How to Name Your US Company (and Check Availability)

To name a US company, pick a name that is distinguishable from every existing entity on your formation state's record, attach the correct legal designator ("LLC" or one of the corporation words), and avoid restricted terms like "bank" or "trust." Run a free availability search on the Secretary of State's database, and if you are not ready to file yet, pay a small fee to reserve the name. None of this requires a US address or SSN — a non-resident can do every step online.

What are the rules for naming a US LLC or corporation?

Every US state enforces two non-negotiable rules: your name must carry the right legal designator, and it must be distinguishable from names already on file. The specifics are set by each state's business-entity statute, so the exact wording depends on where you form.

Start with the designator, because it is the easiest to get wrong.

A Wyoming LLC name must include "Limited Liability Company" or an accepted abbreviation — "LLC," "L.L.C.," "Limited Company," "LC," or "Ltd. Liability Co." This is required by Wyoming Statute 17-29-108. Skip it, and the Secretary of State rejects the filing.

Delaware works the opposite way for corporations.

Under Delaware Code Title 8, §102, a corporation's name must contain one of: "association," "company," "corporation," "club," "foundation," "fund," "incorporated," "institute," "society," "union," "syndicate," or "limited" — or an abbreviation like "Inc.," "Corp.," or "Co." A Delaware C-Corp therefore needs a corporate word, not an LLC tag.

What does "distinguishable upon the record" actually mean?

"Distinguishable" means your name has to be meaningfully different from existing entities, not just cosmetically tweaked. The state compares against its own database only — so the test is about other registered companies in that state, not the whole internet.

Here is the trap most first-time founders fall into.

Wyoming's guidance is explicit: simply adding or changing the entity designator does not make a name distinguishable. "Apex Logistics LLC" and "Apex Logistics Inc." are treated as the *same* name, because "LLC," "Inc.," "Ltd," "Company," and similar tags are ignored in the comparison. Punctuation, spacing, and capitalization changes are usually ignored too.

What does create distinction is a real difference in the wording itself — a different distinctive word, an added meaningful term, or a different number. Wyoming's distinguishability standard cross-references W.S. 17-16-401; Delaware applies the same principle through its Division of Corporations name check.

Which words are restricted or banned in a company name?

Words that imply you are a regulated financial institution or a government body are restricted in every state, and using them without a license gets your filing bounced. Delaware is one of the strictest examples.

Per Delaware Code Title 8, §102, a corporate name shall not contain the word "trust," and shall not contain "bank" or any variation of it — except for an actual bank under the supervision of the State Bank Commissioner. There is a narrow carve-out: "bank" may appear where the context clearly does not refer to a banking business and is not likely to mislead the public, as determined by the Division of Corporations.

If your business genuinely touches finance — say you plan to off-ramp stablecoins — you do not need "bank" or "trust" in the name to operate. A plain LLC name plus a compliant payment rail does the job, which is exactly the setup StableCorp builds for non-resident founders.

How do I check if a company name is available?

Use the formation state's official entity-search tool — it is free, public, and returns results in real time. This is the single most important step before you file, design a logo, or buy a domain, because a name clash means starting over.

Delaware's tool is for genuine real-time checks only; the Division of Corporations prohibits automated scraping and bulk querying of the database.

And remember the two searches answer different questions: the state database tells you if you can *register* the entity, while the USPTO tells you if you can *defend the brand* nationally.

How does a non-resident reserve a US company name before filing?

If you have found an available name but are not ready to file your formation documents, you can reserve it by filing a short application and paying a fee — and a non-resident can do this entirely online, with no US address or SSN required. The reservation holds the name so no one else can take it while you finish your paperwork.

The hold period is generous in both states.

Delaware reserves an available name for 120 days under Title 8, §102, renewable for successive 120-day periods. Wyoming offers a name reservation via a Name Reservation form for a $60 filing fee. For most founders, though, reservation is optional — if your name is clear and you are ready, you can simply file the formation and claim the name in one step.

Choosing between the two states is its own decision — our guide to the best state to form a US company covers when Wyoming's lower upkeep wins and when Delaware is worth it.

What's the StableCorp angle most naming guides miss?

Here is the insight other guides skip: clearing a name on the state database is the easy 10% — the part that actually stalls non-resident founders is everything that has to match the name *after* filing. Your name appears identically on the Articles, the EIN application, the bank-account opening, and every invoice, and a mismatch anywhere triggers rejections.

That chain is where founders lose weeks.

An EIN application has to carry the exact legal name on your formation record, and a US business bank account cannot open without that EIN — applications without one are rejected. The name is not a branding step you finish and forget; it is the primary key that has to line up across formation, the IRS, your bank, and your payment rails. Get one field wrong and the whole sequence jams.

This is the part StableCorp handles end to end: we form your Wyoming LLC or Delaware C-Corp under the name you clear, then carry that exact name through the EIN, the US bank account, and your USD plus USDC/USDT payment rails on Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon — so nothing gets rejected for a name mismatch.

And when you move money, the pricing is the wedge: StableCorp charges 0.5% to off-ramp stablecoins for clients incorporated with us, and 1% to convert directly to INR, versus the market's roughly 2.9% headline plus about 2% hidden FX markup — close to 5% effective. See full pricing for the breakdown.

Your company name is a database key, not a logo. Clear it once, then make it match across the IRS, your bank, and your money rail — or every downstream step bounces.

If you would rather not stitch this together, StableCorp clears the name, files the formation, secures the EIN, and opens the US bank account as one flow. See pricing to start.

Frequently asked questions

Can I name my US company before I have an EIN or bank account?

Yes — naming and clearing availability comes first. You choose and reserve or register the name, then apply for the EIN under that exact name, then open the bank account. The order is name, EIN, bank.

Does a state name search protect my brand?

No. State availability only means you can register the entity in that state. To protect the brand nationally you need a federal trademark — search the USPTO database and, if clear, file an application.

Do I need a US address or SSN to reserve a company name?

No. Name searches and reservations are open to non-residents online. You will eventually need a registered agent in the formation state to file the entity itself, but not to search or reserve a name.

What if my chosen name is too similar to an existing one?

The state will reject it as not distinguishable. Add a meaningful distinctive word, change the core wording, or pick a different name — changing only the designator (LLC vs. Inc.) will not fix it.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. State naming rules, fees, and reservation periods change — confirm current requirements with the relevant Secretary of State before filing. As of June 2026, the StableCorp figures above reflect our founder-verified facts sheet.

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