Every state lets a business trade under a name that is not its legal name, and no two treat the filing the same way. Some register it at the state, some at the county, and a few run no registration at all. Even the word changes at the state line: Texas registers an assumed name, Florida a fictitious name, Georgia a trade name. This page compares what we have verified against the statutes for 51 states: who takes the filing, what it costs, and what it legally does.
A DBA filing is a public disclosure that says who is behind a business name. It does not create a company, it does not shield you from liability, and in most states it gives you no rights in the name itself. Forming your entity is what secures a name in the state registry; a DBA only announces that you are using one. Check the name before you commit to it, then file the DBA where your state's statute points.
States verified
Require newspaper publication
Can carry exclusive name rights
The first question is not the fee but the office. Of the 51 verified states, 17 send at least part of the filing to a county office rather than the Secretary of State, which decides where the records can later be searched. Arkansas and Illinois and Indiana and Iowa and Kentucky and Maine and Michigan and New Jersey and New York and Texas split by owner type: LLCs and corporations file with the state, sole proprietors and partnerships with each county where they do business. And Kansas and New Mexico and South Carolina run no DBA registration at all, so there is no office to file with.
The names are not interchangeable, and one of them is a trap. In Texas statutes a "fictitious name" is not a DBA at all: it is the alternate name a foreign entity registers when its legal name is unavailable. The table uses each statute's own vocabulary.
| State | The statute's term | An LLC files with | A sole proprietor files with | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | trade name | Alabama Secretary of State (Application to Register or Renew a Trademark, Service Mark, or Trade Name, Form LAT-1) | Alabama Secretary of State as well, on the same trade name application; Alabama has no mandatory DBA filing, so registration is optional for any owner | Ala. Code § 8-12-6 et seq. |
| Alaska | business name registration | Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development, Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (Business Name Registration under AS 10.35) | Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (the same statewide business name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | AS 10.35.010 |
| Arizona | trade name | Arizona Secretary of State (trade name registration; a separate agency from the Corporation Commission that holds the LLC) | Arizona Secretary of State (the same trade name registration) | A.R.S. § 44-1460 |
| Arkansas | fictitious name | Arkansas Secretary of State (Application for Fictitious Name, Form DN-18); the certificate returned by the Secretary of State is then recorded with the county clerk of the county where the LLC's registered office is located, except when that office is in Pulaski County | County clerk in each county where the business is conducted (sole proprietors and general partnerships file only at the county level) | Ark. Code § 4-38-122 |
| California | fictitious business name | County clerk of the county of the principal place of business | County clerk of the county of the principal place of business | Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17900-17930 |
| Colorado | trade name | Colorado Secretary of State, online (Statement of Trade Name of a Reporting Entity) | Colorado Secretary of State, online (Statement of Trade Name of an Individual) | C.R.S. Title 7, Article 71 |
| Connecticut | trade name | Town clerk in each town where the business is conducted (there is no state-level DBA filing) | Town clerk in each town where the business is conducted, on the same trade name certificate | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 35-1a |
| Delaware | trade, business, or fictitious name | Prothonotary of the Superior Court in each Delaware county (New Castle, Kent, or Sussex) where the business is transacted (Registration of Trade, Business & Fictitious Name Certificate) | Prothonotary of the Superior Court in each county where the business is transacted (the same county-court registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | 6 Del. C. § 3101 |
| Florida | fictitious name | Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) | Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) | Fla. Stat. § 865.09 |
| Georgia | trade name | Clerk of Superior Court of the county of the entity's legal domicile | Clerk of Superior Court of the county where the business is chiefly carried on | O.C.G.A. § 10-1-490 |
| Hawaii | trade name | Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division (Application for Registration of Trade Name, Form T-1) | Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division (the same statewide trade name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | HRS § 482-3 |
| Idaho | assumed business name | Idaho Secretary of State (Certificate of Assumed Business Name) | Idaho Secretary of State as well, on the same certificate; Idaho has no county-level DBA filing | Idaho Code § 30-21-805 |
| Illinois | assumed name | Illinois Secretary of State (Form LLC-1.20, Application to Adopt an Assumed Name) | County clerk in each county where the business is conducted (Assumed Business Name Act, 805 ILCS 405) | 805 ILCS 180/1-20; 805 ILCS 405/1 |
