Florida LLC Name Search

Nailing down a great name for your Florida LLC can be challenging. 

You want the name to be unique and easy to remember while conveying what your business does. You also want it to be SEO-friendly so that it can easily be found on Google. That’s a lot of boxes to check. 

And even if you’ve already found the perfect business name, you need to make sure it’s available. That takes several steps, as detailed in this handy guide.

Florida LLC Entity Search 

The most important consideration when choosing an LLC name in Florida is to make sure it’s available and legally acceptable. Here’s how to confirm you can use your preferred business name. 

1. Check for availability in Florida

Go to the Florida Secretary of State website and enter your business name. 

The search will bring up names similar to the name you entered, so make sure no names could be confused with yours.

You should take an extra step and search for similar business names, as you don’t want a name that can be easily confused with other businesses in Florida.

2. Check Florida’s LLC name regulations

In Florida, your LLC name must include “limited liability company” or an abbreviation (LLC or L.L.C.) and cannot have words that could confuse your LLC with a government agency.

Additionally, your business name must be distinguishable from all other business names in the state and cannot include words like bank, insurance, or university without state approval or imply that you’re involved in unlawful activity.

3. Check Trademarks

Check with the US Patent and Trademark Office to ensure the name has not been trademarked and is thus available nationally. 

4. Check domain name availability

You’ll want to make sure the domain name is available. You can check at a site like GoDaddy.com and use .com or .org, as those give your business more credibility.

5. Google it

Do a Google search to ensure the name is not being used in the U.S. or internationally. This is particularly important if you plan to have a strong online presence for your business.  

Once you’ve confirmed these, it’s a good idea to reserve the name with the state. 

How to File a Florida LLC Name Reservation

In most states, you can reserve a business name for a specific time until you’re ready to form your LLC, but not in Florida. Therefore, forming your LLC as soon as possible is best so that no one else beats you to the punch and uses your chosen name.

Doing Business As (DBA)

You may want to do business under a name other than your LLC name. You’ll need to register a “doing business as” or DBA name. There are two main reasons you might want to use a DBA.

• Suppose you want to add new product lines. For example, if your business name is “JJ’s Waffles,” you want to expand and offer “JJ’s Muffins.”  You can have multiple DBAs under the umbrella of your one LLC. 
• When you have a DBA, you can have a business bank account under that name. So if you add “JJ’s Muffins,”  customers can pay “JJ’s Muffins,” and you can deposit those payments into the bank account with that name.

In Florida, a DBA is known as a fictitious name. To register a fictitious name in Florida, go to the Division of Corporations website and begin the registration process. 

The form requires the following information.

• Fictitious name chosen
• Business mailing address
• County where your principal place of business is located
• Your federal employer identification number (FEIN)
• Email address
• Names of the LLC members

Note that in Florida, a fictitious name registration requires the following:

“The name you register must be advertised at least once in a newspaper located within the county where your principal place of business is (Chapter 50, Florida Statutes). However, proof of advertisement is not required. Instead, you, the applicant, certify the name has been advertised when you sign the application.”

Once you’ve entered all the required information, you’ll be taken to payment.

In Closing

Choosing a business name is crucial to entrepreneurial success, so if you’ve found a good one, don’t let somebody else get it. Instead, just take the steps detailed above to ensure it’s available and legally acceptable before nailing it down. 

You don’t want to run into an issue later that could impact the success of your business.