How to Choose a Business Name (and Check It's Available)

Choosing a business name comes down to two jobs: pick something people can say, spell and remember, then confirm nobody else already has it on the ASIC business name register, ABN Lookup, IP Australia's trade mark search and as a .com.au domain. Most people spend weeks on the first job and never do the second, which is how you end up with signage for a name you can't legally keep. Here's how to do both in an afternoon.

Why it feels harder than it should

"How hard can deciding a business name be?" is usually asked by someone three weeks into it. The name feels permanent, everyone has an opinion, and every good idea seems taken. Two things make it easier. The name matters less than you think — customers hire the plumber who turned up, not the one with the cleverest pun. And availability decides most of it for you: run the checks below and a shortlist of ten usually collapses to two or three. Give yourself a week, then decide.

What a good name has to do

A name works when a stranger can hear it once, find you online, and tell someone else about you. That gives you three tests.

The radio test

Say the name out loud to someone who hasn't seen it written. If they can type it into Google correctly first go, it passes. Names fail when they rely on deliberate misspellings (Kwik Kleen), numbers that could be digits or words, or homophones (Wright, Right, Write). Every failed search is a customer on a competitor's site.

The search test

Search is where a descriptive word earns its keep. "Northside Plumbing" tells Google and the customer what you do and roughly where; "Aquila" tells them nothing until you've spent years building the brand. For a local trade or service business, a name that includes what you do is a genuine advantage in Google Maps and local results — local SEO for small business explains how names, categories and reviews work together. The trade-off is that purely descriptive names are almost impossible to trade mark and easy for competitors to sit right next to.

The sweet spot for most small businesses is one distinctive word plus one descriptive word: "Ironbark Bookkeeping", "Tidewater Electrical". You get the search signal and something you can own.

The word-of-mouth test

Referrals travel by voice. Short names travel better — two or three syllables per word, two words at most. If the name needs an explanation ("it's my kids' initials backwards"), it won't survive the trip from one customer to the next.

Where business name ideas come from

Staring at a blank page produces nothing. Work through these patterns instead. Twenty minutes should give you 30 ideas, which is what you want before the availability checks cut the list down.

Pattern	Shape	Good for	Watch out for
Descriptive	[What you do] + [where or who]	Trades, local services, anything found via Maps	Generic, hard to protect, boxed into one suburb
Founder's name	[Surname] + [trade]	Professional services, reputation-based trades	Harder to sell later
Place or landmark	[Local feature] + [trade]	Community businesses, hospitality	Boxes you in if you expand
Evocative	Real word with a feeling (Ironbark, Harbour, Compass)	Consulting, creative, products	Popular words are heavily registered
Invented	Coined or blended word	Online products, brands you'll trade mark	Fails the radio test if too clever

Write every idea down, including the bad ones — they spark good ones. Then cull anything that fails the radio test before you check availability. There's no point checking a name you'd never use.

The four availability checks

Do these in order on every name that survives the cull. Each is free and takes under ten minutes.

1. ASIC business name register

Use the "Check business name availability" search on ASIC Connect. It tells you whether ASIC would register the name. You can't register one that is identical or nearly identical to an existing business name, a company name, a pending application, a government body's name, or a name cancelled in the last 4 to 6 months (the exact window depends on whether the holder or ASIC cancelled it).

"Nearly identical" is broader than people expect. When comparing names, ASIC ignores:

• "the", "a" and "an"
• singular versus plural ("Child Garden" and "Children Gardens" are the same name)
• letter case, spaces, punctuation and fonts
• word order, "www" and ".com", and words that sound the same or mean the same thing, when comparing against other business names
• Pty, Ltd, Co, Inc, Corp, Aust and "&" versus "and", when comparing against company names

So if "Quick Clean Services" is registered, "Kwik Klean Service" won't get through. The search either clears the name or flags it as identical or nearly identical to something already on the register; treat anything short of a clear yes as a no unless you're prepared to argue.

What this check doesn't tell you: whether someone owns a trade mark over the name, or whether a similar (rather than identical) name is trading in your area. ASIC is explicit that registering a business name doesn't stop others using similar words and doesn't protect you if you use someone else's trade mark.

2. ABN Lookup

ABN Lookup (abr.business.gov.au) lets you search by name and shows every entity and business name attached to an ABN, including cancelled ones. Use it to see who is behind a match — a sole trader in Perth with a cancelled ABN is a different problem from a national company using the same words. It also catches companies, trusts and partnerships trading under their legal entity name without a separate business name. If you don't have your own ABN yet, registering an ABN is free, and ASIC needs it before it will register the name.

3. IP Australia trade mark search

This is the check most people skip, and the one that can force a rename years later. A registered business name gives you no ownership of the words. A registered trade mark does, and a trade mark owner can make you stop using a name that's deceptively similar to theirs for similar goods or services — even though ASIC happily registered it.