| Indiana | assumed business name | Indiana Secretary of State through INBiz (Certificate of Assumed Business Name) | County recorder in each county where the business is conducted (individuals and general partnerships do not file with the Secretary of State) | Ind. Code § 23-0.5-3-4 |
| Iowa | fictitious name | Iowa Secretary of State; an LLC that trades under a name other than its true name files a certified Fictitious Name Resolution (a resolution of its members or managers adopting the name) through Fast Track Filing | County recorder of each county where the business is conducted; sole proprietors and general partnerships record a verified trade name statement under Iowa Code ch. 547, which by its terms does not apply to LLCs, corporations, or limited partnerships | Iowa Code § 489.108 |
| Kansas | none; no registry exists | No office at any level. The Secretary of State's forms list states that no application registers an assumed, fictitious, trade, or DBA name. | No office; sole proprietors do not register with the Secretary of State at all. | Kansas SoS forms list (no assumed-name statute or form exists) |
| Kentucky | assumed name | Kentucky Secretary of State (Certificate of Assumed Name), and the certificate marked filed by the Secretary of State must then be recorded with the county clerk of the county where the LLC's registered office is located | County clerk of the county where the individual maintains the principal place of business | KRS 365.015 |
| Louisiana | trade name | Louisiana Secretary of State (Application to Register Trade Name, Trademark, or Service Mark, Form 309), filed through the GeauxBiz portal | Louisiana Secretary of State as well; individuals and partnerships register the same trade name centrally, and Louisiana has no county-level DBA filing | La. R.S. 51:211 |
| Maine | assumed name | Maine Secretary of State, Division of Corporations (Statement of Intention to Transact Business Under an Assumed or Fictitious Name, Form ASUM) | Municipal clerk of the city or town where the business is located (Maine has no state-level trade name filing for sole proprietors or general partnerships; they deposit a sworn certificate with the municipal clerk before commencing business, 31 M.R.S. §§ 1-2) | 31 M.R.S. § 1508 |
| Maryland | trade name | Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (Trade Name Application) | Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (the same statewide trade name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | Md. Code, Corps. & Ass'ns § 1-406 |
| Massachusetts | business certificate | City or town clerk in every city or town where the business maintains an office (there is no state-level DBA filing) | City or town clerk in every city or town where the business maintains an office, on the same business certificate | M.G.L. c. 110, § 5 |
| Michigan | assumed name | Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA), Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing Bureau (Certificate of Assumed Name, Form CSCL/CD-541, MCL 450.4206) | County clerk of each county where the business is conducted (sole proprietors and general partnerships file an assumed name / co-partnership certificate under the county assumed name law) | MCL 450.4206 |
| Minnesota | assumed name | Minnesota Secretary of State (Certificate of Assumed Name, Minn. Stat. ch. 333) | Minnesota Secretary of State (the same Certificate of Assumed Name) | Minn. Stat. § 333.01 |
| Mississippi | fictitious business name | Mississippi Secretary of State, Business Services Division (online Fictitious Business Name Registration under the Fictitious Business Name Registration Act) | Mississippi Secretary of State, Business Services Division (the same statewide registration applies to sole proprietors) | Miss. Code § 75-93-7 |
| Missouri | fictitious name | Missouri Secretary of State (Registration of Fictitious Name) | Missouri Secretary of State as well, on the same fictitious name registration; Missouri has no county-level DBA filing | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 417.200 |
| Montana | assumed business name | Montana Secretary of State (Application for Registration of Assumed Business Name) | Montana Secretary of State (the same statewide assumed business name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | Mont. Code Ann. § 30-13-202 |
| Nebraska | trade name | Nebraska Secretary of State (Application for Registration of Trade Name), followed by newspaper publication and proof of publication filed with the Secretary of State | Nebraska Secretary of State (the same statewide trade name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 87-210 |
| Nevada | fictitious firm name | County clerk in each county where the business is conducted (not the Secretary of State) | County clerk in each county where the business is conducted, on the same certificate as entities | NRS 602.010 |
| New Hampshire | trade name | New Hampshire Secretary of State, Corporation Division (trade name registration, Form TN-1, under RSA 349) | New Hampshire Secretary of State (the same statewide trade name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | RSA 349:1 |
| New Jersey | alternate name (entities); trade name (sole proprietors, county) | NJ Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services (Form C-150G, online or paper) | County clerk of the county where the business is located (trade name certificate) | N.J.S.A. 42:2C-9 |
