How to Name Your South Dakota LLC

Whether you’re searching for the right business name or registering your LLC with the South Dakota Secretary of State, Bizee can help. We have all the information you need to know on how to conduct a South Dakota business search, plus LLC naming rules, assumed names and registering your business.

General Rules for LLC Names

These rules typically apply to all LLCs, regardless of which state they're formed in.

Specific Rules for South Dakota Business Names

As mentioned above, South Dakota requires LLCs to comply with the general naming rules. Unlike many other states, the state of South Dakota doesn't require further naming regulations to be met.

How to Come Up With a Business Name

Giving your business the perfect name can be difficult. We’ve put together a complete guide to choosing the right business name, but essentially, you'll want to choose a name that will:

Need help coming up with business name ideas? Try our free Business Name Generator.

South Dakota Business Search

Once you have an idea of what you want as your business name, you’ll need to perform a South Dakota business entity search to make sure the name hasn’t been taken by another formed business.

Bizee offers a fast, simple and convenient tool to look up your proposed business name. The South Dakota Secretary of State also has a tool that lets you search the State of South Dakota business name registry to see whether your desired name is available or if another business is using your preferred name.

Trademarks and Service Marks

You must be careful that your South Dakota LLC name doesn’t infringe on the trademark or service mark of another business. The easiest way to make sure your proposed business name doesn’t do that is to complete a trademark search through Bizee. If no one else is using it, you can even register it as a trademark yourself.

South Dakota DBA or Fictitious Name

You may do business under a different name from your legal LLC name. In several states, this is called a DBA (doing business as), trade name, fictitious name or assumed name. The state of South Dakota refers to this solely as a DBA. You may choose to use a South Dakota DBA name for a variety of reasons.

For example, your business might be called Little Valley Marketing Solutions, LLC, and under that company, you have an event planning business called Little Valley Events. You could file for a DBA just for that company. You'll need to file to Register a New DBA with the South Dakota Secretary of State, or you can have Bizee do it on your behalf through our DBA service.

Note: Trade name is not the same as a trademark. Learn more about trademark vs. DBA.

Register Your Business Name With the South Dakota Secretary of State (SOS)

Once you’ve completed a South Dakota business entity search, checked availability, followed the naming rules and decided whether you need a fictitious business name, you can register your LLC name. There are a couple of ways to do this.

FAQs About South Dakota Business Names