When you meet someone new, what’s the first thing you want to know about them? Their name. Your name is unique—it’s how people remember you.
The same goes for your Illinois business: choosing your name is the most important step of forming your company. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just picking the name you like best from a list. That works for babies, but not businesses. Illinois has several requirements that you’ll need to follow as you pick a name.
After brainstorming a business name either on your own or through a business naming tool, you’ll want to make sure it is available in your state. That’s where this guide comes in. We’ll walk you through how to use the tool, and we’ll dig into a few ways you can make your name a complete success. Let’s get started.
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How to Use the Illinois Business Name Search Tool
You’ve picked a name. You’re pretty sure it’s the one. But before you seal the deal, you’ll need to ensure that it’s available for you to use. To do so, you’ll need to use the Illinois search tool. It’s called the Corporate/LLC Search.
But we’ll be honest. The tool isn’t exactly the most intuitive. You might be thinking, What’s next? If you don’t know what to do, this name search can be downright overwhelming. But with a few simple pointers, it can be a cinch.
1) Type in the name you’re hoping to use
When we say name, we mean typing in the entire name you’re hoping to use. But you can leave off any entity type identifiers. For example, if you wanted to create a business called “Carla’s Cupcakes, LLC,” then that would be your full legal name. But when searching the name, you could just type “Carla’s Cupcakes.”
2) Make sure the tool’s settings are correct
To get the most out of your search, you’ll want to put the right settings on the search tool. For starters, when you get to the search page itself, you’ll be prompted to pick the type of search. You’ll want to pick the “Corporate and LLC” option.
Then, you’ll need to select the search method. Illinois gives you three options: Name, Key Word, or Partial Word. We recommend starting with the Name option and typing in the whole name you hope to use.
Afterwards, we recommend running a second search using the “Key Word” filter. If we were doing that with the “Carla’s Cupcakes” name, we’d run one on “Cupcakes.” With that filter on, the tool will pull up all of the business names that include the word cupcakes. Why bother? A keyword search will help you know how your name stands out from other cupcake shops in the state.
3) Examine the search results
Now it’s time to look through the results. Do any exact matches appear? What about similar ones?
In Illinois, your name must be “distinguishable upon the record of the Secretary of State.” In layman’s terms, that means your name cannot be the exact same as another name. So if any exact matches pop up, you’ll need to tweak it until it’s unique. That’s why we also recommend conducting that second keyword search. That’ll give you the opportunity to ensure that your name isn’t just “different enough.” It’ll help you ensure that your name truly stands out.
Next Steps for Your Illinois Business Name
The steps we’ve listed above are just the legal requirements for an Illinois LLC name. But this is your business name we’re talking about. You don’t want to just “get by.” You want to go the extra mile and make sure your name is as great as your business concept. You want to protect it, too.
Let’s talk about what you can do to protect (and thrive with) the name you’ve chosen.
1) Double-check that your name meets state requirements
Illinois offers a helpful search tool, but it will only tell you if your name is available to begin with. It won’t, however, tell you if your name complies with state laws for your entity type. Here are some rules to name by:
- Your name cannot include words that aren’t decent or in good taste (and Illinois reserves the right to determine what is good or decent).
- Certain words like “banker,” “fiduciary,” “banker,” and more require written approval from different professional boards. If you suspect that your business will include one of these elements, you’ll need to get that approval first.
- Your name can only contain Arabic and Roman numerals and letters of the English alphabet (i.e., only symbols that the Department of Business Services can reproduce).
- Your name must include an abbreviation or wording that designates your entity type. For example, you must follow “Carla’s Cupcakes” with “L.L.C.,” “Limited Liability Company,” or another entity type identifier. Other business types will need to include an appropriate designation.
2) Make sure that your name stands out
The search tool will help you ensure that your name is available in Illinois. It won’t tell you if there are similar names, though. It also won’t search names in other states. The search tool simply isn’t designed to do that.
We recommend that you also browse through local phone books and do a Google search with your name. Internet search engines pull up results that are close matches to the terms you enter. That includes similar names and businesses in other states. For example, going back to our “Carla’s Cupcakes” example, Google pulls up a hit for a cupcake shop in Virginia.
If that happened to you, it wouldn’t be a make-or-break issue right away. After all, you’re just focused on Illinois results right now. That said, if you ever wanted to expand into other states later on, then you might encounter problems. Plus, having a truly unique name is a great selling point.
3) Make sure you like the name you’ve chosen
This might seem like an obvious one, but you don’t want to overlook it. You should like your business’s name. You should be proud to say it out loud, glad to write it down, excited when you hear someone say it…you get the idea.
Yes, you’re eager to start your business. But don’t get so excited that you settle on a lackluster name that makes you think, “meh.” If you don’t like the name, odds are your customers won’t, either.
A lot of guides will tell you to make sure your name is easy to say, easy to spell, memorable, and gives your customers a clear picture of what they can expect from your business. And those are all true tidbits of advice. Follow them. But at the end of the day, we think it’s important to pick a name that you like.
4) Protect your chosen name
By now, you’ve put in a lot of work to craft the perfect name for your business. Let’s make sure that work doesn’t go to waste. Illinois gives you two methods to protect your name, and you can pick one or the other—not both.
For starters, you could file an Application for Reservation of Name. There’s a $25 for this filing, but it gives you 90 days of exclusive use of your name without actually commencing your business. This is the perfect option if you’ve come up with an ideal name but you’re not quite ready to form your business yet.
But if you are all set to form your business, you should go ahead and file your Articles of Organization. This one has a $150 filing fee, but it actually creates your business. And once your business is created, your name is protected, too.
5) Get a DBA or Trade Name (Optional)
The most important name for your business is your legal name; it’s the name you’ll fill in on your Articles of Organization. But many businesses choose to have a second name, often called a DBA or assumed name. For instance, you might want to offer a second product line without renaming your entire business, or you just found a new nickname that you like.
In Illinois, how you’ll file an Assumed Name Adoption depends on your entity type. For example, unincorporated entities have to file with their local county clerk. But as an “incorporated” entity, LLCs will file on CyberDrive Illinois. There’s a $150 fee (but it gets prorated since this is renewed every five years). But all told, it’s a pretty simple process to have an additional name to operate under.
Want more info? Get the full scoop on registering a trade name here.
Next Steps – Getting Started
We’ve gone into a lot of detail about searching for an Illinois business name in this guide, but here’s the deal: choosing an LLC name is just one step in the much bigger process of starting a business.
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by all that goes into it, don’t panic. We’re here to help. You can catch the full guide to set up an Illinois LLC, but here’s the fly-by version:
Choose a business name
Every business in Illinois needs a name that’s both catchy and gives potential clients a good idea what the business does. The name also needs to be unique—both for legal reasons and so your business stands out from the competition.
Appoint your registered agent
Whether you elect to use a private Illinois registered agent, serve as your own, or you hire a service like the one we’ve listed here, you can’t skip this step. Without a registered agent, you won’t become a legitimate, registered entity.
File your formation documents
If you’re forming an LLC, you’ll need to file the Articles of Organization; corporations file the Articles of Incorporation. Both entity types have a $150 filing fee. If you need help with this step, there are plenty of good Illinois LLC services online.
Beyond that, there are plenty of ongoing costs and maintenance requirements. We won’t go into a ton of detail here, though. Your registered agent (or online registered agent service) will help you keep tabs.
Conclusion
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Conducting a business name search is an important part of forming your business in Illinois. The search saves you time and helps you set up a name that makes your business stand out. We hope this guide made it simple to name your business.