How many new businesses start in Colorado each year?

The Census Bureau counted 166,950 business applications in the twelve months to August 2026, +20.0% on the year before. Not every application becomes a registered entity, but each one is a name someone intends to use.

What if the Colorado registry shows an inactive company with my name?

Only active registrations block a name. Of the 3.11 million entities in our copy of the Colorado registry, 1.03 million are active. A dissolved entity's name is usually available — but check whether Colorado allows reinstatement, which can revive the older claim.

Does a Colorado registration protect my name in other states?

No. It protects the name inside Colorado's registry only. Nationwide protection comes from a federal trademark, which is why the checker runs the USPTO search alongside the Colorado lookup.

What does a Colorado LLC name have to end with?

One of the state's accepted designators — LLC, L.L.C., Limited Liability Company and Limited Liability Co.. The checker searches the name with and without the suffix, because the suffix alone never makes a name distinguishable.

Can I reserve a business name in Colorado before I file?

Yes. The Colorado Secretary of State charges $25 to reserve a name for 120 days. A reserved name shows as taken to everyone else's search.

How much does it cost to register a business name in Colorado?

The name itself is free to search. Filing the entity is what costs money: $50 for an LLC and $50 for a corporation, then periodic report, $10, due in the anniversary month.

Colorado Secretary of State business search — LLC name check, trademark & domain lookup

Colorado runs an online-only registry where a filing is accepted the moment you submit it — there is no examiner reading your name first. That speed cuts both ways: nothing stops two similar names from being filed minutes apart, so the distinguishability check is yours to do before you click.

Run the Colorado check — One search covers the Colorado registry, federal trademarks and the domain. Free, no signup.

Check this name →

How to check a business name in Colorado

Start with the registry. Search the Colorado registry for the exact name; it's the check that decides whether you can file at all.
Then the two checks the state doesn't do. A federal trademark reaches across state lines, and the .com decides whether customers find you — both run here automatically.
Lock it in. Colorado will hold it for 120 days for $25. The system of record is the Colorado Secretary of State; confirm there before paying a filing fee.

Inside the Colorado registry

There are 3.11 million entities in our copy of the Colorado registry: 72% LLCs, 22% corporations and 4% nonprofits. About 1.03 million of them are active; the rest are dissolved or otherwise inactive — and only the active ones block a name.

The most common words in Colorado business names are Services, Group, Consulting, Enterprises, Solutions and Properties. A name built from those is competing with thousands of near-neighbours — fine for a search, harder for a filing. 64% of names end in an LLC designator. The average registered name is 23.2 characters long.

Colorado naming rules: what the Colorado Secretary of State will and won't accept

Colorado applies one test to every proposed name: it must be distinguishable on the records of the Secretary of State. In practice that means a name that differs from an existing one only by punctuation, spacing, capitalization or the entity suffix will be refused. Designators are fixed: LLC, L.L.C. and Limited Liability Company for an LLC, Corporation, Corp. and Incorporated for a corporation.

A few words are gated. In Colorado that list includes Bank, Trust, Insurance, Credit Union and Savings and Loan — using one implies a regulated activity and the filing will be held until the relevant regulator consents.

The fees are straightforward: forming an LLC costs $50, a corporation $50 and a name reservation is $25 and holds the name for 120 days. Online only; filings are immediate.

Keeping it: Periodic report, $10, due in the anniversary month. Miss it and the entity slides to an inactive status — at which point the name can be taken by someone else.

Per the Colorado Secretary of State, (303) 894-2200 — official website (fee schedule). Fees change; confirm before filing.

How busy is Colorado right now?

Businesses in Colorado filed 166,950 new business applications in the twelve months to August 2026 — +20.0% on the year before, the 12th-highest total of any state and 28.0 per 1,000 residents (ranked 5th per person). April was the busiest month with 19,148 applications, and Colorado accounts for 2.7% of all U.S. filings.

That volume is the reason exact-name checks age quickly here: the registry changes by the hundreds every business day.

Where America starts businesses — all 50 states ranked →

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (monthly, not seasonally adjusted). 2019 comparison: 86,458 applications in calendar 2019.

What people are checking in Colorado

Over the last three months, visitors ran 21 Colorado checks here, and 86% of them came back clear at the state level. The words that came up most: Shack, Bakery, Sugar, Sweets and Nails. (Aggregate figures only — we don't publish individual searches.)

What makes a name available in Colorado?

It must be distinguishable from names already on the Colorado registry — usually more than a difference in punctuation, spacing, or an entity suffix.
Only active registrations block a name. A dissolved or revoked entity with the same name typically doesn't stop you — though a recently inactive one can carry a reinstatement risk worth knowing about (our checker flags exactly that case).
Entity suffixes are required, not decorative. An LLC's legal name must carry an LLC designator; a corporation needs Inc., Corp., or an equivalent accepted in Colorado.
Registry clearance is not trademark clearance. The Colorado Secretary of State checks its own records only — it will register a name that infringes a federal trademark. Check both.

Note: naming rules, fees, and reservation windows are set by Colorado statute and change over time — treat the Colorado Secretary of State's own guidance as final for filing decisions. This page is a practical guide, not legal advice.

About the Colorado Secretary of State

The Colorado Secretary of State maintains Colorado's registry of corporations, LLCs, and other registered entities — it is the system of record for Colorado business names. Useful official resources:

Official Colorado business entity search — the state's own lookup.
Colorado Secretary of State — official website — filings, forms, fees, and contact details.

Confirming the result on the Colorado Secretary of State's site

Treat the checker as the fast filter and the state's own search as the final word. Once a name comes back clear here, open the Colorado entity search and type the name the way it will appear on the formation document — designator and all. Read down the list of matches rather than stopping at "no exact match": look at each record's status (only active ones block you) and at how close the spelling is, because Colorado rejects near-duplicates as well as duplicates. If the name is still clear, reserve it or file the same day; registrations are first-come, first-served and the registry moves daily.

Frequently asked questions

How many new businesses start in Colorado each year?: The Census Bureau counted 166,950 business applications in the twelve months to August 2026, +20.0% on the year before. Not every application becomes a registered entity, but each one is a name someone intends to use.
What if the Colorado registry shows an inactive company with my name?: Only active registrations block a name. Of the 3.11 million entities in our copy of the Colorado registry, 1.03 million are active. A dissolved entity's name is usually available — but check whether Colorado allows reinstatement, which can revive the older claim.
Does a Colorado registration protect my name in other states?: No. It protects the name inside Colorado's registry only. Nationwide protection comes from a federal trademark, which is why the checker runs the USPTO search alongside the Colorado lookup.
What does a Colorado LLC name have to end with?: One of the state's accepted designators — LLC, L.L.C., Limited Liability Company and Limited Liability Co.. The checker searches the name with and without the suffix, because the suffix alone never makes a name distinguishable.
Can I reserve a business name in Colorado before I file?: Yes. The Colorado Secretary of State charges $25 to reserve a name for 120 days. A reserved name shows as taken to everyone else's search.
How much does it cost to register a business name in Colorado?: The name itself is free to search. Filing the entity is what costs money: $50 for an LLC and $50 for a corporation, then periodic report, $10, due in the anniversary month.
Are there words I can't use in a Colorado business name?: Words that imply a regulated business need consent first. In Colorado that includes Bank, Trust, Insurance, Credit Union and Savings and Loan. Names that suggest a government agency are refused outright.

Still choosing a name? Try the Colorado business name generator — every idea checked against the same registry.

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