diff --git a/__tests__/util.test.ts b/__tests__/util.test.ts
index 9ccb68d..fff0d25 100644
--- a/__tests__/util.test.ts
+++ b/__tests__/util.test.ts
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ describe('response merging', () => {
         customResponse: CUSTOM_RESPONSE,
         primaryResponse: GEOCODE_EARTH_RESPONSE
       },
+      true,
       { lat: 47.880281, lon: -122.238459 }
     )
     const mergedFocusedOnSteinerStreet = mergeResponses(
@@ -119,6 +120,7 @@ describe('response merging', () => {
         customResponse: CUSTOM_RESPONSE,
         primaryResponse: GEOCODE_EARTH_RESPONSE
       },
+      true,
       { lat: 37.793899, lon: -122.43634 }
     )
     expect(mergedFocusedOnBusStop).not.toEqual(mergedFocusedOnSteinerStreet)
diff --git a/env.example.yml b/env.example.yml
index 39e5b48..064e0c8 100644
--- a/env.example.yml
+++ b/env.example.yml
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ GEOCODERS: <Stringified JSON Array of OTP-UI `GeocoderConfig`s>
 BACKUP_GEOCODERS: <Stringified JSON Array of OTP-UI `GeocoderConfig`'s. Same length and order as GEOCODERS>
 
 COORDINATE_COMPARISON_PRECISION_DIGITS: defaults to 4 (~10m). What precision to use when comparing if two locations are the same
+CHECK_NAME_DUPLICATES: defaults to true. If disabled, name-based duplicate checking will be disabled. Useful if your GTFS has common words in its stop names
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/handler.ts b/handler.ts
index 100d1b3..02571f7 100644
--- a/handler.ts
+++ b/handler.ts
@@ -24,7 +24,12 @@ import {
 // This plugin must be imported via cjs to ensure its existence (typescript recommendation)
 const BugsnagPluginAwsLambda = require('@bugsnag/plugin-aws-lambda')
 
-const { BACKUP_GEOCODERS, BUGSNAG_NOTIFIER_KEY, GEOCODERS } = process.env
+const {
+  BACKUP_GEOCODERS,
+  BUGSNAG_NOTIFIER_KEY,
+  CHECK_NAME_DUPLICATES,
+  GEOCODERS
+} = process.env
 const POIS = require('./pois.json')
 
 if (!GEOCODERS) {
@@ -128,7 +133,13 @@ export const makeGeocoderRequests = async (
   >(
     (prev, cur, idx) => {
       if (idx === 0) return cur
-      return mergeResponses({ customResponse: cur, primaryResponse: prev })
+      return mergeResponses(
+        { customResponse: cur, primaryResponse: prev },
+        // Default to true
+        CHECK_NAME_DUPLICATES !== 'false'
+        // TODO: use focus point here to pre-sort results? It's possible to grab
+        // the focus point by calling convertQSPToGeocoderArgs on event.queryStringParameters
+      )
     },
     // TODO: clean this reducer up. See https://github.com/ibi-group/pelias-stitch/pull/28#discussion_r1547582739
     { features: [], type: 'FeatureCollection' }
diff --git a/serverless.yml b/serverless.yml
index 08350b4..da11c26 100644
--- a/serverless.yml
+++ b/serverless.yml
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ provider:
     BACKUP_GEOCODERS: ${self:custom.secrets.BACKUP_GEOCODERS}
     BUGSNAG_NOTIFIER_KEY: ${self:custom.secrets.BUGSNAG_NOTIFIER_KEY}
     COORDINATE_COMPARISON_PRECISION_DIGITS: ${self:custom.secrets.COORDINATE_COMPARISON_PRECISION_DIGITS, 4}
+    CHECK_NAME_DUPLICATES: ${self:custom.secrets.CHECK_NAME_DUPLICATES, true}
 package:
   patterns:
     - pois.json
diff --git a/utils.ts b/utils.ts
index d0692bf..f6db7d3 100644
--- a/utils.ts
+++ b/utils.ts
@@ -131,15 +131,17 @@ export const arePointsRoughlyEqual = (
  */
 const filterOutDuplicateStops = (
   feature: Feature,
-  customFeatures: Feature[]
+  customFeatures: Feature[],
+  checkNameDuplicates: boolean
 ): boolean => {
   // If the names are the same, or if the feature is too far away, we can't consider the feature
   if (
     customFeatures.find(
       (otherFeature: Feature) =>
-        (feature?.properties?.name || '')
-          .toLowerCase()
-          .includes((otherFeature?.properties?.name || '').toLowerCase()) ||
+        (checkNameDuplicates &&
+          (feature?.properties?.name || '')
+            .toLowerCase()
+            .includes((otherFeature?.properties?.name || '').toLowerCase())) ||
         // Any feature this far away is likely not worth being considered
         feature?.properties?.distance > 7500
     )
@@ -199,6 +201,7 @@ export const mergeResponses = (
     customResponse: FeatureCollection
     primaryResponse: FeatureCollection
   },
+  checkNameDuplicates = true,
   focusPoint?: LonLatOutput
 ): FeatureCollection => {
   // Openstreetmap can sometimes include bus stop info with less
@@ -206,7 +209,11 @@ export const mergeResponses = (
   // Remove anything from the geocode.earth response that's within 10 meters of a custom result
   responses.primaryResponse.features =
     responses?.primaryResponse?.features?.filter((feature: Feature) =>
-      filterOutDuplicateStops(feature, responses.customResponse.features)
+      filterOutDuplicateStops(
+        feature,
+        responses.customResponse.features,
+        checkNameDuplicates
+      )
     ) || []
 
   // If a focus point is specified, sort custom features by distance to the focus point