If you are thinking of structuring your business legally and formally with a Florida LLC to protect yourself from personal liability, you are on the right track.
The next step, of course, is to name your Florida LLC.
The first step to success is to give your Florida LLC a name that is catchy and memorable.
We have put together one of the most comprehensive guide on the web on how to name your Florida LLC. Read on to learn the ins and outs of correctly naming your Florida LLC.
Note: If you want to register your LLC in Wyoming or Delaware, do not read this article and instead read here
Below are some important points to keep in mind in general.
In addition to the general naming rules mentioned above, there are some special naming rules for Florida that we cover here.
To find out if your desired name is already registered, you will need to do a name search on the Florida Division of Corporations website.
More on this later, as there are some nuances and subtleties that should be considered when naming a Florida LLC
As a freelancer or business owner, you can use the following suffixes for your Florida business:
Suffixes with different variations, such as "Limited Liability Company" or "LLC", are essentially the same; therefore, there is no difference between "Nimila Research, Limited Liability Company" and "Nimila Research, LLC".
The same applies to other suffixes for corporate structures such as "Inc.", "Corporation", "Corp.", etc. You also cannot register the name if "Nimila Research Corporation" is already registered in Florida.
The question is how to ensure that the name you want is available. First, you need a Florida corporate search tool. The Florida Division of Corporations offers an online search tool that allows you to perform a name search on their corporate database.
Then click on Search Now.
Congratulations, you have just done a business search in Florida and what you will see is a list of business listings very similar to the one you are looking for. So let us try a name, “Nimila”, and see how it works.
The Status column is important because it tells you the current status of an entity and whether or not you can use the name. Let's dive in.
As you can see in the Status column, there are words like INACT, INACT /UA, InActive and Active; what do they mean?
You have searched and the company name you want is available. You do not want to register your LLC now but are concerned that someone else may take it.
If this is the case, you can send a letter to the Florida Division of Corporations (or do so online) requesting that the business name be reserved under your name and address for 120 days. To secure the name, you must pay a small fee. The name reservation fees are as follows:
1. Click on this link first: FL Fictitious Name Registration
2. Read the Disclaimer, check the box, and click “Begin Fictitious Name Registration.”
3. Under "Fictitious Name to be Registered", enter your desired name and other required information such as your email address and your company's mailing address.
4. Under "Owner's Name and Address", you only need to fill in one of these fields:
5. Scroll to the bottom of the page, type your name before "Owner Signature" and click "Next".
6. You will be redirected to a payment page where you will need to make a payment to reserve the name for your LLC.
Trademarks protect businesses from being confused by consumers by preventing others from using similar words to describe their products or services. If someone else uses your trademarked name, they may be infringing on your rights, and you can take them to court.
In the same vein, you should make sure that your name does not infringe on the rights of other trademark owners.
If you want to be sure that the trademark you choose does not infringe on another company's trademark, you should check the United States Federal Trademark Database on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.
Can I have Multiple Names for my LLC?
What if you want to do business under a name other than your LLC name? There is a way to use a different name without registering another LLC or Corporation.
We call this Doing Business As (DBA), "trade name" or "fictitious name." After forming your LLC, you may want to operate under a DBA or trade name for a variety of reasons.
For example, it may be appropriate to use a different name if you feel that your official LLC name is difficult for customers to remember, or if you believe that an alternative name better conveys your goods or services.
If you want to use a DBA, you can do so for any reason.
Getting one is typically straightforward, requiring only a search of existing organizations to ensure that the desired trade name is not already in use, filing an application with the appropriate government agency, and paying a small filing fee.
Getting a DBA for your LLC is typically straightforward. just search for existing organizations to make sure the trade name you want is not already in use, file an application with the appropriate authority, and pay a small filing fee.
If you are interested to know more about the benefits of DBA and how to use it effectively in conjunction with your LLC name, you can read our Guide to DBA and Trade Names
We hope we have given you everything you need to properly name your Florida LLC. In short, if you want to use a specific name for your LLC, you need to make sure it does not violate the trademark rights of others and complies with the State of Florida's business naming regulations.
You should also think about whether or not the name of your business is appropriate for your particular field of expertise. Finally, you need to make sure that customers can easily remember the name of your business.
If you need help checking your Florida LLC, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hello@startfleet.io
StartFleet helps you with your US Company formation. Apart from helping you to register a US company we offer a lot more:
Kathleen Schweitzer is an international taxation expert, providing strategic counsel to businesses with complex compliance, tax and financial issues in an effort to help them grow their business globally. She often gives lecture on U.S. tax developments, transfer pricing, taxes on the sale of goods and services, U.S. tax policy development, taxation of internet commerce and multi-jurisdictional global tax planning. Kathleen enjoys reading, photography, cooking and spending time with her husband and eleven-year-old daughter.
Building an online business is a lonely endeavor.
Join our newsletter to get stories of successful global entrepreneurs on how they build their online business.