| New Mexico | none; no statewide filing exists | No state office. New Mexico provides no method to register a DBA or trade name at the state level; a business simply uses the name. | No state office; the same is true for sole proprietors, who have no state or general county DBA registration to file. | NMSA 1978 Chapter 53 (no DBA registration statute exists) |
| New York | assumed name | New York Department of State, Division of Corporations (Certificate of Assumed Name, GBL § 130) | County clerk in each county where the business is conducted (GBL § 130) | N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 130 |
| North Carolina | assumed business name | Register of Deeds of a county where the business operates; one certificate can designate specific counties or all 100 | Register of Deeds of a county where the business operates (the same assumed business name certificate) | N.C.G.S. § 66-71.4 |
| North Dakota | trade name | North Dakota Secretary of State (Trade Name Registration through the FirstStop portal) | North Dakota Secretary of State (the same statewide trade name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | N.D.C.C. § 47-25-01 |
| Ohio | trade name or fictitious name | Ohio Secretary of State (Form 534A) | Ohio Secretary of State (Form 534A) | Ohio Rev. Code §§ 1329.01-1329.10 |
| Oklahoma | trade name | Oklahoma Secretary of State (Trade Name Report, SOS Form 0021) | Oklahoma Secretary of State as well; individuals and partnerships file the same Trade Name Report centrally, and Oklahoma has no county-level DBA filing | Okla. Stat. tit. 18, § 1140 |
| Oregon | assumed business name | Oregon Secretary of State, Corporation Division (Application for Registration of Assumed Business Name) | Oregon Secretary of State, Corporation Division (the same application) | ORS 648.007; 648.017 |
| Pennsylvania | fictitious name | Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations (Registration of Fictitious Name, Form DSCB:54-311) | Pennsylvania Department of State as well; individuals file the same fictitious name registration centrally, and there is no county-level DBA filing | 54 Pa.C.S. § 311 |
| Rhode Island | fictitious business name | Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division (Fictitious Business Name Statement, Form 624B, under § 7-16-9), filed through the online Corporate Filing System | Rhode Island Department of State (trade name registration; Rhode Island recently moved trade names from its 39 city and town clerks to the Department of State, though a trade name is still limited to one municipality) | R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-9 |
| South Carolina | none; no statewide filing exists | No state office. A trading name is registered locally, usually when the business licenses with its city or county. | No state office; the same local business-license path applies. | S.C. Code Title 33 (no DBA registration statute exists) |
| South Dakota | fictitious name | South Dakota Secretary of State (DBA / fictitious business name registration) | South Dakota Secretary of State as well, on the same DBA registration; some county Register of Deeds offices historically maintained business-name filings, but the Secretary of State runs the statewide registry | SDCL § 37-11-1 |
| Tennessee | assumed name | Tennessee Secretary of State (Application for Registration of Assumed Name, SS-4402) | Not filed with the Secretary of State; the state assumed-name registration is for entities (LLCs, corporations, LPs), and Tennessee has no statewide DBA registry for sole proprietors | Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-249-106 |
| Texas | assumed name | Texas Secretary of State (Form 503) | County clerk in each county where business is conducted | Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 71 |
| Utah | DBA | Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code (DBA / assumed name registration) | Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code (the same DBA registration) | Utah Code Title 42, Chapter 2 (Conducting Business Under Assumed Name) |
| Vermont | assumed business name | Vermont Secretary of State (Assumed Business Name Registration) | Vermont Secretary of State (the same statewide assumed business name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | 11 V.S.A. § 1621 |
| Virginia | assumed or fictitious name | Virginia State Corporation Commission (Certificate of Assumed or Fictitious Name, Form SCC59.1-70) | Virginia State Corporation Commission as well; since January 1, 2020 individuals file the same certificate centrally with the Commission, and the old circuit-court filing was eliminated | Va. Code § 59.1-69; § 59.1-70 |
| Washington | trade name | Washington Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service (Business License Application via My DOR) | Washington Department of Revenue, Business Licensing Service (the same Business License Application) | RCW 19.80 |
| Washington, D.C. | trade name | DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP), Corporations Division (Trade Name Registration, Form TN-1) | DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (the same district-wide trade name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | D.C. Code § 47-2855.02 |
