Choosing Your Company Name in Portugal: Complete Guide (2025)

We talked about the need to have a name before starting your company… but can it be any name? What rules do you actually need to follow?

Choosing your company name is one of the first and most decisive steps when creating a business in Portugal. Your name needs to reflect your identity, comply with legal standards, and avoid confusion with existing companies or registered trademarks.

And before anything else, the process starts with one essential question:

Do you already have a name in mind… or not yet?

Your answer determines which path you should follow.

1. If you already have a name you want to use

Great! But before falling in love with it, let’s make sure it’s actually legally available.

1.1. Confusability Test

When you already have a name in mind, one of the most important steps is running the Confusability Test on the Portuguese Government’s official online portal.

This tool helps you check how similar your proposed company name is to names already registered in the National Register of Legal Entities (Registo Nacional de Pessoas Colectivas).

After typing the name you want in the search bar here, the search results display a similarity score between your proposed name and existing names:

• If the similarity score is below 85%, the name may be viable.

• If the score is 85% or higher, there is a high chance of confusion with an existing entity.

  
  

But please note that this search is purely informative: even if the system shows a similarity below 85%, this:

• does NOT guarantee approval, and

• does NOT replace the formal admissibility check carried out by registry officials.

  
  

It serves only as an orientation tool: the final decision is made during the official admissibility analysis.

1.2. Certificate of Admissibility

If your name appears viable, the next step is requesting the Certificate of Admissibility, which:

• officially approves your name,

• reserves it under your ownership,

• enables you to proceed with incorporation.

  
  

This certificate is mandatory when creating a custom business name and, if approved, will already give you a NIPC to start your incorporation process online.

2. If you don’t have a name yet

No problem, it won't stop you from continuing: Portugal offers alternatives that make the process much faster.

2.1. Government Pre-Approved Name List

You can choose a name directly from the Government’s pre-approved list, which is:

• legally validated

• instantly available

• ideal for fast incorporation

This is the quickest option and avoids naming conflicts. You can check the pre-approved names here.

2.2. Automatic Approval (using the shareholders’ names)

If you prefer a simple, legally safe option, you can choose a name based on the shareholders’ names.

How it works:

• For companies with two or more shareholders, the name must include their names or surnames.

• For single-member companies, the name must include the full name or surnames of the sole shareholder.

• Approval is automatic and requires no certificate.

This is practical, professional, and fast.

3. Ok, so… what makes a good company name?

Choosing the name isn’t just a legal formality, it’s also a strategic business decision.

• You can use:

  • Invented words (if pronounceable)

  • Foreign terms

  • Acronyms or initials

  • Words related to your business activity

• What you cannot use

  • Offensive or illegal terms

  • Names identical or confusingly similar to existing companies

  • Protected expressions (e.g., “Portugal”, public entities)

  • Names that mislead consumers

  • Registered trademarks unless you own them

In Conclusion

In Portugal, you have three main paths to naming your company:

• create your own name (with a Certificate of Admissibility)

• choose a government pre-approved name

• use automatic approval based on shareholders’ names

With Empresa Online 2.0, the process is simpler than ever but choosing the right name still requires care, strategy, and compliance.

If you go

t to this point, you have now probably decided the path to chose and the name to go. So what comes next? Let's meet again so we can tell you more about it!