Arizona Business Name
Availability Search

In Arizona, businesses are often structured as limited liability entities, such as corporations or limited liability companies. The names of these entities are often used as the brand names for businesses. Enter in the proposed type of limited liability entity that you would like to form along with the proposed entity's name in the form below and our systems will do a preliminary check of the name's availability with Arizona's Corporation Commission. Please note that these systems do not check the availability of trade names, trademarks, limited partnerships, etc.

LLC Name Requirements

Arizona's LLC Act requires that the name of a limited liability company shall:

1. Contain the words "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviations "L.L.C.", "L.C.", "LLC" or "LC", in uppercase or lowercase letters.
2. Not contain the words "association", "corporation" or "incorporated" or an abbreviation of these words.
3. Not include the words "bank", "deposit", "credit union", "trust" or "trust company" separately or in combination to indicate or convey the idea that the limited liability company is engaged in banking, credit union or trust business unless the limited liability company is to be and becomes actively and substantially engaged in the banking, credit union or trust business or the limited liability company is a holding company holding substantial interest in companies actively and substantially engaged in the banking, credit union or trust business.

Corporation Name Requirements

Arizona's statutes, specifically A.R.S. § 10-401, require that the name of a corporation:

1. Shall Contain the word "association", "bank", "company", "corporation", "limited" or "incorporated" or an abbreviation of one of these words or words or abbreviations of like import in another language.
2. Shall not contain language stating or implying that the corporation is organized for a purpose other than that permitted by section 10-301 and its articles of incorporation.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of this subsection, shall not include the words "bank", "deposit", "credit union", "trust" or "trust company" separately or in combination to indicate or convey the idea that the corporation is engaged in banking or trust business unless the corporation is to be and becomes actively and substantially engaged in the banking, credit union or trust business or the corporation is a holding company holding substantial interest in companies actively and substantially engaged in the banking or trust business.
4. Shall not contain the words "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviations "L.L.C.", "L.C.", "LLC" or "LC", in uppercase or lowercase letters.

Distinguishability

In general, the name of the limited liability company must be distinguishable from all of the following:

1. The corporate name of a corporation incorporated in Arizona or a foreign corporation authorized to transact business in Arizona.
2. An existing or reserved corporate name or a fictitious name adopted by a foreign corporation.
3. The corporate name of a nonprofit corporation incorporated in Arizona or a foreign nonprofit or not for profit corporation authorized to conduct affairs in Arizona.
4. The partnership name of a limited partnership organized and registered under Arizona law or of a foreign limited partnership authorized to transact business in Arizona.
5. The name of a limited liability company organized in Arizona or a foreign limited liability company authorized to transact business in Arizona.
6. A trade name registered pursuant to Arizona law.
7. The name of a registered limited liability partnership organized in Arizona or a foreign limited liability partnership authorized to transact business in Arizona.

Unfortunately, Arizona's statutes do not provide specific information about what is "distinguishable". However, both Arizona's Secretary of State and Arizona's Corporation Commission have provided some guidance as to what they deem "distinguishable" and "non-distinguishable". However, the fact that a name is approved by Arizona's Corporation Commission does not guarantee that the name doesn't infringe upon other registered names or marks. In particular, Courts use different standards to determine whether a name infringes, specifically, the "likelihood of confusion" standard and the "deceptively similar" standard, than Arizona's Corporation Commission.

Arizona Corporation Commission

According to Arizona's Corporation Commission, the following do make a name distinguishable:

Prepositions and conjunctions are not eliminated prior to searching for name availability and are considered distinguishable.

EXAMPLES:
“Into the Deep Co.” is distinguishable from “To the Deep Co.”
“Of Mice and Men Inc.” is distinguishable from “Mice and Men Inc.”

The same words in a different order may make a name distinguishable.

EXAMPLE: “House Party” is distinguishable from “Party House”

Words that are spelled differently or creatively are considered distinguishable.

EXAMPLES:
“Crispy Cream” is distinguishable from “Krispy Kream”
“Capitol Finance” is distinguishable from “Capital Finance”

Abbreviations and unabbreviated versions of the same words are distinguishable. In addition, acronyms are distinguishable from the words that the acronym represents.

EXAMPLES:
“Computer Solution Technology” is distinguishable from “Computer Solution Tech.”
“Arizona Boot Barn” is distinguishable from “AZ Boot Barn”
“ACMA” is distinguishable from “Arizona Candy Makers Association”

The following letters and specific symbols are NOT converted to the word/number equivalent and may make a name distinguishable.

• A-Z
• %
• $
• +
• =
• @

EXAMPLE: “Dollar Store” is distinguishable from “$ Store”

Roman Numbers are distinguishable from words representing the numbers.

EXAMPLE: “Bookstore III” is distinguishable from “Bookstore Three” or “Bookstore 3” (note that “Bookstore Three” is NOT distinguishable from “Bookstore 3”)

The use of the word “Arizona” may make a name distinguishable.

EXAMPLE: “Arizona Pet Food Specialists Inc.” is distinguishable from “Pet Food Specialists Inc.”

The plural form of a word may make a name distinguishable.

EXAMPLE: “Good Deed Inc.” is distinguishable from “Good Deeds Inc.”

Words in a foreign language are not translated into English, but must consist of letters in the Roman alphabet, Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, etc.), or symbols capable of being readily reproduced by the Division.

EXAMPLES:
“Rio Verde” is distinguishable from “Green River”
“Evangelical Church” is distinguishable from “Evangelico Church”
“El Burrito” is distinguishable from “The Burrito” or “Burrito”

This brief overview of some important considerations associated with Arizona LLC names is by no means comprehensive. Always seek the advice of a competent professional when making important financial and legal decisions.