Georgia Secretary of State business search — LLC name check, trademark & domain lookup
Georgia's name reservation lasts only 30 days — the shortest in the Southeast — so reserving early and filing late doesn't work here. Corporations also have to publish a notice of intent to incorporate in the county's legal newspaper, which is one more reason to be sure of the name before the reservation clock starts.
Is it taken in Georgia? — Enter the name exactly as you'd file it; the Georgia registry, USPTO and domain registrars are checked together.
Check this name →How to check a business name in Georgia
- Check the name as you'd file it. With the designator (LLC) attached — Georgia compares the whole string.
- Verify at the source. The official Georgia Corporations Division search is the record that counts; registrations change daily.
- Don't stop at the state line. A clear Georgia result says nothing about federal trademarks or the domain; the checker covers both in the same run.
Georgia naming rules: what the Georgia Corporations Division will and won't accept
The rule that matters most in Georgia is distinguishable upon 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 L.C. for an LLC, Corporation, Corp. and Incorporated for a corporation.
A few words are gated. In Georgia that list includes Bank, Banc, Trust, Insurance, College, University and Credit Union — using one implies a regulated activity and the filing will be held until the relevant regulator consents.
What it costs: forming an LLC costs $100, a corporation $100 and a name reservation is $25 and holds the name for 30 days. Online filings ~7 business days; expedited 2-day and same-day for a fee.
Keeping it: Annual registration, $50, due April 1. Miss it and the entity slides to an inactive status — at which point the name can be taken by someone else.
Source: the Georgia Corporations Division, (404) 656-2817 — official website (fee schedule). Fees change; confirm before filing.
How busy is Georgia right now?
The U.S. Census Bureau counted 279,567 business applications from Georgia in the twelve months ending August 2026 — +15.7% on the year before, the 5th-highest total of any state and 25.0 per 1,000 residents (ranked 6th per person). July was the busiest month with 30,181 applications, and Georgia accounts for 4.5% 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: 172,141 applications in calendar 2019.
What people are checking in Georgia
In the past 90 days this site checked 45 names against the Georgia registry, and 82% of them came back clear at the state level. The words that came up most: Cleaning, Solutions, Services, Southern and Outfitters. (Aggregate figures only — we don't publish individual searches.)
How Georgia decides whether a name is taken
Three things the Georgia Corporations Division looks at, and one it doesn't:
- Status. Only entities in an active status hold their names. Dissolved, revoked and withdrawn registrations release the name — with the caveat that a very recent lapse can still be reinstated, which our result notes when it applies.
- Distinguishability. Your name must differ from every active Georgia name by more than punctuation, spacing, capitalisation or the entity designator. Two names that read the same aloud are usually treated as the same name.
- Designator. The recorded name of an LLC ends in an LLC designator and a corporation's in Inc., Corp. or an accepted equivalent; leave it off and the filing is returned.
- Not trademarks. The registry never checks the USPTO. A name can be free in Georgia and still infringe a federal mark, so run both — the checker on this page does.
About the Georgia Corporations Division
The Georgia Corporations Division maintains Georgia's registry of corporations, LLCs, and other registered entities — it is the system of record for Georgia business names. Useful official resources:
- Official Georgia business entity search — the state's own lookup.
- Georgia Corporations Division — official website — filings, forms, fees, and contact details.
Confirming the result on the Georgia Corporations Division'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 Georgia 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 Georgia 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 Georgia each year?
- The Census Bureau counted 279,567 business applications in the twelve months to August 2026, +15.7% on the year before. Not every application becomes a registered entity, but each one is a name someone intends to use.
- Does a Georgia registration protect my name in other states?
- No. It protects the name inside Georgia's registry only. Nationwide protection comes from a federal trademark, which is why the checker runs the USPTO search alongside the Georgia lookup.
- What does a Georgia LLC name have to end with?
- One of the state's accepted designators — LLC, L.L.C., L.C. and Limited Liability Company. 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 Georgia before I file?
- Yes. The Georgia Corporations Division charges $25 to reserve a name for 30 days. A reserved name shows as taken to everyone else's search.
- How much does it cost to register a business name in Georgia?
- The name itself is free to search. Filing the entity is what costs money: $100 for an LLC and $100 for a corporation, then annual registration, $50, due april 1.
- Are there words I can't use in a Georgia business name?
- Words that imply a regulated business need consent first. In Georgia that includes Bank, Banc, Trust, Insurance and College. Names that suggest a government agency are refused outright.
Still choosing a name? Try the Georgia business name generator — every idea checked against the same registry.
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