South Carolina LLC Name Search - Check Name Availability

South Carolina LLC Name Search

Written by:

Carolyn Young has over 25 years of experience in business in various roles, including bank management, marketing management, and business education.

Reviewed by: Sarah Ruddle

For over 15 years, Sarah Ruddle has been a noteworthy leader in the business and nonprofit world.

South Carolina LLC Name Search

South Carolina LLC Name Search

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

You want the name to be unique and easy to remember while being legally acceptable and 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.

South Carolina LLC Entity Search 

The most important consideration when choosing an LLC name in South Carolina 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 South Carolina

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

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You should also search for similar business names, as you don’t want a name that can be easily confused with other businesses in South Carolina.

2. Check South Carolina’s LLC name regulations

In South Carolina, your LLC name must include the phrase “limited liability company” or one of its abbreviations (LLC or L.L.C.). In addition, it 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.

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 South Carolina LLC Name Reservation

To reserve an LLC name in South Carolina, start by visiting the Secretary of State’s website to download the form. You cannot file your reservation online, only by mail. You’ll mail the form to:

Secretary of State 
Attn: Corporate Filings
1205 Pendleton Street, Suite 525 
Columbia, SC 29201

The cost to file a name reservation in South Carolina is $25. Once your application is processed, your LLC name will be reserved for 120 days.

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 South Carolina, according to the Secretary of State’s website:

DBA names are NOT registered with the Secretary of State. The DBA cannot conflict with a business name registered with the SC Secretary of State. The business can trademark the name if it is desirable to protect the DBA name, the business can trademark the name.

You must instead register your DBA name with your county clerk. Fees vary by county but are between $10 and $20. 

In Closing

Choosing a business name is a crucial step 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.