Choose a Name
Selecting a business name involves both a legal requirement and a practical first step in building your brand.
Required Elements. If you're forming an LLC, corporation, or other registered entity, your business name generally must include an approved designator showing your entity type — for example, "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company" for an LLC, or "Incorporated," "Corporation," "Company," or an approved abbreviation for a corporation. Your name must also be written using English letters, Arabic or Roman numerals, and standard keyboard symbols, and it cannot suggest a purpose your business isn't legally organized to pursue (for example, implying you're a bank or government agency when you're not). Certain words are restricted to licensed professions, and some are barred outright.
Distinguishability. Kentucky requires your business name to be "distinguishable" from every other name on file with the Secretary of State. This is a stricter standard than simply being "different" — adding or changing an entity designator, punctuation, articles ("a," "an," "the"), or filler words like "and" or "of" generally won't make an otherwise identical name distinguishable. For example, if "Blackberry Farms LLC" is already registered, names like "Black Berry Farms Inc." or "Blackberry & Farms, L.L.C." likely won't be considered sufficiently different.
Searching for Availability. Before filing formation documents, you can check whether your desired name is available using the Kentucky Secretary of State's free Business Entity Search / Name Availability Search tool. Searching beforehand helps you avoid a rejected filing, since the Secretary of State will conduct its own final availability check when you actually submit your paperwork. It's also worth checking that your proposed name doesn't conflict with an existing trademark, and separately checking domain name and social media handle availability if an online presence matters to your business — these aren't governed by the Secretary of State and require their own separate searches.
Reserving a Name. If you've settled on a name but aren't ready to file your formation documents yet, Kentucky allows you to reserve a name for a period of time by filing an Application for Reserved Name with a filing fee. This step is optional and isn't required to form your entity.
Operating Under a Different Name. If you want to do business under a name other than your entity's legal name on file with the state, you'll need to file a Certificate of Assumed Name (Kentucky's version of a "DBA," or "doing business as" name), which involves an additional filing fee