How to Name Your Florida Limited Liability Company (LLC)

You need the right name for your Florida LLC. Choosing the right name is vital because It tells your suppliers, customers and employees what your business does. Florida has several rules and regulations about what you can call your new business. Let’s explore what they are:

Florida Rules on What You Can Call Your LLC

• The name needs to be unique and not used by another LLC or business operating in Florida
• LLC names must use the English alphabet or regular numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
• The name of your Florida business must end with “Limited Liability Company,” “L.L.C.” or “LLC”
• “Limited” and “Company” can be abbreviated to “Ltd.” and “Co.”

Rules on Not Confusing Your Florida Business Name With Another Business Name

• The following terms can’t be used to say your business name is different to another business name:
  • Suffixes like Corporation, Company, Incorporated, Incorporation, Limited, Corp, Co, Inc, Ltd, LLC.
  • Definite articles like “A”, “And”, “An”, “&” “The” etc
  • The singular, plural or possessive forms of a word
  • Punctuation and symbols
  • Abbreviations of words
  • Different typefaces, fonts, superscript, subscript etc
• It should not be possible to confuse the name of your business with the name of another Florida business.
• For example, you can’t claim that Blue Widget Co., Blue Widget LLC, Blue Widget Incorporated, Blue-Widget-Company or Blue Widget are different to each other.

Other Words And Your Florida LLC Business Name

• Certain restricted words need additional paperwork if you want to use them in your business name. This includes both names associated with institutions, e.g. bank, credit union, and words associated with certain qualified professions like doctors, engineers, attorneys or architects.
• You cannot use certain prohibited words that would confuse the name of your LLC with a federal or state agency, e.g. IRS, EPA, Treasury etc.
• You can also be a Florida LLC with a different “doing business as” name. In Florida these are known as “Fictitious Names” and need to be registered with the secretary of state. You can find full details on doing that here.

Infringing on Service Marks or Trademarks Inside or Outside Florida

In addition to the rules above, it’s also vital to see if your Florida LLC name might infringe on the trademark or service mark of another business. For example, it might not be a good idea to call yourself “Google Search Optimization Services,” since Google is a trademark.

The easiest way to see if your proposed business name infringes is to carry out a trademark search. You can do that via the United States Patent and Trademark Office. You should also bear in mind that your Florida business entity name cannot be substantially similar to an existing trademark or service mark.

How to Search for Your Florida Business Entity Name

Search the database of the Florida Secretary of State for your proposed business name to see if it's unique.

You can search for:

• Entity Name
• Officer/Registered Agent
• Registered Agent Name
• Trademark Name
• Trademark Owner Name
• FEI/EIN
• Detail By Document Number
• Zip Code
• Street Address

What Should You Call Your Florida LLC?

Finding the perfect name for your Florida business can be difficult. You need a business name that:

• Describes what your business does
• Appeals to your planned audience
• Makes your business easy to find
• Is relatively unique
• Doesn’t limit you to a particular location or type of product or service

Fortunately, we’ve got some good advice on seeking out the perfect business name for your Florida LLC. Check out our guidance here to get inspired.

You’ve Found the Perfect Name, What Next?

Once you’ve found the right name for your business, it’s time to make it a reality. Check out our guide to starting your Florida LLC and form your LLC today.