Nevada Business Name Checker
Check if your business name is available in Nevada. Validate Nevada naming rules instantly, then search the Secretary of State's records free through SilverFlume — because Nevada's office gives no advance opinion on name availability.
Validate the name format, then search the official Nevada Secretary of State — SilverFlume Business Search records.
1.Search the state registry (Nevada Secretary of State — SilverFlume Business Search) for existing LLCs, corporations, and reserved names
2.Check federal trademarks at USPTO.gov — state approval does not protect you from trademark claims
3.Verify the .com domain is available for your name
4.Grab matching social media handles (Instagram, X, LinkedIn, Facebook)
5.Lock the name in by filing your formation documents — or reserve it first (details below)
Fee
$25 (plus optional $25 expedite)
Holds the name for
90 days
How to file
Online through SilverFlume or by mail (NRS 86.176)
Nevada's Secretary of State gives no advance opinion on availability — the search and the reservation are your only tools, and the statute does not specify renewal terms.
How Business Name Availability Works in Nevada
Nevada runs business filings through SilverFlume, the Secretary of State's online portal, and its entity search is free. Use it well, because Nevada is unusual in offering no advance opinion on name availability — staff will not pre-clear a name by phone or email. Your options are the search and the $25, 90-day reservation under NRS 86.176.
Nevada's LLC statute has a typographic quirk found nowhere else: NRS 86.171 spells the designator "Limited-Liability Company" — with a hyphen. The unhyphenated form, "Limited Company," "Limited," and the abbreviations Ltd., L.L.C., L.C., LLC, and LC are all accepted too. Corporations are stranger still: Nevada generally requires no designator at all for a corporate name, unless the name looks like a natural person's name — then "Inc.," "Ltd.," or similar becomes mandatory (NRS 78.035, 78.039).
Budget honestly for Nevada: the advertised $75 Articles of Organization is only a third of the real bill. With the mandatory initial list of managers ($150) and state business license ($200), forming a Nevada LLC costs $425, and the annual list plus license renewal runs $350 every year. Nevada sells privacy and no state income tax — it does not sell cheap.
Nevada Business Name Requirements
✓ Name Requirements
- • LLCs must include "LLC", "L.L.C.", "LC", "L.C.", "Limited-Liability Company", "Limited Company", "Limited" or "Ltd."
- • Corporations must include "Inc.", "Corp.", "Ltd." or "Incorporated"
- • Must be distinguishable on the records of the Secretary of State from all artificial persons and reserved names — distinctive lettering or trademarks alone do not make a name distinguishable (NRS 86.171)
- • Cannot suggest a government affiliation
- • Cannot be misleading about business purpose
- • Governed by Nevada Revised Statutes § 86.171 (LLCs) and §§ 78.035-78.039 (corporations)
✗ Restricted Words
- • "Bank" — requires approval from the Nevada Financial Institutions Division
- • "Trust" — implies trust-company powers — Nevada Financial Institutions Division review needed
- • "Insurance" — regulated by the Nevada Division of Insurance — extra wording or approval required
- • "Accountant" — words implying accounting practice require Nevada State Board of Accountancy approval
- • "Engineer" — implies licensed engineering services — Nevada State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors approval applies
- • "Architect" — restricted by the Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design
- • "Olympic" — federally protected under the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act
How to Check Name Availability in Nevada
Use the tool above to open the Nevada Secretary of State — SilverFlume Business Search search and look up existing LLCs, corporations, and reserved names. Nevada's Secretary of State gives no advance name-availability opinion — you run the SilverFlume search yourself or simply file the $25 reservation. And the statutory LLC designator is hyphenated: "Limited-Liability Company."
Search the USPTO database at uspto.gov — clearing the Nevada registry does not protect you from a federal trademark claim.
Check that the matching .com domain is available before you commit — renaming an LLC later means an amendment filing and new bank paperwork.
Confirm your name is free on Instagram, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn so your branding stays consistent everywhere.
Nevada lets you reserve a name for 90 days for $25 (plus optional $25 expedite) — Online through SilverFlume or by mail (NRS 86.176).
What Registering a Name Costs in Nevada
| Filing | State Fee | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| LLC formation filing | $425 | One-time |
| Annual report / recurring fee | $150 | Yearly |
| Name reservation | $25 (plus optional $25 expedite) | Holds the name 90 days |
| Fictitious Firm Name (county-level) | Nevada handles DBAs at the county level: file a fictitious firm name certificate with the county clerk in each county where you do business. Fees vary by county, typically about $20-$25 — check your county clerk's schedule. | |
State filing fees as of 2026. See the Nevada LLC tax and fee calculator for the full annual cost picture.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check if a business name is taken in Nevada?
Search free through SilverFlume, the Nevada Secretary of State's online business portal. It covers all artificial persons on the state's records plus name reservations. Note that Nevada gives no advance name-availability opinion — staff will not pre-clear a name — so the search, followed by a $25 reservation if you want certainty, is the whole process. Remember that stylized lettering or a trademark does not make a similar name distinguishable under NRS 86.171.
