South Carolina Business Entity Search

Check your name against South Carolina law before you file. The state's search tells you whether a name exists. It does not tell you whether yours is legal, or whether it is too close to one already on the register. This does both.

Form this LLC for $399

What this does not check

  • • Whether the name is already taken. That needs the state’s live register, which we link below.
  • • Trademarks. A name can be free on the state register and still infringe a federal or common law mark.
  • • Domain and social handle availability.
  • • Whether the name is available in any other state you later register in.

South Carolina LLC naming rules

S.C. Code § 33-44-105 and S.C. Code § 33-44-105(b)

Your name must include one of

  • Limited Liability Company
  • Limited Company
  • L.L.C.
  • LLC
  • L.C.
  • LC
  • Ltd. Co.
  • Limited Co.
  • Ltd. Company

Your name must not

When is a name too close to one already registered?

This is what catches most filings. South Carolina compares your name against what is already on the register, and a difference that looks obvious to you may not count.

These do

  • • The name must be distinguishable on the records of the Secretary of State from every corporation, limited partnership and company incorporated, organised or authorised to transact business in South Carolina
  • • It must also be distinguishable from reserved and registered names, and from a fictitious name approved for a foreign company whose real name was unavailable

Names South Carolina will accept with the other company's consent

  • • The present user, registrant or owner of a reserved name consents in a record and submits an undertaking, in a form satisfactory to the Secretary of State, to change their own name to a distinguishable one
  • • Or you deliver a certified copy of a final court judgment establishing your right to the name in South Carolina

Our comparison cannot judge: Repeated or dropped letters. Texas treats "Texxas Strong" as the same name as "Texas Strong". Words that sound alike. Texas treats "Xpress Auto" as the same as "Express Auto". Words that mean the same thing in another language, where the state translates them. Anything the filing officer decides at their own discretion, which every state reserves.

Searching the official register

  • • The merger and acquisition route in § 33-44-105(d) is worth knowing: it is the one case where an obviously conflicting name is allowed without anyone consenting
  • • We have not published a direct link to the business entity search because the Secretary of State’s site would not serve us when we checked, and we only publish a link once we have loaded it ourselves

Exceptions worth knowing

  • • You may take another company’s name outright, including a fictitious name it uses in South Carolina, if you have merged with it, been formed by reorganisation with it, or acquired substantially all of its assets including the name

South Carolina Secretary of State

Entity search
Run the search from the South Carolina Secretary of State website. We only publish a direct link once we have loaded it ourselves.

South Carolina business name questions

How do I search South Carolina business entity names?

South Carolina Secretary of State runs the official register. Search there for the exact name you want. Before you do, use the checker above to confirm the name satisfies S.C. Code § 33-44-105, because a name can be unused and still be refused for breaking the naming rules.

What must a South Carolina LLC name contain?

Under S.C. Code § 33-44-105, the name must include one of: Limited Liability Company, Limited Company, L.L.C., LLC, L.C., LC, Ltd. Co., Limited Co., Ltd. Company.

What words are not allowed in a South Carolina LLC name?

South Carolina does not publish a general prohibited word list for LLC names. Check the statute and the restricted words that need another regulator's consent.

What makes two South Carolina business names too similar?

South Carolina requires the name to be distinguishable on the register but does not publish a mechanical list of what counts. The name must be distinguishable on the records of the Secretary of State from every corporation, limited partnership and company incorporated, organised or authorised to transact business in South Carolina

Can I use a name that is already taken in South Carolina?

Sometimes. The present user, registrant or owner of a reserved name consents in a record and submits an undertaking, in a form satisfactory to the Secretary of State, to change their own name to a distinguishable one The consent has to be filed with your formation document.

Does a name search reserve or protect my South Carolina name?

No. A search tells you what is on the register at that moment. It is not an approval, and it gives you no rights in the name. Availability is finally determined only when your formation document is reviewed.

Can StartGlobal form my South Carolina LLC?

Yes. Formation is $399 one time with all state and government fees included, and it works from anywhere in the world with no SSN and no US address required.

More for South Carolina

Check a name in another state

Sources for South Carolina

  1. S.C. Code § 33-44-105, Name — South Carolina Legislature (checked Aug 10, 2026)