DocketEye

Free name check · 6 states

Is this business name already taken?

Type the name you want. We search the state's own register the way the state reads it — punctuation, capitals and the ending do not make a name different. "Acme Holdings, L.L.C." and "ACME HOLDINGS LLC" are one name to New York.

Free, no account, and nothing is kept. We do not file anything for you and we are not paid by anyone who does.

  • Free, no account
  • Read from the state's own register
  • Not a government agency
  • Nothing about your search is kept
  • 6 states we check names in
  • 2 states we watch courts in
  • 0 accounts needed

This checks a name. It does not watch anything.

A name check tells you what a state register says today. It is not a service, there is nothing to sign up for here, and nobody is watching this name for you afterwards. We can check names in six states. DocketEye's paid monitoring covers New York and New Jersey only — those are two different lists on purpose, and the shorter one is the one that involves a court. Monitoring is for companies that already exist, and you can read exactly which courts it reads on what we watch.

What "already taken" actually means

Every state applies a distinguishability standard, and it is stricter than people expect. Adding a comma, switching LLC to Inc., changing capitals or adding a word like "the" usually does not make a name different enough. That is why an exact-spelling search gives people the wrong answer: it reports a name free, the filing goes in, and the state rejects it.

So we do not compare spellings. We strip the punctuation and the ending down to the identifying words, the same way our lawsuit matcher does, and then we show you every active company whose name collides — including the ones that only collide once you read them the way an examiner does.

What this cannot tell you

If the company already exists and it is yours

Then the more useful question is where a lawsuit against it would be mailed. In New York the Secretary of State is the agent for service on every LLC, and the papers go to the address filed at formation — whether or not anyone still reads mail there. Check the address on file.