How to search and claim an LLC name in Pennsylvania
- Search Pennsylvania's official entity records (free; record-search printouts cost $15), leaving “LLC” off the name.
- Make sure the name ends with one of Pennsylvania's accepted endings, such as “Limited Liability Company” or “Company”.
- Hold the name with a $70 reservation if you need time before filing.
- File the Certificate of Organization with the Pennsylvania Department of State for $125.
- Note the recurring report so the LLC stays in good standing: $7 each year (due January 1 to September 30).
What a Pennsylvania LLC name must include
Pennsylvania accepts these endings for a limited liability company:
- Limited Liability Company
- Company
- Limited
Leave out words that make an LLC sound like a business corporation, such as corporation or incorporated and their abbreviations. Professional, educational, banking, insurance and utility words each need prior written approval from the board or agency that oversees them, and LLCs in ten licensed professions, among them dentistry, law, medicine, psychology and public accounting, must be restricted professional companies. Pennsylvania accepts “limited liability company”, “company” or “limited” as the ending, or abbreviations like LLC, L.L.C., Co. and Ltd.
How Pennsylvania decides two names are the same
Changing the designator never separates two Pennsylvania names; your LLC's name must be distinguishable from every corporation, LLC, LP and LLP on the Department's records, domestic or registered foreign, and from names already reserved or registered (15 Pa.C.S. § 202). Dormant companies are the trap: since Act 122 of 2022 ended decennial reports, firms that stopped operating without dissolving keep their names blocked until annual-report dissolutions start in 2028. Two documents get around that: the holder's Consent to Appropriation of Name (DSCB:19-17.2), or a Name Availability Certificate, requested from the Department by email.
Where the rules are written. 15 Pa.C.S. § 202 (requirements for names; duplicate use of names); 15 Pa.C.S. § 201 (covered associations); 54 Pa.C.S. §§ 301 et seq. (Fictitious Names Act); 19 Pa. Code ch. 17 (names regulations).
Searching for an LLC name in Pennsylvania
Business Filing Services is the Department of State's free search; treat its results as preliminary, as the Department does. A printed record search is $15 per entity, and a written availability check of up to three names is also $15.
Open the official Pennsylvania 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.
Checked against 2,376,226 Pennsylvania names. When Pennsylvania is selected, the LLC name check also looks your name up in our copy of “Registered Businesses in PA Current by County Department of State”, published by the Pennsylvania Department of State and last updated October 6, 2026. Matches come back in three lists: the same words, longer names that open with yours, and names starting with the same two words. Each shows the entity's type, status and number. The state's own search is still the final word, since its records move ahead of our copy.
Holding the name: Pennsylvania LLC name reservation
A Pennsylvania reservation is a one-time hold: $70 for 120 days, after which the name is open to anyone, the original reserver included. Use form DSCB:15-208, online or on paper.
File a Pennsylvania name reservation
Forming the LLC in Pennsylvania
The Certificate of Organization costs $125 and goes in with a Docketing Statement, online through Business Filing Services or on paper. Expedited handling adds $100 for same day, $300 for three hours or $1,000 for one hour.
File the Certificate of Organization online
Pennsylvania LLCs now file an annual report, $7 for a for-profit LLC, between January 1 and September 30 each year after the year of formation; the reports began in 2025. Starting with the 2027 reports, an LLC that misses one is administratively dissolved six months after the due date and its name loses protection, and reinstating costs $35 online plus $15 for each missed report. Forming an LLC needs no newspaper notice. A subsistence certificate, the state's good-standing certificate, costs $40. State taxes weren't covered by this research.
When the LLC trades under another name
An LLC doing business under another name files a Registration of Fictitious Name (DSCB:54-311) with the Department of State for $70. The name still has to be distinguishable from registered entity names, and it can't carry a corporate or LLC designator unless an owner is that kind of entity.
Sources
- Fees and payments, pa.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- Name availability, pa.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- Annual reports, pa.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- Fictitious names, pa.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- Filing guidelines, pa.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- Business guide (PDF), pa.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- Frequently asked questions, pa.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- Pacode, pacodeandbulletin.gov, checked 2026-10-07
- View statute, palegis.us, 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.
A few were read from search results, not the page itself, because the site refused direct requests; treat the facts they back as provisional until the Pennsylvania Department of State confirms them.
Common questions
Can two LLCs in Pennsylvania have the same name?
No. Pennsylvania accepts a new LLC name only if it can be told apart from every name on its record.
How long can I hold an LLC name in Pennsylvania?
For a limited time (the official length couldn't be confirmed), for $70.
Does a new Pennsylvania LLC have to publish a notice?
No. Pennsylvania has no newspaper publication requirement for LLCs.
How much is the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee?
$125, paid when you file the Certificate of Organization.