Missouri LLC name search

What a Missouri LLC name must include

Missouri accepts these endings for a limited liability company:

• Limited Company
• Limited Liability Company
• LC
• LLC
• L.C.
• L.L.C.

Missouri keeps other entity types' words out of LLC names: “corporation”, “incorporated”, “limited partnership”, “limited liability partnership”, “limited liability limited partnership” and even “Ltd.” are barred, with their abbreviations, as are words that suggest a purpose the LLC hasn't stated or a link with a government agency (RSMo 347.020(2)). “Ltd.” is barred here even though some states accept it inside an LLC ending.

How Missouri decides two names are the same

An LLC name has to stand apart on the Secretary of State's records from every corporation, LLC, limited partnership, LLP and LLLP that is licensed, organized, reserved or registered in Missouri, foreign or domestic. If yours conflicts, it can still go through when the existing holder consents and changes its own name, or when another statutory exception fits (RSMo 347.020(3)).

Where the rules are written. RSMo 347.020 (LLC name); 347.025 (reservation); 347.179 (fees).

Searching for an LLC name in Missouri

Missouri's online business entity search is free. Its fee pages couldn't be loaded while we researched, so the figures below are the statutory amounts, which the Secretary of State may top up with small surcharges.

Open the official Missouri entity search

Leave the ending off when you search, so every version of the name shows up, then compare each result word by word. If one matches apart from spacing, punctuation or a plural, change a real word in your name.

Holding the name: Missouri LLC name reservation

By statute, reserving an LLC name costs $20 and lasts 60 days; renewals are allowed, up to 180 days in total from the first application (RSMo 347.025).

This fee couldn't be matched to a current official fee page, so ask the Missouri Secretary of State to confirm it before paying.

File a Missouri name reservation

Forming the LLC in Missouri

The statute puts the Articles of Organization at $45 when filed online and $100 on paper (RSMo 347.179); the paper form itself lists $105, so expect a small surcharge on paper.

File the Articles of Organization online

This filing fee isn't on a current official fee page that we could find, so ask the Missouri Secretary of State to confirm it.

Missouri asks for no recurring LLC report: reading the statute's fee schedule, there's no annual report to file and no franchise tax. No newspaper notice is needed either. A Certificate of Good Standing costs $5 under the statute and can be ordered online.

When the LLC trades under another name

To use another name, an LLC registers it as a fictitious name with the Secretary of State. The statute sets a $2 fee, waived for qualifying military, for a registration that lasts five years; what the office actually charges couldn't be confirmed.

Sources

• One section, revisor.mo.gov, checked 2026-10-07
• One section, revisor.mo.gov, checked 2026-10-07
• One section, revisor.mo.gov, checked 2026-10-07
• One section, revisor.mo.gov, checked 2026-10-07
• One section, revisor.mo.gov, checked 2026-10-07
• Fees, sos.mo.gov, checked 2026-10-07

These are the official pages behind every fact above. If one of them now says something different, it's right and this page is out of date.