Business name search · New York

How to check and reserve a business name in New York

New York checks proposed entity names for distinguishability and applies rules about prohibited and restricted words. Start with the public records, request a written name inquiry if needed, and consider a 60-day reservation before filing.

The rule New York applies

For LLCs, Limited Liability Company Law §204 requires the name to contain the words "Limited Liability Company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "LLC," and to be distinguishable from the names of existing domestic LLCs, authorized foreign LLCs (including their fictitious names), names already reserved, and the names of domestic business corporations, not-for-profit corporations, and certain other entities on file with the Department of State.³ Corporations are governed by the parallel provisions of the Business Corporation Law.²

Section 204 prohibits some terms and allows others only with the required agency consent. Financial-services and education-related terms, for example, can require additional approvals. Obtaining a consent is not a general exception for every prohibited word. Read the specific provision for your proposed name.³

How to check availability

1. Free: the Corporation and Business Entity Database

The Department of State’s public inquiry search is useful background research. The Department expressly warns that the database must not be used to determine a name’s acceptability.

2. Request a written name-availability inquiry

The Department accepts written availability inquiries for corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships at $5 per name. Follow the address and payment instructions in the official name-inquiry guidance. The answer applies at the time of the search; it neither reserves nor approves the name.

3. Reserve the name or submit the filing

The Department of State determines availability when it processes a filing or a reservation application, a database search is your reconnaissance, not a ruling. If the Secretary of State finds the name available when you file an Application for Reservation of Name, the reservation itself is your evidence: the Department issues a filing receipt titled "Certificate of Reservation," which must be submitted along with the formation document that later uses the name.¹

Reserving a name before you file

• An individual or an existing company may reserve a name for 60 days by filing an Application for Reservation of Name, under LLC Law §205 for LLCs, or Business Corporation Law §303 for corporations.^1,2
• The statutory filing fee is $20, and the application is filed on paper, mailed to the Department of State, Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231.¹
• Two extensions of 60 days each are available by filing a Request for Extension of Reservation of Name ($20 each) before the current reservation expires, with the Certificate of Reservation attached.¹
• A reservation can be cancelled early ($20), and expedited handling is available for an additional fee, $25 for 24-hour, $75 for same-day, $150 for 2-hour processing.¹

Operating under a different name (DBA)

A New York corporation, LLC, or limited partnership that conducts business under a name other than its legal name files a Certificate of Assumed Name with the Department of State under General Business Law §130. The Department's posted fee is $25 for LLCs and limited partnerships; corporations pay $25 plus a per-county fee for each county where they do or transact business under the assumed name, $100 for each county within New York City and $25 for each county outside it.⁴ An assumed name is a disclosure filing, not a name reservation.