Is My Business Name Taken? How to Check, and What Each Check Actually Covers
Short answer
A business name can be taken in four separate places, and no single search covers all of them: the federal trademark register (4.8 million live marks), your state's business entity registry, the .com domain, and unregistered use by a business that never filed anything. Check the trademark register and the .com first, because those are the two that stop you nationally; then your state's registry, which is required to form the entity; then a plain web search for anyone already trading under the name. A name that clears all four is available in every sense that can be checked.
"Taken" means four different things, and most guides answer one of them and call it done.
A name can be free at the state registry and blocked by a federal trademark. It can be free on the trademark register and gone as a .com. It can be free everywhere that keeps records and still belong to a restaurant three states away that has used it since 2009 and never filed a thing.
The order below is the order that saves time. The federal register and the .com are checked in one search, in seconds, and they eliminate most names. Everything after that is only worth doing for a name that has already survived the first step.
The four places a name can be taken
| Where | What it stops | Who checks it | How long it takes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal trademark register | Using the name for similar goods or services anywhere in the US | You, free, on Silvol or the USPTO | Seconds |
| .com domain | Having the matching web address | You, free, same search | Seconds |
| State business registry | Forming an LLC or corporation under that exact name in that state | You, free, on the Secretary of State site | Minutes |
| Unregistered (common-law) use | Using the name in a region where someone else got there first | You, by searching the web and business directories | An hour, and never complete |
The first two are national. The second two are local. A federal registration blocks the name for similar businesses in all fifty states. A state registration blocks the exact name for new entities in that one state, and says nothing about the other forty-nine.
Which is why the state check, the one most guides open with, is the least informative of the four. It answers whether the state will let you file the paperwork. It does not answer whether you can use the name.
Step one: the federal trademark register and the .com, together
Start here because it is fastest and it eliminates the most. The Silvol check runs a name against every live US federal trademark and the .com zone in one search, with no account.
The register holds 4,795,386 live marks across the 45 trademark classes as of the date at the foot of this page, refreshed from the USPTO's bulk data. About 4.9 million if you include the legacy and collective classes. A live mark is one that is registered or pending; the millions of abandoned and cancelled marks in the USPTO's full database do not count against you, and a check that includes them will scare you off names you could use.
What a clear result means, exactly: no live federal mark matches the name, and the .com is unregistered. That is a strong signal, and it is not clearance. It says nothing about state registrations or unregistered use, and the check covers the United States only.
What a match means, exactly: it depends on the class. A live mark in an unrelated class is usually not a conflict — a software company and a bakery can share a name, and the register is full of examples. A live mark in your class, or a coordinated one, is a real obstacle and the name should probably go back in the pile. See trademark classes for what each class covers and how many live marks sit in it.
And what a near-match means: with 4.8 million live marks, almost every short name is one letter from something. A near match in your class is worth a closer look; a near match in an unrelated class is information about where names of that shape get used, not a warning. The is my name trademarked page covers how to read a near match, and why most of them mean nothing.
Step two: the .com, and why it is checked with the trademark rather than after
A domain is not a trademark, and a trademark does not come with a domain. They are separate systems that happen to matter to the same decision. See trademark vs domain name for what each protects.
But the .com is the fastest proxy for whether a name is already in use. A registered .com usually means somebody, somewhere, has built something under the name, whether or not they ever filed a trademark. So it is worth seeing what is on it: a live business in your field is a common-law problem even with a clear register; a parked page or an expired site is not.
If the .com is taken and the register is clear, the name is usable and the address is not. Whether that is acceptable depends on the business. For a local service company it rarely matters; for anything that will be typed into a browser by strangers it usually does.
Step three: your state's business registry
This is the check required to form the entity, and it is the one most guides lead with. Every state runs a free business entity search on its Secretary of State site; a few run it through a different agency (the Department of State in New York and Florida, the Corporation Commission in Arizona, the Department of Financial Institutions in Wisconsin).
What it tells you: whether an LLC or corporation with that exact name, or one the state considers deceptively similar, already exists in that state. Most states will refuse a filing that matches an existing entity's name.
What it does not tell you: anything about the other states, anything about federal trademarks, and anything about businesses that operate under a trade name without a registered entity. A clear state search is a permission slip to file the LLC. It is not evidence the name is free to use.
One useful thing it does reveal: if the search returns a dissolved or inactive entity with your name, that name was used before, possibly with goodwill that somebody still holds. Worth a web search before proceeding.
If you plan to operate in more than one state, check the registry in each one you will register in. Foreign qualification (registering an out-of-state LLC in a new state) can be refused if the name conflicts there, even though it was fine at home.
Step four: unregistered use
A business does not need a registered trademark to have rights in its name. Using a name in commerce creates common-law rights in the area where it is used, and those rights predate and can defeat a later federal application. See common law trademark rights for how far they reach.
There is no database of common-law use, so this check is a search of the open web and the places businesses list themselves:
- a plain web search for the exact name, in quotes, and for the name plus your industry
- Google Maps, Yelp, and the equivalents in your field
- the social handles: Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook
- state trademark registries, which are separate from the federal one and separate from the business entity registry, and which about half of states keep searchable
What you are looking for is a business in your field, active, using the name as a name. A dormant Instagram handle registered in 2016 is not a competing use. A landscaping company with the name on its trucks and a Google listing is, if you are also a landscaping company, even if it has never filed anything.
