How to Name Your New Jersey LLC

Filing fee: $125 state fee for LLC Certificate of Formation

Processing time: Varies; online filings are generally processed faster than mail

State agency: New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services

Annual report due: Annually by the end of the LLC's anniversary month

State tax rate: No state income tax on pass-through LLC income at the entity level; members pay NJ gross income tax on their share

To name your LLC in New Jersey, your chosen name must include the words "Limited Liability Company" or an accepted abbreviation like "LLC" or "L.L.C." It must be distinguishable from every other active business name on file with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, and it can't imply a connection to a government agency or a regulated industry you're not licensed to operate in.

New Jersey also restricts or prohibits certain words entirely. Words like "bank," "university," "insurance," and "police" require proper licensing or authorization before you can use them. A separate list of words — including "Blind," "Cemetery," "Funeral Homes," "Realtor," "Olympic," and "Trust" — either require additional paperwork or are prohibited outright. If your name includes any of these, the Division of Revenue will flag the filing during review.

The naming rules that apply in New Jersey are grounded in the state's Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. Most of the core requirements — uniqueness, required designators, prohibited terms — are consistent with what other states require, but New Jersey's restricted-word list has a few entries that catch people off guard.

• Name must include "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or "L.L.C."

• Name must be distinguishable from all active and reserved business names in the state database

• Name can't imply a government connection or regulated activity you're not authorized to conduct

• Restricted words (like "Realtor," "Olympic," "Trust") require additional paperwork or are prohibited

• Words like "bank," "university," and "insurance" require proper licensing or authorization

Check NJ LLC name availability through the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services online portal before you file anything. The state provides 2 tools: a Business Name Search that returns a list of existing names matching your search, and a Business Name Availability lookup that gives you a direct availability response for a specific proposed name.

When using the Business Name Search, enter the core words of your proposed name and leave off the LLC designator. The system automatically adds a wildcard at the end of your search, so entering the first few words will return names that start with or contain that text. This helps you spot similar names that could conflict with yours — even if they're not identical.

If the search returns no conflicts, run the Business Name Availability lookup to get a formal availability response on your exact proposed name. That result tells you whether the Division of Revenue will accept the name when you file your Certificate of Formation.

You can reserve an NJ LLC name before you're ready to file by submitting Form UNRR-1, the Application for Reservation of Name, to the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. The state fee is $50. Reserving a name holds it in the state database so no other business can register it while you're getting ready to form your LLC.

Form UNRR-1 lets you list up to 3 name options in order of preference. The Division of Revenue will reserve the first available name on your list. Before you submit, run the Business Name Availability search to confirm your top choice is open — the Division checks availability as part of the review, but knowing in advance saves time if your first pick is taken.

Registering your LLC name with New Jersey protects it within the state's business database — it doesn't protect you from federal trademark claims. If another business holds a registered trademark on a name that's similar to yours, they can still take legal action even if the state approved your LLC name without issue.

Before you commit to a name, search the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database to check for existing trademarks. If you want to protect your name at the federal level, you'll need to file a trademark application separately. Forming the LLC locks the name in New Jersey. A trademark locks it nationally.

You can do business in New Jersey under a name that's different from your LLC's legal name. This is called an alternate name — also referred to as a fictitious name, assumed name, trade name, or DBA (doing business as). It lets you market under a different brand while your LLC's legal name stays on file with the state.

Filing a DBA in New Jersey does not protect the name the way forming an LLC does. If protecting the alternate name matters to your business, a trademark registration is the right path. A DBA registration is a disclosure — it tells the state and the public what name you're operating under, not who owns the rights to it.

Your LLC name gets registered when you file your Certificate of Formation — called the Public Records Filing for New Business Entity — with the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. There's no separate name registration step. The name you list on that filing becomes your LLC's legal name in New Jersey.

Before you file, confirm your name is available using the state's Business Name Search and Business Name Availability tools. The name on your Certificate of Formation must be distinguishable from all other active and reserved names in the Division's database. If it isn't, the filing will be rejected.

If you need to change your LLC's name after formation, file a Certificate of Amendment using Form DOC 11 with the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. You can submit the amendment online through the state's Business Charter Amendments service. The form requires your LLC's current name as it appears on state records and the new name you're replacing it with.