How to Check if a Business Name
Is Taken: A 5-Step Guide

Why You Need to Check Before You Commit

You've found a name you love. It sounds right. It looks good on a logo. Your co-founder likes it. Now stop — before you file your LLC, launch your website, or order merch, you need to verify the name is actually available to use.

"Available" means five different things in five different contexts. A name can be free in your state's business registry and still be a registered federal trademark. A name can have no trademark and still be someone else's domain. And a name can be technically clear on every database and still create brand confusion that Google will use against you in search.

Here's the complete process, in the order you should run it.

Step 1: State Business Name Database

Start here. Every U.S. state maintains a public registry of business names — LLCs, corporations, and other registered entities. Before any other check, confirm your name isn't already registered in the state where you plan to operate.

If you plan to operate in multiple states, check each one separately. A name clear in Delaware might be taken in California.

Step 2: Federal Trademark Search (USPTO TESS)

State registration only protects you in that state. Federal trademarks — registered through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — protect a name nationwide, regardless of where the owning company is incorporated. You need to check both.

Important: An unregistered trademark can still have legal protection if someone has been using the name in commerce. Common law trademark rights exist even without USPTO registration. If your name matches a well-known brand in your space, that's a conflict — registered or not.

Step 3: Domain Name Availability

Your business might be legally available to use, but if someone else owns the .com, you'll spend years directing customers to the wrong site or paying a domain squatter for a URL you should have owned from day one.

Step 4: Social Media Handle Availability

Social handles are first-come, first-served and can't be disputed the way trademarks can. Check every platform you plan to use before committing to a name — inconsistent handles across platforms fragment your brand and make you harder to find.

Step 5: Google Search for Brand Conflicts

The most overlooked check: Google the name. Not to find a Wikipedia article — to find companies that are using the name in commerce but haven't registered a trademark or a state LLC yet. Common law trademark protection exists from the moment someone starts using a name to sell products or services.

The Complete Availability Checklist

Run all five checks before locking in a name. Here's the full picture:

The first five checks are free and take under an hour. The attorney review is optional unless you're in a crowded space, raising funding, or planning to build a consumer brand worth protecting.

But First, You Need a Name Worth Checking

Before you run any of these checks, you need options. Most founders waste hours manually brainstorming names that are either already taken, too generic to trademark, or impossible to brand. That's the wrong order. See our guide to structured naming for how to generate better candidates before you start checking.

Start by generating 10–20 candidates with NamingKit's startup name generator, then run your shortlist through the five checks above. You'll clear names much faster when you're working with distinctive options instead of generic ones.

Three Mistakes Founders Make When Checking Names

1. Only checking one database. Passing the state business search doesn't mean you're clear. Each system — state registry, USPTO, domain, social, Google — operates independently. You need all five. See our comparison of name generators for the full availability checklist. A name that's clear in four out of five is not safe to use.
2. Checking once and never again. Trademark applications take 12–18 months to be approved. Run your checks again right before you launch publicly — a new application filed after your initial check could create a conflict by the time you go live.
3. Falling for phonetic near-misses. "Klarity" and "Clarity" are different words but may constitute trademark infringement if they're in the same industry. USPTO examiners use a "likelihood of confusion" standard, not exact matching. When in doubt, run the name by an IP attorney before investing in brand assets.