Methods and apparatus are described for electronic design automation (EDA) that effects the identification, and possibly removal, of certain duplicate circuit components. A signature value representing a circuit component is used to help identify potential duplicates. A signature table stores information about one or more components that share a corresponding signature value. The table is populated during the course of processing the design for duplicate extraction. As each component in the design is encountered, a signature for the component is determined and used to access the signature table information. The current component is compared to any component found by using the signature table and a circuit design modification is indicated to consolidate the components if they are duplicative. The signature table is maintained to reflect the most recent component encountered for a given signature.