How the name check works
One run queries 20 public sources and returns a verdict
One run makes about 31 queries at 20 public sources. It checks domains, company registers, handles and, for software, registries. An AI review of sound adds hints.
- queries per run
- 31
- public sources
- 20
Name check sources
Every finding shows where it comes from
Each finding carries its source, the time it was retrieved and a link to the record. You can click through and see it yourself.
What a source does not say clearly is shown as 'open', with a link. 'Open' is never guessed.
The check searches Companies House (UK, using its published rules on 'same as' names and sensitive words), GLEIF, SEC EDGAR and Wikidata, where a name counts as already known.
A go says only what the public sources showed at the time of the check. Open stays open.
Go, caution, stop verdict
Code calculates the verdict, not an AI model
The verdict (go, caution or stop) is calculated by code from the findings. No AI model decides it.
A stop comes only from a blocker. Today the only blocker is an active UK company with the same name under Companies House's 'same as' rules. Whoever does not need a UK company reads the finding as a hint.
An AI review covers pronunciation, a radio test (how people spell the name when they only hear it) and meanings in the languages of the markets. It only ever gives hints, never a blocker.
Limits
What the check does not cover
The check is a review of public sources, not legal advice. A green result is not a licence.
The check does not search trademarks. The report links to USPTO, TMview and UK IPO. You check trademarks yourself or have a lawyer check them before you file or launch.
Bluesky and GitHub handles are checked. X, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and other networks appear only as links with the name prefilled, because their terms forbid automated queries.
The report states what it did not check. Every finding it does give carries its source, retrieval time and a link to the record.
Your data
What happens to your name after you type it in
Your name is sent to the public sources and kept for 24 hours. The check's own logs hold no names or IP addresses.
What happens to the name I enter?
The check sends it to the public sources it queries: domain registries, DNS, Companies House, GLEIF, SEC EDGAR, Wikidata, Bluesky, GitHub, npm, PyPI, crates.io, RubyGems, Docker Hub and the Apple App Store. For the language check it also goes via OpenRouter to an AI model from Anthropic.
How long is it kept?
Names and results are kept in a cache for 24 hours only. The check's own logs contain neither IP addresses nor names. The limit on requests per IP runs in working memory only.
Is the name stored anywhere else?
The web server writes access logs with the IP address and the requested address, kept for 14 days. For a report the checked name is part of the address (/check/?name=…), so it is also in this log.
Operator
soft-evolution runs testname from its own server
testname is run by soft-evolution GmbH & Co. KG, Albert-Einstein-Str. 1, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany.
The website and the check run on the operator's own server at IONOS in Germany. The website sets no cookies and loads nothing from other domains. There is no account and no tracking by third parties.
testname earns nothing from registrars: no affiliate links, no commissions, no partner agreements. The links in the report lead to the registries and registers themselves. Should this ever change, such links will be labelled.
Run the check on your name
Enter a name for a company, a product or a brand. You get a report with sources, retrieval times and links.