| West Virginia | trade name | West Virginia Secretary of State, Business & Licensing Division (trade name/DBA registration, Form TN-1, filed through the One Stop Business Portal); the business must first be registered with the West Virginia State Tax Department | West Virginia Secretary of State (the same trade name registration; individuals and sole proprietors register with the State Tax Department and then the Secretary of State) | W. Va. Code § 47-8-2 |
| Wisconsin | trade name (optional ch. 132 registration) | Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (ch. 132 trade name or trademark registration, online); the filing is optional | The same optional DFI registration; no filing is required to trade under the name | Wis. Stat. ch. 132 |
| Wyoming | trade name | Wyoming Secretary of State (Application for Registration of Trade Name) | Wyoming Secretary of State (the same statewide trade name registration applies to individuals and sole proprietors) | W.S. § 40-2-105 |
| State | LLC-path fee | Lasts | Publication | Rights granted | Search existing names | File at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $30 | 5 years | None | Exclusive option | Official search | Official page |
| Alaska | $25 | 5 years | None | Exclusive option | Official search | Official page |
| Arizona | $10 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Arkansas | $22.50 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| California | County-set | 5 years from filing | Required | County presumption | County records only | County clerk |
| Colorado | $20 | No expiration for a reporting entity in good standing; one year for an individual or general partnership | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Connecticut | $20 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Delaware | $25 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Florida | $50 | Through December 31 of the 5th year | Required | None | Official search | Official page |
| Georgia | County-set | No expiration | Required | None | County records only | Official page |
| Hawaii | $50 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Idaho | $25 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Illinois | $150 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Indiana | $20 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Iowa | $100 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Kansas | – | – | – | None | No registry exists | – |
| Kentucky | $20 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Louisiana | $75 | 10 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Maine | $125 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Maryland | $25 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Massachusetts | $50 | 4 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Michigan | $25 | Through December 31 of the fifth full calendar year after filing | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Minnesota | $50 | Annual renewal | Required | None | Official search | Official page |
| Mississippi | $25 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Missouri | $7 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Montana | $20 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Nebraska | $100 | 10 years | Required | None | Official search | Official page |
| Nevada | $25 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| New Hampshire | $50 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| New Jersey | $50 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| New Mexico | – | – | – | None | No registry exists | – |
| New York | $25 | Indefinite | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| North Carolina | $26 | No expiration | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| North Dakota | $25 | 5 years | None | Exclusive option | Official search | Official page |
| Ohio | $39 | 5 years | None | Exclusive option | Official search | Official page |
| Oklahoma | $25 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Oregon | $50 | 2 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Pennsylvania | $70 | Perpetual (decennial report every 10 years) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Rhode Island | $50 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| South Carolina | – | – | – | None | No registry exists | – |
| South Dakota | $10 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Tennessee | $20 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Texas | $25 | Up to 10 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Utah | $22 | 3 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Vermont | $70 | 5 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Virginia | $10 | Perpetual (until released) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Washington | $5 | Indefinite | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Washington, D.C. | $55 | 2 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| West Virginia | $25 | Perpetual (no expiration) | None | None | Official search | Official page |
| Wisconsin | $15 | 10 years | None | Exclusive option | County records only | Official page |
| Wyoming | $100 | 10 years | None | None | Official search | Official page |
"LLC-path fee" is what an LLC pays on its normal filing route where the state sets one price statewide. "County-set" means each county clerk prices its own filings, and a dash means the state runs no DBA filing at all. Each state name links its own page, where the full story and sources live. Only the linked official sources are authoritative, and fees change.