How much does it cost to reserve a business name in Nevada?
A Nevada name reservation costs $25 and holds the name for 90 days under NRS 86.176, filed online through SilverFlume or by mail; expedited handling is an optional $25 more. Ninety days is shorter than the 120-day standard in most states, and the statute does not spell out renewal terms — so have your formation filings ready before you reserve.
What suffix does a Nevada LLC name need?
NRS 86.171 accepts "Limited-Liability Company" — Nevada's statute famously hyphenates it — as well as "Limited Liability Company," "Limited Company," or "Limited," or the abbreviations Ltd., L.L.C., L.C., LLC, or LC, with "Co." allowed for "Company." Any one of these satisfies the requirement, so you are free to use the ordinary unhyphenated "LLC."
Do Nevada corporations need "Inc." in their name?
Usually not — Nevada is one of the few states where a corporation generally needs no designator at all. The exception: if the corporate name appears to be the name of a natural person (like "John Carter"), NRS 78.035 and 78.039 require a corporate ending such as "Inc.," "Ltd.," "Corp.," or similar to signal that it is a company rather than an individual.
How much does a Nevada LLC really cost to form?
$425, not the $75 you may have seen advertised. Nevada requires three filings together: Articles of Organization ($75), the initial list of managers or members ($150), and the state business license ($200). The costs recur too — each year you file the annual list ($150) and renew the business license ($200), so plan on $350 per year to keep a Nevada LLC in good standing.
How do I register a DBA in Nevada?
At the county level — Nevada has no state DBA registry. File a fictitious firm name certificate with the county clerk in each county where you transact business under the name. Fees vary by county but typically run about $20-$25. If you operate in several counties, you file in each one, and the county filing gives you no statewide exclusivity — it simply records who is behind the trade name.
Related Tools
NV LLC Tax & Fee Calculator
Estimate your NevadaLLC's filing fee, annual report costs, and recurring state charges before you form.
Nevada Quarterly Tax Calculator
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Business Name Generator
Name taken? Generate unique, memorable alternatives for your Nevada business with AI.
Business Entity Search Directory
Official Secretary of State search portals for all 50 states — look up any registered company.
Checking a Name in Another State?
Searching Nevada Names Through SilverFlume
The SilverFlume portal's business entity search is free and covers corporations, LLCs, and every other artificial person on the Secretary of State's records, plus reserved names. Since Nevada's office issues no advance availability opinions, this search is the closest thing to pre-clearance the state offers.
Read results with NRS 86.171 in mind: a name must be distinguishable on the records from all artificial persons and reservations, and the statute says outright that distinctive lettering or a trademark alone does not make a name distinguishable. Stylized capitals, punctuation, or a logo will not rescue a wording conflict.
If the name is clear and you are not ready to file, reserve it: $25 for 90 days under NRS 86.176, online through SilverFlume or by mail, with an optional $25 expedite. Ninety days is shorter than the 120-day norm elsewhere, so line up your formation paperwork before you start the clock.
Nevada's Hyphenated LLC and Designator-Free Corporations
NRS 86.171 gives Nevada LLCs a wide menu: "Limited-Liability Company" (the statute's own hyphenated spelling), "Limited Liability Company," "Limited Company," or "Limited" — or the abbreviations Ltd., L.L.C., L.C., LLC, or LC, with "Co." accepted for "Company." Any of these satisfies the requirement; the hyphen is a statutory curiosity, not an obligation.
Corporations flip the script: Nevada generally requires no corporate designator at all. "Silver State Holdings" is a perfectly valid Nevada corporation name. The exception is a name that appears to be that of a natural person — "John Carter" must become "John Carter, Inc." or carry another corporate ending under NRS 78.035 and 78.039.
Restricted words follow the usual pattern — banking, insurance, accounting, engineering, and architecture terms need the relevant Nevada regulator's sign-off — and the distinguishability test runs against every artificial person on file, not just entities of the same type.
What a Nevada LLC Really Costs — and County-Level DBAs
Nevada's headline $75 filing fee is misleading. Forming an LLC requires three simultaneous filings: Articles of Organization ($75), the initial list of managers or members ($150), and the state business license ($200) — a real total of $425. Every year after, the annual list ($150) and business license renewal ($200) recur, so the true carrying cost is $350 per year.
DBAs are the one thing Nevada does locally: there is no state fictitious-name registry. File a fictitious firm name certificate with the county clerk in each county where you do business — Clark, Washoe, and the rest each keep their own forms and fees, typically around $20-$25 per county.
None of this buys trademark rights, and Nevada says so pointedly: since trademarks do not even make a name distinguishable on the registry, registry acceptance certainly does not create a mark. Clear the brand against the USPTO database before committing to it.
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