Free tool
Business name generator
Free, no account, and the keyword you type never leaves this device. Give it one word you already like and the kind of business you run, and it joins the two into a list you can start deleting from. Most people do not think up a good name; they reject thirty-nine and keep the fortieth.
Type a word above and choose an industry. The list appears here.
This is an inspiration list built from combinations. Check the trademark register and the business registry yourself before using a name.
Four things worth knowing before you start
- It runs in your browser. The keyword you type never leaves this device, there is no account to create and no email address to hand over — the list is yours the second it appears, with nothing in between.
- It combines words; it doesn't look anything up. Your word is joined to a fixed list of industry words in a handful of fixed patterns. That's enough to get you off a blank page. It is not enough to tell you whether a name is free to use.
- Whether a name is available is a separate job, and it's yours. Before you commit, search your national trademark register, the business registry where you'll operate, and the domain you'd want, for the name and for close variants of it.
- A name is half the job. The other half is a site that loads, says plainly what you do, and lets someone contact you or buy without asking you first.
The name is the short half. The site underneath it takes longer, which is why ours starts from a real industry layout instead of an empty canvas: pages, opening hours, a contact form, and ordering or bookings when the business needs them. On Storefront you can build and preview ordering and bookings; on Storefront Pro they run on your published site, and you can download the whole site and host it anywhere, so you're never locked into us. (For your developer: it exports as a standard Next.js project.)
See plans and pricingCommon questions
Can I use these names as they are?
Not until you've checked. This tool has no idea what is already registered; it only recombines words. Before you print anything, search your national trademark database for the name and for close variants, check the business registry for the state or country you'll operate in, and confirm the domain and the social handles you want are still free. If the business will operate in more than one country, each one has to be checked separately.
Will someone else get the same name?
Possibly, and that is exactly what the trademark search is for. The word lists and the patterns are fixed and public, so the same keyword in the same industry produces the same list for anyone — which is why the step that decides is your national trademark register, not this page. Use the list to find the shape you like, then check the one name you want.
What makes a name easy for customers to remember?
Say it out loud before you look at it. The names that stick are short, they spell the way they sound, and they survive being said once over the phone in a noisy room. Skip the clever spellings: if someone hears your name and can't type it into a search box, they can't find you.
I have a name. What happens next?
Three things, in this order. Register it: the business registration, and the trademark too if the name matters to you. Buy the domain before you announce the name anywhere. Then build the site, and make it say plainly what you do, where you are, and how to reach you or buy. That last part is what we make, and the pricing page has what it costs.
How do I check whether a business name is available?
No single register covers everything, so plan on three separate free checks. First, your state's business filing agency — the Secretary of State in most states — runs an online entity search — free in most states, though Texas charges $1.00 per search on SOSDirect that shows whether a registered company already holds the name. Second, the USPTO's Trademark Search at tmsearch.uspto.gov, which is free and needs no account, and which replaced the old TESS system on 30 November 2023; the USPTO itself tells you to look for similar marks, not just your exact spelling. Europe's equivalent is TMview, covering the EUIPO and the national offices, also free. Third, the domain and the social handles, at any registrar. Do all three, because a clear state search is not a clear trademark search — and a state register lists companies that filed, not every business trading under the name.
Where does a business registration number come from?
A business registration number is issued, not generated — it exists only once a government office has accepted your filing. In the US, two different numbers get called by that name. The state entity or file number is assigned by the Secretary of State when your LLC or corporation filing is approved. The federal EIN comes from the IRS, costs nothing, and is issued immediately online at irs.gov; the application is open Monday to Friday 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Eastern, Saturday 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and Sunday 6:00 p.m. to midnight, and it times out after 15 minutes of inactivity, so finish it in one sitting. The IRS states plainly that you never have to pay a fee for an EIN, so skip any site that charges. A number you invented will fail the moment a bank or a tax form checks it.
Why would the state reject the name I picked?
Usually because it is not "distinguishable" from a name already on the register, and states compare more strictly than most people expect. Oregon's Secretary of State spells out what it ignores when comparing two names: the words identifying the entity type, punctuation and special characters, an added s for plural or possessive, spacing, and whether an article, preposition or conjunction is present. So Blue Fox LLC, Blue-Fox L.L.C. and The Blue Foxes count as one name, not three. Adding punctuation or pluralising will not clear a conflict; replacing a distinctive word will. The name also has to end in a designator the state accepts — for an LLC that means Limited Liability Company, LLC or L.L.C. If a name you generated collides, change the head noun, not the punctuation.
Does registering the name with my state protect it?
Only within that state's register, and only against another entity registering the same name. The National Association of Secretaries of State is blunt about it: a business name registration does not establish trademark rights, and it does not remove the risk of somebody else objecting. The SBA draws the same line — an entity name protects your name at state level, while a trademark protects it nationally against others in the same or a similar industry. Oregon's Secretary of State makes the point even more directly: registering a name is not the same as having the right to use it. In practice, the state filing is what lets you operate and open a business bank account; a federal trademark registration is what stops a competitor in another state. If you plan to sell in the EU, note that the EUIPO does not check earlier rights for you — the owners of earlier marks police that themselves, by opposing within three months of publication.
Do I need an LLC, or is a DBA enough for the name I picked?
They do different jobs. A DBA — also called an assumed, fictitious or trade name — is a name registration sitting on top of a business that already exists. The SBA notes it does not provide legal protection by itself, though most states require you to file one if you trade under anything other than your own legal name. An LLC is an actual entity: it separates your personal assets from the business's, and once it is registered the state will generally refuse the same name to another entity. A common setup is both — the LLC is the legal entity, the DBA is the name on the door and on the sign. One rule worth respecting: you can only put LLC in your name once you have actually filed the LLC.
Should I buy the domain before or after registering the business name?
Check both before you commit to either, then buy the domain first. The domain is the cheap, instant, reversible step — it is yours within minutes at any registrar. The state filing costs more, takes longer, and is not something you undo casually. So the efficient order is: run your state's entity search, search tmsearch.uspto.gov for the name and close variants, and if the name is still standing, register the domain the same day, then file with the state. The order matters because announcing a name before the domain is registered is how people end up buying their own name back at a markup.