This is where a DBA is most often oversold. In 46 of the 51 verified states, registering tells the public who you are and grants you nothing in the name. The exceptions are narrow and specific: the Rights granted column above records each state's answer, and the worked examples below show the patterns in practice.
51 verified states produce a handful of models, not 51 unique systems. These five examples cover them; each state's own page tells its full story.
Trade names are filed with the Clerk of Superior Court, each county sets its own price, and verified examples run past $170 before the roughly $40 newspaper publication Georgia still requires. There is no statewide index afterward: eCorp never lists trade names, so the record lives only in the county that took it.
Fictitious business names file at the county, statute sets a $10 base but lets counties reprice it, and four weeks of publication follow. The filing carries the middle ground of DBA rights: a rebuttable presumption of the exclusive right to the name, limited to that one county.
One form, $39, two very different tracks: a fictitious name report is disclosure only, while a trade name registration is checked for distinguishability and carries an exclusive-use claim. Ohio is the one verified state where the DBA-type filing can secure the name itself.
Entities file the $25 assumed name certificate with the Secretary of State; sole proprietors and partnerships file county by county. The statute is blunt that the filing grants no rights and is not use for priority, and the state copy is searchable only through SOSDirect at $1 a search.
Neither state registers DBAs at all. In South Carolina the trading name is a local business-license matter, with a narrow assumed-name exception for limited partnerships and foreign entities. In Kansas no registry exists at any level, and the nearest state instrument is a $40 trademark or service mark registration with its own search.
Every fact on this page is read from the statute, the Secretary of State, or the county filing office of the state it describes, never from a secondary source, and the newest verification pass ran on 2026-07-25. The terminology table links each state's statute, and the full per-state source list, with access dates, lives on that state's own page under its official sources section.
No. A DBA filing is a public disclosure that says who is behind a business name. It does not create a legal entity, it does not give liability protection, and it does not replace registering an LLC or corporation. Georgia's state guidance states this plainly for trade names, and the same holds in the other states on this page.
In most states, no. Texas law states that an assumed name filing is not actual use for determining priority and does not stop someone else from filing the same name or forming an entity under it. Florida law calls registration public notice only. California grants a rebuttable presumption limited to one county. Ohio is the exception: a name registered there as a trade name carries an exclusive-use claim and is checked against existing records first.
Only when it does business under a name different from the legal name on its formation documents. If the LLC trades under its own registered name, no DBA filing is required in any state on this page. When it does need one, the office depends on the state's model: the Secretary of State in states such as Florida and Ohio, the county in states such as Georgia and California, both in Texas depending on who owns the business, and in Kansas and South Carolina there is no state filing to make at all.
Because in several states the records never reach the state. Georgia trade names and California fictitious business names live in county indexes, so eCorp and bizfile do not list them. Texas keeps state-level assumed names in Secretary of State records searched through SOSDirect, a paid account. Kansas and South Carolina go further: neither runs a general DBA registration, so for most businesses there is nothing that could appear. States such as Florida, Ohio, and Colorado are the straightforward cases, with registrations in the same public statewide index as everything else.
The disclosure statutes are enforced through the courts. In Texas and Florida, a business operating under an unregistered name cannot maintain a lawsuit in state court until it files, and both states attach civil or criminal penalties on top. The filings exist so the public can find out who is behind a name, and the statutes are written to make skipping them expensive.
Yes, as one more list beside the entity registry. A conflicting DBA may not block your LLC filing, but it signals someone already trades under the name in your market, which matters for confusion and trademark exposure. Check the entity registry first, then the DBA index for the states and counties where you will operate.
Check whether the name looks free in the state registry first, then decide what to file under it.
