About LLC Name Search

Why this site exists

Most LLC filings that bounce do so over the name: a missing "LLC", a restricted word, or a name the state considers the same as one it already has. Each of those is easy to spot before filing, if you know the state's rules and search its register the way its filing office does. This site gathers those rules for every state and DC and turns them into a quick check.

What the check does

The LLC name check runs in your browser, with one lookup on our server:

1. It looks for an accepted LLC ending and tells you if the name needs one.
2. It reduces the name to the core a state compares, without the ending, "the", punctuation and spacing. Where a state counts the ending or "the", as Colorado does, the core keeps them.
3. It flags words that usually need approval from another agency.
4. In Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Iowa, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Virginia, it searches our copy of the state's register and shows the registered names that share your words.
5. It links the official business search for the state you pick, with tips for that search.
6. It asks public DNS whether the .com, .net and .co domains for the name exist.

Your LLC name reaches our server only for that register search, and it isn't saved. For Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, New Jersey and North Dakota, the server runs the search on the state's own site at that moment rather than on a copy. The domain lookups go from your browser to Cloudflare's public DNS service.

Registered names from the states' open data

Those ten states publish their business registers as open data or free data files, and the check searches our copy of each (18.0 million names):

• Alaska: “Corporations database download” from the Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing. Every entity currently on the Alaska Division of Corporations' records, with assumed names, name registrations and reservations.
• Colorado: “Business Entities in Colorado” from the Colorado Department of State. Every business entity registered with the Colorado Department of State since 1864, in good standing or not.
• Connecticut: “Connecticut Business Registry - Business Master” from the Connecticut Secretary of the State. The Connecticut Business Registry, active or not, with name reservations.
• DC: “Corporate Registration” from the DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Corporations Division. Every business entity on DC's corporate register, active or not.
• Iowa: “Active Iowa Business Entities” from the Iowa Secretary of State. Every business entity active on the Iowa Secretary of State's records (inactive ones aren't in it).
• New York: “Active Corporations: Beginning 1800” from the New York Department of State. Every active corporation, LLC and other entity on New York's register (inactive ones aren't in it).
• Oregon: “Active Businesses - ALL” from the Oregon Secretary of State, Corporation Division. Every active business on Oregon's registry, assumed business names included (inactive ones aren't in it).
• Pennsylvania: “Registered Businesses in PA Current by County Department of State” from the Pennsylvania Department of State. Every business registration the Pennsylvania Department of State lists as active. By the department's own note, that includes some businesses no longer operating, which the law doesn't let it remove.
• Texas: “Active Franchise Taxpayers” from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. The Comptroller's list of active franchise taxpayers that hold a Texas Secretary of State filing number. It covers most LLCs, corporations and limited partnerships, but it isn't the Secretary of State's own register.
• Virginia: “Business entity data file” from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, Clerk's Office. Every corporation, LLC, limited partnership, general partnership and business trust on Virginia's records, active or inactive.

Each result names its source and the date the state last refreshed it. We copy the name, type, status, record number and filing date only, so no member, manager or agent details. Expect the copy to trail the state by a few days, and remember that a filing office can also object to names that merely sound alike. Before you pay a filing fee, confirm on the official search.

Where each state's facts come from

State pages are built from one data file in which every fact carries the official page it came from and the date it was checked: the filing office's own site, its fee schedule or the state's LLC statute. We don't copy facts from other lookup sites. When a state changes a fee or moves its search, the data file and every page that shows it change together. Facts that no official page confirms are marked as unconfirmed rather than guessed.

Who uses it

Most visitors are about to form their first LLC and want the name settled before they pay the filing fee. Others are adding an LLC in a second state, renaming an existing company, or checking a name for a client. The check is the same for all of them: it shows what the state will look at, and where to confirm it.

How the state pages are organized

Every state page uses the same order: the filing office and its official search, the accepted LLC endings, restricted words, the distinguishability rule, name reservation, and the cost of filing and keeping an LLC. Comparing two states is a matter of opening both pages side by side. Fees and links carry the date they were last checked, so you can see how current each fact is.

Limits

• A name passing the check isn't a promise the state will accept it. The filing office decides when it reviews your articles of organization.
• State rules and fees change. Confirm on the official page before you pay.
• Nothing here is legal advice. For a name dispute or a trademark question, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state.

What the site is not

It isn't a government site and isn't connected with any state office. It doesn't file articles of organization, hold names, or sell personal information. State records list people as members, managers and registered agents; this site doesn't republish those details, and its register copies hold none of them.

Paying for the site

The site is free. Guide pages may carry ads, and some pages may link to formation or domain services that pay a referral fee. Those links are marked, and they never affect the check's results or the official sources we list.

Corrections

Spotted an outdated rule or fee? Email hello@llcna.me with the page and, if you can, the official source. We confirm every report against the state's own page before changing it.