Texas Corporation Name Search and Naming Rules

Texas won't accept your Certificate of Formation if your proposed name isn't distinguishable on the records of the Secretary of State from names already in use. This is the core rule, and it's stricter than casual intuition suggests.

What "distinguishable" means

Your name must be meaningfully different from every existing entity name on file — not just other corporations, but LLCs, limited partnerships, reserved names, and registered assumed names. Small variations usually don't make two names distinguishable:

• Differences only in punctuation, spacing, or capitalization
• Adding or dropping articles like "the," "a," or "an"
• Adding or dropping "and" versus an ampersand
• Singular versus plural or possessive forms of the same word
• The entity designator alone (adding "Inc." to a name identical to an existing one)

If two names are so similar that the public could confuse them, the Secretary of State will reject the later one. Checking carefully before you file saves you a rejection, a lost filing fee, and a delay.

Texas doesn't offer a full free public name search the way some states do. The authoritative search runs through the Secretary of State's paid system.

SOSDirect

The official availability search is on SOSDirect. It requires an account and charges a small per-search fee. Because it searches the actual Secretary of State records, it's the most reliable way to check — the same database that reviews your filing.

Preliminary checks

Before paying for the SOSDirect search, you can do informal legwork:

• Comptroller taxable entity search — the Comptroller maintains a searchable list of taxable entities that can surface obviously conflicting names.
• General web and social searches — to see whether a name is already in commercial use, even if it's not a conflicting Texas entity.

These informal checks won't give you the definitive distinguishability answer — only the Secretary of State's review does that — but they help you weed out obvious problems before spending on the formal search. When you've narrowed to a serious candidate, confirm it through SOSDirect.

A Texas corporate name has to include a proper designator and avoid restricted terms.

The corporate designator

The name must contain a word or abbreviation indicating it's a corporation:

• "Corporation," "Incorporated," or "Company"
• The abbreviations "Corp.," "Inc.," or "Co."

Note that "Company" or "Co." alone can also apply to some non-corporate entities, so if you want the name to clearly read as a corporation, "Inc." or "Corp." leaves no ambiguity.

Restricted and prohibited words

• Words implying a government affiliation (suggesting the entity is a state or federal agency) aren't allowed.
• Words like "bank," "trust," "insurance," and similar regulated terms generally require prior approval from the relevant regulator.
• Terms implying a purpose the corporation isn't authorized to pursue — for instance, a professional field requiring licensure — can trigger additional requirements.
• Certain words tied to specific professions or activities may need supporting documentation.

When in doubt about a restricted word, the Secretary of State's name filing FAQs explain the current requirements.

If you've found an available name but aren't ready to file the Certificate of Formation, you can reserve it. A name reservation holds your chosen name for a limited period, preventing anyone else from registering it while you get your ducks in a row.

When reservation makes sense

• You're still finalizing your directors, share structure, or funding before filing.
• You're coordinating a brand launch and need the name locked.
• You want certainty before investing in signage, a website, or marketing tied to the name.

Reservation carries a small state fee and holds the name for a set window. Most founders skip it and simply file when they're ready, since a reservation only holds the name — it doesn't form the corporation. But if there's a real risk someone else grabs the name in the interim, it's cheap insurance.

Clearing a name with the Secretary of State is necessary, but it isn't the whole story of protecting a business name.

Assumed names (DBAs)

If you want to operate under a name different from your legal corporate name, file an Assumed Name Certificate (Form 503) with the Secretary of State. For example, "Lone Star Holdings, Inc." might do business as "Lone Star Coffee." A Texas assumed name registration can be valid for up to ten years — longer than most states — and is a separate filing from forming the corporation.

Trademarks are a different question

Entity-name availability is not the same as trademark rights. Two things to keep in mind:

• The Secretary of State's approval means your name is distinguishable for entity registration purposes. It does not grant you trademark rights or guarantee you won't infringe someone else's mark.
• Before you build a brand around a name, search the federal trademark database (USPTO) and consider common-law usage. A name can be perfectly registrable as a Texas entity yet still infringe an existing trademark.

For a name you plan to build a brand on, treat the Secretary of State clearance and a trademark clearance as two separate steps. Getting the entity registered protects the corporate name in Texas's records; a trademark protects your brand across commerce. When the name matters commercially, a trademark attorney's clearance search is worth the cost.