ under the menu bar ‘Search’. Then choose ‘Exact Name Search’ for search mode. It is very important to choose ‘exact name search’ instead of ‘Left Partial Search’. ‘Left Partial’ could not manage to sort out all possible matches of names kept in the record of Companies Registry. The difference will be explained later.. Subsequently, insert your intended company name and click ‘Search’. 

As shown in the name search result, there  is a company named L.D. COMPANY LIMITED currently active. Hence, if you apply your company with the intended name “LD Limited”, your application will be rejected by the Hong Kong Companies Registry. If you would like to include the search for the names of the dissolved companies, you may choose ‘Left Partial Search’ in the search mode. Otherwise, you should always stick to ‘Exact name search’. 

After you have conducted your name search, if the name has not been registered by current companies, you are ready to use the name for your company. Make sure that the company name should be ended with ‘Limited’ for English name and ‘有限公司’ for Chinese name. If you wish to find out more about choosing a name in the Hong Kong government system, or having difficulties completing the name search, we would be happy to help you on the above matter, please feel free to contact us at info@getstarted.hk. Thanks for reading.