How to Search and Register a Fictitious Name in Florida

A Florida fictitious name search runs through Sunbiz, the free public database maintained by the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations. Go to dos.fl.gov/sunbiz, open “Search Records,” and choose the fictitious name search. No account, no fee, and results in under a minute.¹ The search tells you whether a name is currently registered, who owns it, and when the registration expires. What it does not tell you is whether the name is truly safe to use, and that gap is where most people get into trouble.

How the Sunbiz Search Works

The database gives you six ways in, depending on what you already know:²

Fictitious Name. An alphabetical lookup. This is the one to use if you are checking whether a specific name is already taken.
Owner Name. Lists every fictitious name tied to an individual. Useful when you know who runs a business but not what it is registered as.
Owner Document Number. Pulls all fictitious names connected to a specific LLC or corporation’s charter number. Helpful when one entity operates several DBAs.
Owner’s FEI Number. Searches by the federal employer identification number on the registration.
Registration Number. Retrieves a single filing by its 12-digit Department of State identifier.
County for Prior Week. Shows every registration filed in the previous week, sorted by county. Useful for tracking new local filings.

For an availability check, start with the fictitious name option. Run the exact name first, then try variations, partial matches, and alternate spellings. The system returns exact and near matches, but a small change in spelling or spacing can hide a conflict, so the manual variations matter.

Reading What Sunbiz Returns

Each record on Sunbiz shows a standard set of fields:²

Status. Either “Active” or “Expired.” An active status means the name is in use and unavailable for a new registration.
Expiration Date. Registrations run five years from filing. An expired record means the prior owner no longer holds the name and someone else can claim it.³
Current Owner(s). The number of owners, plus each owner’s name and address. If an owner is a business entity, its FEI number and Florida document number appear here.
Date Filed. When the Division of Corporations processed the registration.
Document Number. The 12-digit identifier assigned at filing.
County. Where the business is located.
Events Filed. A count of amendments, renewals, cancellations, or owner changes on the record.

A “no results” screen usually means the name is available as a fictitious name. Usually, not always. The Sunbiz fictitious name search only covers fictitious name filings. An LLC or corporation could already be operating under that same name as its formal legal name without ever filing a DBA, and it would not show up in this search.

What a Fictitious Name Actually Is

A fictitious name is any name you use to do business in Florida that is not your legal name.³ A sole proprietor named Jane Smith who sells candles as “Coastal Glow” is using a fictitious name. An LLC called “Smith Enterprises LLC” that markets a product line as “Coastal Glow” is also using a fictitious name, and the LLC has to register it. The rule reaches any person, partnership, or corporation transacting business under something other than its official legal name.

Registration exists for transparency. It lets customers, creditors, and government agencies trace a business name back to the person or entity behind it. What registration does not do is protect the name. Filing “Coastal Glow” on Sunbiz gives you no trademark rights, does not block someone from incorporating under a similar name, and does not reserve the name if your registration lapses.

Why a Clear Sunbiz Result Isn’t Enough

Finding no conflict on Sunbiz is a starting point. Two other layers can still block you.

Corporate and LLC Records Are a Separate Database

Fictitious name records and corporate entity records live in different Sunbiz databases. A name can be clear as a fictitious name and still be taken as an LLC or corporation. Run the business entity search on Sunbiz in addition to the fictitious name search. The reverse also happens: an LLC operating under a DBA will not surface in a corporate name search for that DBA. You need both searches to see the full picture.

Federal Trademarks Sit Outside Sunbiz Entirely

A Florida fictitious name registration gives you no protection against a federal trademark claim. If someone holds a registered trademark on the name, or on a name confusingly similar to it, you can face an infringement lawsuit even though Sunbiz accepted your filing. Lanham Act remedies include injunctions forcing you to stop using the name, payment of the trademark holder’s lost profits, and in some cases treble damages and attorney’s fees.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office runs a free search tool at tmsearch.uspto.gov.⁴ Look for marks that are confusingly similar, not just identical. Two names can conflict when they sound alike, look alike, or create a similar impression for related goods or services.⁵ Filter out dead registrations to focus on live marks, and run several searches using partial terms and alternate spellings.

Common law trademark rights are harder still. A business that used a name first in a given geographic area can hold rights without any federal filing, and those rights do not sit in a searchable database. In a competitive market, a consultation with a trademark attorney before you commit to a name is often worth the cost.

If the Name Is Available

Once the fictitious name search, the corporate entity search, and the trademark search all come back clear, you can move to registration. Florida law requires you to advertise the fictitious name at least once in a newspaper in the county where your principal place of business will be, in a paper that qualifies under Chapter 50 of the Florida Statutes.¹ You do not submit proof; you certify on the application that the advertising is done.

The application itself is filed through the Sunbiz e-filing portal. It asks for the fictitious name, the mailing address of the business, the name and address of each owner, and, for business-entity owners, the Florida document number and federal employer identification number.³ An LLC or corporation filing as owner must already be in active status with the Division of Corporations. The filing fee is $50. The registration then runs five years from the filing date, with renewal available between January 1 and December 31 of the expiration year for another $50.⁶

1
Florida Department of State. Florida Fictitious Name Registration – Division of Corporations
2
Florida Department of State. Fictitious Name – Division of Corporations
3
Justia. Florida Statutes 865-09 – Fictitious Name Registration
4
USPTO – United States Patent and Trademark Office. Search Our Trademark Database
5
USPTO – United States Patent and Trademark Office. Federal Trademark Searching
6
Florida Department of State. Fees – Division of Corporations