Louisiana LLC Name Search & Naming Rules (2026)
Before spending $100 on your filing, confirm your name will clear Louisiana's rules — including a restriction on "engineer" that requires board notice, and a reservation system that's $25, 120 days, and nonrenewable. Here's the full picture plus a decision tool.
Search availability free with the Louisiana Secretary of State's business search. Under La. R.S. 12:1306, your name must be distinguishable from every entity on file and contain "Limited Liability Company," "L.L.C.," or "L.C." ("LLC" is accepted in practice). Names can't imply a government agency or contain deceptive matter, and words like "engineer" require notice to the state licensing board. Not ready to file? Reserve your name for $25 for 120 days — nonrenewable. Operating under a different brand costs $75 for a trade name.
- Name search
- Free — sos.la.gov
- Required designator
- L.L.C., L.C., or spelled out
- Name reservation
- $25 · 120 days
- Reservation renewable?
- No — nonrenewable
- Trade name / DBA
- $75
- Governing law
- La. R.S. 12:1306
Louisiana LLC Naming Rules (La. R.S. 12:1306)
- Required designator: the name must contain "Limited Liability Company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "L.C." — and "LLC" without periods is accepted in practice.
- Distinguishable on the record: it must differ from every business entity on file with the Secretary of State — punctuation tweaks and designator swaps don't count.
- No government implications: the name can't suggest your company is a state, parish, or federal agency.
- No deceptive or scandalous matter: the statute explicitly bars immoral, deceptive, or scandalous names.
- Professional trigger words: using "engineer" or "engineering" requires written notice to the Louisiana Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board (or its waiver) before the Secretary of State will file your Articles. Bank, insurance, and similar regulated terms need their regulators' approval too.
Brand check first: state approval isn't trademark protection. Run your name through the USPTO's free search and check the .com before you commit — a $75 trade name six months from now is the usual price of skipping this step.
Name & Reservation Advisor
Check your name's format against R.S. 12:1306, then answer one timing question — the tool tells you whether to file now or spend $25 reserving.
Louisiana Name & Reservation Advisor
Format check + file-now vs reserve recommendation · not a substitute for the state search
Availability is determined solely by the Louisiana Secretary of State — run the official business search before filing or reserving.
How to Search Louisiana Name Availability (Free)
Open the SOS business search
The Secretary of State's free database covers every LLC, corporation, L3C, and partnership on file in Louisiana.
Search core words without the designator
Search "Bayou Coffee" rather than "Bayou Coffee LLC" to surface the widest set of potential conflicts, including trade names.
Check for restricted words
Engineer/engineering, bank, insurance, and government-implying terms need extra approvals — handle those before filing, not after a rejection.
File or reserve promptly
Availability isn't a hold. Either file your Articles quickly or lock the name with a $25 reservation.
Reserving a Name: $25, 120 Days, One Shot
Louisiana's reservation holds your name for 120 days for $25 — but unlike most states, it's nonrenewable. When the 120 days run out, the name goes back into the pool. So treat the reservation as a countdown clock: reserve only when you have a concrete plan to file within four months, and calendar the expiration date the day you reserve.
Trade Names ($75)
Want your LLC to operate under a different brand? Louisiana registers trade names with the Secretary of State for $75 — notably pricier than most states' DBA fees. One quirk: Louisiana won't let you bake "d/b/a" into your legal LLC name, so the trade name filing is the only sanctioned route to multi-brand operation under one entity.
Ahmad Adil's Take: the nonrenewable reservation is the detail that catches people. In Kentucky you can renew forever; in Louisiana you get one 120-day window, period. My rule: if you can't name the month you'll file, don't reserve yet — you'll burn your only hold while you're still deciding. And at $75, Louisiana's trade name is expensive enough that choosing the right legal name upfront actually saves real money.
- ✓Forms your Louisiana LLC for $39 + the $100 state fee
- ✓Files the Articles + Initial Report and signs the agent affidavit
- ✓Free Louisiana registered agent the first year
- ✓No upsells · No data selling · Privacy by Default
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Louisiana LLC — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. The figures here — the $100 Articles of Organization with Initial Report, the $30 anniversary-date annual report, Louisiana’s flat 3% income tax, and the 2026 franchise tax repeal — reflect current Louisiana Secretary of State and Department of Revenue guidance. This is educational content, not legal or tax advice.
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