Business name availability checker
"Available" means four different things for a business name, and no single search covers all of them. The U.S. Small Business Administration lists the same four: entity name, trademark, DBA and domain (SBA). Here's how to check each, and where our checker helps.
1. Your state's business entity records
When you form an LLC or corporation, the state checks your name against companies already on its books. The SBA puts it simply: "Most states don't allow you to register a name that's already been registered by someone else." Each state runs its own search, usually on the Secretary of State's website. In Oklahoma, for example, it's the Secretary of State's business entity search.
What this check can't tell you: a name being free in your state says nothing about other states, or about trademarks. The state approves names to avoid duplicate records, not to clear you of someone else's rights.
2. Federal trademarks
Search the free USPTO Trademark Search. Don't stop at exact matches. The USPTO says marks "don't have to be identical to be confusingly similar" and can clash if they're "similar in sound, appearance, or meaning" (USPTO). What matters is whether the goods or services are related, so a bakery and a software firm can often share a word that two bakeries can't.
A self-search is a first look. The USPTO itself notes that an attorney can run "a comprehensive clearance search" and "decrease the possibility of you having costly legal problems" (USPTO). Before you file or spend real money on signs and packaging, talk to a trademark attorney. Nothing on this site is legal advice.
3. A DBA, if you use one
A DBA ("doing business as") lets you trade under a name other than your legal one. The SBA notes that "multiple businesses can go by the same DBA in one state," so a DBA alone doesn't reserve a name for you. Rules differ by state and county.
4. The domain and the handles
This is the part our checker automates: .com and ten other endings through the registries' official RDAP lookups, a set of platforms with official APIs, and one-click links for the rest. The SBA's view of domains is relaxed ("If someone else has already registered the domain you wanted to use, that's okay"), and that's fair for the legal side. For customers who type your name into a browser, a matching .com still helps, which is why it carries the most weight in our Brand Name Score.
A sensible order
- Trademark search first. It's the check most likely to rule a name out, and it's free.
- Your state's entity search.
- Domain and handles, with the checker.
- Form the business, then register the domain and claim the handles the same day.