How important are company names? According to experts, very.

Analysing data pulled from Companies House, researchers at Premier BusinessCare have pin-pointed many of the trends and long-held naming traditions used by British businesses. From buzzwords, to borrowing brand equity, Premier BusinessCare have found some interesting statistics.

The findings confirm that several companies borrow brand capital from prestige regions. 6,539 UK businesses were seen to be using Oxford and Cambridge in their company names – most likely due to the regions’ status and heritage.

When looking at first name mentions, 8,090 businesses are named John, being the most popular name in the UK. This followed by James with 7,680 businesses. Controversially, “Rose” is the only female name to feature on the top 15 first names with 3,392.

When looking at Sons Vs Daughters into the company name, a staggering 16,859 include the words ‘Son’ or ‘Sons’ In contrast, only 320 names include the word ‘Daughter’.

Delving into other territories, green (11,722) blue (8,503) and red (6,876) are the most popular colours used in company names. With fish (3,069) being the most popular animal followed by fox (2,093) dog (1,801) and eagle (1,350.)

In terms of length, over half of business names in the UK are between 17-27 characters in length, with the average company names being 22 characters long.

A spokesperson for Premierline Business Care told us: “Deciding on a business name is often seen as an exciting prospect for business owners. It is important that when picking a name, startups ensure it resonates with the real world.”

Take a look at the infographic below to see the most common trends in UK business names.