Louisiana Secretary of State business search — LLC name check, trademark & domain lookup
Louisiana's registry is the only one built on civil-law foundations, and its entity types reflect it — you'll see 'L3C' and 'Registered Limited Liability Partnership' alongside the usual LLC and corporation. Its search requires a reCAPTCHA pass, so automated checkers that skip it silently return nothing; ours drives the real form.
Check a Louisiana business name now — Enter the exact name you're considering — it's searched against state registry records, federal trademark filings, and domain registrars. Free, no signup to start.
Check this name →How to check a business name in Louisiana
- Type the exact name, suffix included. The checker runs it against the Louisiana registry, the federal trademark register and domain registrars in one pass.
- Read the close matches, not just the verdict. Louisiana refuses names that aren't distinguishable — a near-miss on the list is the one that will block you.
- Reserve or file while it's clear. Louisiana will hold it for 120 days for $25. Confirm at the official Louisiana Secretary of State search first.
Louisiana naming rules: what the Louisiana Secretary of State will and won't accept
Every Louisiana filing is screened for a single thing before anything else: the name must be distinguishable from names 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. An LLC name must end in LLC, L.L.C., L.C. and Limited Liability Company; a corporation uses Corporation, Corp., Incorporated and Inc., among others.
Certain words trigger a review. In Louisiana that list includes Bank, Trust, Insurance, Engineer, Surveyor, Architect and Cooperative — 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 $100, a corporation $75 and a name reservation is $25 and holds the name for 120 days. Geauxbiz online filings 1-2 business days; 24-hour expedited for $30.
Keeping it: Annual report, $30 (LLC) / $30 (corp), due by the anniversary date. An entity that stops filing loses good standing, and with it the exclusive claim to its name.
Per the Louisiana Secretary of State, (225) 925-4704 — official website (fee schedule). Fees change; confirm before filing.
How busy is Louisiana right now?
The U.S. Census Bureau counted 82,372 business applications from Louisiana in the twelve months ending August 2026 — +23.5% on the year before, the 24th-highest total of any state and 17.9 per 1,000 residents (ranked 18th per person). July was the busiest month with 8,539 applications, and Louisiana accounts for 1.3% of all U.S. filings.
Each application is a competitor for the same short, natural-sounding names, so the more active the state, the less a week-old search result is worth.
Where America starts businesses — all 50 states ranked →
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (monthly, not seasonally adjusted). 2019 comparison: 54,093 applications in calendar 2019.
What makes a name available in Louisiana?
- It must be distinguishable from names already on the Louisiana 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 Louisiana.
- Registry clearance is not trademark clearance. The Louisiana Secretary of State checks its own records only — it will register a name that infringes a federal trademark. Check both.
About the Louisiana Secretary of State
The Louisiana Secretary of State maintains Louisiana's registry of corporations, LLCs, and other registered entities — it is the system of record for Louisiana business names. Useful official resources:
- Official Louisiana business entity search — the state's own lookup.
- Louisiana Secretary of State — official website — filings, forms, fees, and contact details.
Confirming the result on the Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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
- Does a Louisiana registration protect my name in other states?
- No. It protects the name inside Louisiana's registry only. Nationwide protection comes from a federal trademark, which is why the checker runs the USPTO search alongside the Louisiana lookup.
- What does a Louisiana 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 Louisiana before I file?
- Yes. The Louisiana 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 Louisiana?
- The name itself is free to search. Filing the entity is what costs money: $100 for an LLC and $75 for a corporation, then annual report, $30 (llc) / $30 (corp), due by the anniversary date.
- Are there words I can't use in a Louisiana business name?
- Words that imply a regulated business need consent first. In Louisiana that includes Bank, Trust, Insurance, Engineer and Surveyor. Names that suggest a government agency are refused outright.
- How many new businesses start in Louisiana each year?
- The Census Bureau counted 82,372 business applications in the twelve months to August 2026, +23.5% on the year before. Not every application becomes a registered entity, but each one is a name someone intends to use.
Still choosing a name? Try the Louisiana business name generator — every idea checked against the same registry.
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