Companies House says "too similar" without defining it. After analyzing 500 rejections, we found the 4 patterns that trigger automatic blocks, even when names look completely different.
Pattern 1: Phonetic Similarity
"Night" and "Knight" sound identical. Companies House rejects based on pronunciation, not spelling.
Pattern 2: Morphological Variations
"TechHub" exists? They'll reject "TechHubs," "Tech-Hub," "Tech Hub Ltd." Plurals, hyphens, suffixes all count as too similar.
The Legal Suffix Trap
"Smith Consulting Ltd" vs "Smith Consulting Limited" - same name. Legal suffixes (Ltd, Limited, LLP) are ignored in similarity checks.
Pattern 3: Word Order
"Digital Marketing Solutions" vs "Marketing Digital Solutions" - likely rejection. Reordering doesn't create distinctiveness.
Pattern 4: Generic Additions
Adding "UK," "London," "Group," or "Services" doesn't differentiate. "ABC Ltd" vs "ABC London Ltd" - too similar.
Warning: Companies House has 5-10 business day review periods. Don't order business cards, print materials, or domain hosting until name is approved.
Generic Names Can't Be Trademarked
If you want legal protection and a name competitors can't copy, make it distinctive from day one. Similarity rules are tighter for distinctive names.