Data study · updated August 2026
What America names its businesses — 26.23 million registered names, decoded
We hold the complete business registries of ten states — every LLC, corporation and nonprofit on file with their Secretaries of State, 26.23 million records in all. Counting the words in those names shows a country that names its companies for reassurance ("Services", "Group", "Properties"), a handful of states with a vocabulary all their own, and an LLC share that ranges from 50% to 72%. Useful if you're about to pick a name: the more common the words, the more names you'll collide with.
The words America puts in a business name
Rate per 10,000 registered names, averaged across the ten states so a large state doesn't outvote a small one. The top of the list is reassurance vocabulary — words that promise competence and scale rather than describe a trade. That is exactly why they are weak in a name: a search for "Summit Services" returns hundreds of near matches in most states.
Every state names differently
Strip out the national top twelve and each registry has its own accent — place names, local industries, the words a state's founders reach for.
- Vermont: Mountain — 173 of every 10,000 names
- District of Columbia: American — 155 of every 10,000 names
- Colorado: Mountain — 118 of every 10,000 names
- New York: Avenue — 83 of every 10,000 names
- Alaska: Rentals — 81 of every 10,000 names
- Connecticut: Road — 73 of every 10,000 names
- Florida: Usa — 72 of every 10,000 names
- Oregon: Northwest — 70 of every 10,000 names
- Pennsylvania: Valley — 68 of every 10,000 names
- Virginia: Trucking — 67 of every 10,000 names
| State | Most common words | Distinctive to the state |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Services, Management, Holdings, Properties, Solutions | Investments, Insurance, Health, Family |
| Colorado | Services, Group, Consulting, Enterprises, Solutions | Investments, Mountain, Real, Design |
| Connecticut | Services, Associates, Group, Construction, Management | Realty, Street, Center, Development |
| District of Columbia | Services, Group, Associates, Foundation, International | Foundation, International, Street, American |
| Florida | Services, Group, Enterprises, Solutions, Investments | Investments, International, Cleaning, Care |
| New York | Group, Services, Realty, Management, Holdings | Realty, Street, Capital, Development |
| Oregon | Services, Construction, Properties, Group, Consulting | Investments, Care, Family, Property |
| Pennsylvania | Services, Group, Associates, Enterprises, Properties | Realty, Center, Development, Auto |
| Vermont | Services, Farm, Properties, Mountain, Group | Farm, Mountain, Insurance, Property |
| Virginia | Services, Group, Properties, Consulting, Solutions | Investments, Care, Real, Property |
LLC or Inc.? It depends where you file
Share of active entities that are limited liability companies, for the 7 states whose files code the entity type cleanly. Newer registries and states with cheap LLC filing skew high; states whose registries carry a century of corporations skew low.
…and how many names actually say "LLC"
The share of registered names that end in an LLC designator ("LLC", "L.L.C.", "Limited Liability Company"). Where this is lower than the LLC share above, founders are using the long form or the state allows the designator to be recorded separately from the name.
How long is a business name?
Average registered length runs from 22.8 characters in Oregon to 24.9 in Pennsylvania — around three to four words plus the designator. Two-word names are the most contested; a third, specific word (a place, a trade, an invented word) is the cheapest way to clear a registry check.
What businesses are being started — and what that means for names
The sectors driving new applications nationally in the twelve months to August 2026, from the Census Bureau's Business Formation Statistics:
The trades show up in the names themselves: "Construction", "Consulting", "Home", "Realty", "Care" are all in the national top 25, so a new business in one of those fields is competing for names with more registered look-alikes than a software or design firm is. The professional-services boom shows up as "Consulting", "Solutions" and "Group" — the three most generic words on the list.
What people are checking right now
The words that appear most in the names people ran through our checker in the last 90 days, across 34 states: Home, Care, Works, Jewelry, Cleaning, Sterling, Services, Studio, Supply, Raw, Painting, Health, Jewelers, Taylor. Candles, thrift, glow, studio, dessert — small consumer brands, most of them one or two words, which is where a registry conflict is most likely.
Naming a business? Describe it and get name ideas that are checked against the state registry, federal trademarks and domain availability as they're generated — or test a name you already have.
Generate & check names →Methodology and sources
- Registered names: bulk entity files published by the corporations divisions of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia (26.23 million records), as imported into our name-availability database on 2026-09-21. Word counts use a random sample of up to 400,000 active names per state; entity counts are exact. Generic tokens (LLC, Inc, Corp, The, Of, And…) are excluded from the word ranking.
- Sectors: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics, national NAICS-sector series, twelve months to August 2026.
- Searches: aggregated word counts from our own name checks; no individual names or users are published.
- Companion study: Where America Starts Businesses — the 50-state formation ranking.
Cite or reuse
Free to quote and reproduce with a link. Suggested citation:
Official Name Search (2026). What America Names Its Businesses.
https://officialnamesearch.com/states/data — based on state business-registry bulk files and U.S. Census Bureau Business Formation
Statistics.Business name guides by state
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