The name of a company plays a monumental role in a brand's growth and perception, meaning it can completely make or break a company. It is the first thing that is registered in your consumer’s minds and that establishes a brand reputation in the long run. To help you choose the right name for your Singapore company, here is a guide that will not only help you in understanding the role of a company name in Singapore but it also lists the step-by-step procedure you can use to find a great name for your company’s brand positioning.

Importance of Singapore company names

In Singapore, getting the approval of your company name is a prerequisite before you can start your Singapore company registration. This means that the process of company incorporation in Singapore begins only if the name is approved and reserved. If the name that you have selected is found to be a duplicate or disqualified, then the company incorporation process will be stopped.

According to Section 27 (1) of the Companies Act, except with the consent of the Minister, a company shall not be registered by a name if it fulfills either one of the following points:

• is undesirable
• is identical to that of any other company, limited liability partnership or corporation, or to a business name; or
• is a name of a kind that the Minister has directed the Registrar not to accept for registration.

How do you choose a suitable company name then?

Pointers for choosing the right Singapore company name

To help you in choosing the right name for your company, here are some points that you must bear in mind while you are in the process of brainstorming your company’s names:

• Make sure that your proposed company name is not obscene or includes religious connotations.
• Make sure that the proposed company name is not identical to any registered name of a company, corporation, business, partnership, limited liability partnership
• Make sure that the proposed name is not identical to any reserved name as per the Business Registration Act 2014, Limited Liability Partnership Act or Limited Partnership Act
• If the name has certain words like “bank”, “insurance”, “university” and “education”, it could be subjected to control and regulation by the government authorities and will require permission before you can proceed to set up a company in Singapore.

For private companies in Singapore, the company names will be subjected to section 29 of the Companies Act which states:

1. A private company shall have the word “Private” or “Sendirian” as part of its name, inserted immediately before the word “Limited” or “Berhad” or, in the case of an unlimited company, at the end of its name.

Usage of abbreviations like “Pte.” instead of “Private” or “Sdn.” in place of “Sendirian” as part of the company’s name are allowed by law as well.

2. “” has the same meaning as “and” therefore when comparing names the words “” and “and” shall be considered to be the same.

How to check for your company name’s availability

As there are several laws, guidelines and rules that govern which Singapore company name can be approved, there are things you can do to check the availability of respective name before filing the application for approval:
1. Do some research by typing the name that you want and see if such a company name already exists. Eg. If the proposed name is “PC Trading”, possible ways of checking can be the use of variations during your search: PC, P C, P.C, P and C, etc
2. Search for similar company names, but in different sequence. For example if the proposed company name is marketing express, also search for express marketing
3. Search for names with similar pronunciations/phonetic sounds and see if it conflicts with your proposed name, Pi See, or Pi Ci for instance. 
4. Search names having nearby words such as PC transport and PC transportation search for names having similar words such as  PC Traders or PC Trade, just to name a few.

Getting your name checked by experts

As there are so many names that already exist, your search for a new company name may be subjected to various guidelines and rules in place and put through a rigorous process of application and approval.

This is where Precursor comes in to help, offering free name availability service where you not only get to know whether your company name can be approved by ACRA, but also receive consultancy about choosing alternate names, thereby making it easier for you to incorporate a company in Singapore efficiently. All that you need to do is to tell us your proposed company name and our experts will be in action to provide all the support that you need.

Interested?

Get in touch right now!

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