This check is never complete, which is the honest limit of naming. It reduces the odds; it does not zero them.
Reading the four results together
| Register | .com | State | Unregistered use | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear | Free | Clear | None found | Available in every sense that can be checked |
| Clear | Taken, parked | Clear | None found | Usable; the address is gone |
| Clear | Taken, live business in your field | Clear | That business | A common-law conflict; the name is probably taken |
| Live mark, unrelated class | Free | Clear | None found | Usually usable; confirm the class is truly unrelated |
| Live mark, your class | — | — | — | Taken. Stop here and go back to the list |
| Clear | Free | Existing entity, active | — | Cannot form the entity under that name in that state; the name may still be usable elsewhere |
The register and the .com decide most names in the first thirty seconds. The state and common-law checks are for the names that survive.
What "checking a name" cannot do
No search clears a name for use. A clearance opinion, from a trademark attorney, weighs similar marks, related classes, and the likelihood of confusion, and it costs $300 to $800. See what a trademark costs for where that sits in the overall budget. For most small businesses picking a name, the four free checks above are enough to choose; the opinion is for a name you are about to spend real money on.
No search covers other countries. The US register, the US states, and the .com. A business that will trade in Canada or the UK needs their registers checked too.
And no search on this page or any other tells the USPTO anything. Checking a name does not reserve it, and a name typed into the Silvol check is not recorded, listed, or acted on by anyone. What you search is your idea.
Before you settle on it
- Run the register and .com check first. Free, thirty seconds, and it removes most names before you get attached to one.
- Look at what is on the .com if it is taken. A live business in your field is a problem; a parked page is not.
- Search the state registry in every state where you will form or qualify the entity.
- Search the open web and the handles for anyone already trading under the name in your field.
- Read any trademark match by class, not by string. Same name, unrelated goods, is usually fine.
- Decide whether you need the .com. If the business lives online, a name whose .com is gone is a name with a permanent tax on it.
- Get a clearance opinion only for a name you are about to put on signage, packaging, or a trademark application.
Common questions
How do I know if a business name is taken?
Check four places: the federal trademark register, the .com domain, your state's business entity registry, and the open web for unregistered use. The first two are one free search and eliminate most names; the state registry is required to form the entity; the web search is for businesses using the name without having filed anything.
How do I check if a business name is taken for free?
All four checks are free. The federal register and the .com are one search on Silvol or the USPTO's Trademark Search; every state's entity registry is free on its Secretary of State site; unregistered use is a web search.
Can two businesses have the same name?
Yes, if they are in different fields and different places, and it happens constantly. Trademark rights attach to a name used for particular goods or services, so a software company and a bakery can share a name. Two businesses in the same field in the same market cannot, whichever one registered first.
Is a name taken if the LLC exists in another state?
Not for you, unless you plan to register in that state. State entity names are only exclusive within the state. A federal trademark, by contrast, is exclusive nationally for its class.
Is my business name taken if the domain is taken?
Not necessarily. A registered domain means somebody owns the address, not that anyone has trademark rights in the name. Look at what is on the domain: a live business in your field is a problem; a parked page or an expired site is not.
What if my business name is already trademarked?
If the live mark is in your class or a related one, the name is effectively taken and the safest move is a different name. If it is in an unrelated class, the name is usually usable, though it is worth confirming the classes really do not overlap.
Does registering my LLC protect the name?
Only in the narrow sense that no one else can form an entity with that exact name in that state. It gives no trademark rights, no protection in other states, and no defence against an existing federal mark.
Do I need to trademark my business name?
No, but without a registration your rights are limited to where you actually use the name. A federal registration makes them national and puts the name on the register that everyone else checks. Whether it is worth $350 depends on the business; see what a trademark costs.
How do I check if a business name is trademarked?
Search the federal register, free, on Silvol or at tmsearch.uspto.gov. Read any match by class, not by exact string; see is my name trademarked for how.
Does the business name search on the Secretary of State site check trademarks?
No. It checks registered entities in that state only. Trademarks are a separate federal system, and about half the states also keep a separate state trademark registry.
How similar is too similar?
For the state registry, most states refuse names that differ only by punctuation, spacing, or an entity suffix. For trademarks, the test is likelihood of confusion, which weighs sound, appearance, meaning, and how related the goods are. A one-letter difference in the same class is usually too close; the same name in an unrelated class is usually fine.
Can I reserve a business name before I am ready to file?
Most states allow a name reservation, typically for 60 to 120 days for a small fee, which holds the entity name at the state level only. It does not reserve a trademark or a domain.
Keep reading
- Is my name trademarked? How to read a match, and why most near matches mean nothing
- Trademark classes: the complete list, with live counts
- Trademark vs domain name: what each one protects
- How much does a trademark cost
Silvol checks a name against live US federal trademarks and the .com zone. It is not a law firm, does not clear names for use, and does not cover state registrations or unregistered marks. Register counts are computed from USPTO bulk data and refreshed daily.
Register counts as of September 13, 2026. Silvol is not a law firm and does not clear names for use.