Use Australian Trade Mark Search (search.ipaustralia.gov.au). Search the whole name, then each distinctive word on its own, and try spelling variants and plurals, because word searches are literal. Look at the class of goods or services each mark covers: a "Compass" trade mark for wine doesn't stop "Compass Bookkeeping", but a "Compass" mark for accounting services does. Both "registered" and "pending" marks matter.

At this stage you're only clearing the name, not registering it. If the search comes back clean and the name is one you'd hate to lose, our guide to trade marking your business name covers what it costs and how long it takes. Worth knowing before you shortlist: descriptive names like "Sydney Plumbing" generally can't be trade marked at all — the flip side of the search advantage they give you.

4. Domain name and social handles

Check yourname.com.au at any Australian registrar, and the shorter yourname.au if you want it too. To hold a .com.au you need an Australian presence — an ABN, ACN, ARBN or an Australian trade mark — and the domain has to match your business name, an acronym of it, your trade mark, or something you actually sell, do or run.

If the exact .com.au is taken by an active business, the name is usually taken in the market even if ASIC would register it. If it's parked by a domain investor, adding your trade (ironbarkbookkeeping.com.au) usually works and is better for search anyway. While you're there, check the social platforms your customers use; you don't need every handle, but you don't want a competitor holding the obvious one.

None of the four checks finds an unregistered business that has traded under the name for years. A plain Google search plus a scan of Google Maps in your area fills that gap — do it last, on your final two or three.

Names ASIC won't accept regardless

Even an available name can be refused. Restricted words need consent first: "trust", "trustee", "incorporated", "charitable" and "police" need ASIC's consent; "Anzac", "Red Cross" and "University" need a minister's; "bank", "banking", "building society" and "credit union" need APRA's. ASIC also refuses names that falsely suggest a connection to government, the Royal Family or ex-service organisations, and names likely to offend. Only English letters, numbers and limited punctuation are allowed — no accented characters, so "Cafe Solé" becomes "Cafe Sole".

You can't include "Pty Ltd" or "Ltd" unless you actually are that kind of company. A company registers its company name with ASIC and only needs a separate business name if it trades under something different. If that decision isn't settled, the business structure guide covers sole trader versus company versus trust.

Common traps

Too generic. "Melbourne Cleaning Services" is easy to find in search and impossible to own. A competitor can register "Melbourne Cleaning Service Co" tomorrow, you'll never trade mark it, and customers won't remember which one you were.

Hard to spell. Every creative spelling is a tax on referrals. If you have to spell the name every time you answer the phone, change it.

Boxed into one service or suburb. "Northcote Tap Repairs" is perfect until you move to Preston and start installing hot water systems. Name the business you'll have in three years — the broader trade word, a region rather than a suburb.

Skipping the trade mark search. ASIC said yes, so you assumed you were fine. Six months later a trade mark owner's letter arrives, and the rebrand costs more than every other setup expense combined.

Trading before registering. Carrying on business under an unregistered business name is a strict liability offence under the Business Names Registration Act 2011, with a maximum penalty of 30 penalty units — $10,920 at the $364 penalty unit that applies from 1 July 2026. The exception is trading under your own name, or all the partners' names in a partnership. Register first, then order the signage.

Falling in love with one name. Take three candidates through all four checks. If your only candidate fails, you start again under pressure.

Making the final call

Put your survivors side by side and score each from 1 to 5 on five points: passes the radio test, says or hints at what you do, has room to grow, .com.au is available, trade mark search is clear. Pick the highest score and stop. Then register the ABN if you haven't, register the business name with ASIC — $47 for one year or $108 for three (as at September 2026) — buy the domain the same day, and put the renewal date in your calendar.

Key takeaways

• A good business name passes three tests: a stranger can spell it after hearing it, it helps people find you in search, and it's short enough to travel by word of mouth.
• Generate 30 ideas, cull the ones that fail the radio test, then run all four checks — ASIC register, ABN Lookup, IP Australia trade mark search, .com.au — on at least three candidates.
• Registering a business name doesn't give you ownership of the words. Only a trade mark does, and a trade mark owner can force a rename even after ASIC registers you.
• Avoid names that are generic, hard to spell, or tied to one suburb or service you'll outgrow.
• Register before you trade: using an unregistered business name is an offence unless the name is simply your own.

Where to get help

• ASIC — check name availability, rules for acceptable names, restricted words and registration: asic.gov.au
• ABN Lookup — search entity and business names: abr.business.gov.au
• IP Australia — Australian Trade Mark Search, TM Headstart and the current fee schedule: ipaustralia.gov.au
• auDA — .au domain eligibility and allocation rules: auda.org.au
• Your accountant or lawyer — worth a short conversation if you're choosing between a company and a sole trader structure, or if the trade mark search turns up anything close to your name.