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How to Check If an LLC Name Is Available in Washington

Last verified: November 1, 2026 · Sources are cited at the bottom of this page.

The short answer

Short answer: Washington's official search is the Secretary of State's CCFS system at ccfs.sos.wa.gov. It is free and needs no login. The trap: there is no yes-or-no availability tool. The search is a self-help preview only — Secretary of State staff decide whether your name is available when you actually submit your filing, so a clean search is never the final word.

The official search

Business records are run by the Washington Secretary of State, Corporations and Charities Division, through one system for both searching and filing: CCFS, the Corporations and Charities Filing System.

The database covers LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships, LLPs, and registered charities. Washington's results are unusually detailed. The results list itself shows the business name, UBI number (the state's 9-digit Unified Business Identifier), business type, full principal office address, registered agent, and status. The detail record adds formation date, the "expiration date" (your annual report deadline), jurisdiction, filing history, and a Governors section naming the members, managers, or officers reported on the entity's initial and annual reports. Washington is one of the few states that publishes that information.

Step by step

  1. Open CCFS and search by Business Name. Leave "LLC" off the name.
  2. Choose your match type. CCFS offers Contains, Begins With, and Exact Match. Run Contains first — it catches names built around your key words in any position. Follow with Begins With on a shortened version.
  3. Open every close match. Check the entity's type and status. Inactive entities still appear in search results, and a dissolved company may still hold its name until it is administratively dissolved, so do not ignore inactive records.
  4. Use Advanced Search if you need more angles. Advanced Search adds searching by Registered Agent Name and by Governor Name (Washington's umbrella term for a member, manager, officer, or director), plus filters for entity type, status, and formation date range.
  5. If you know it, search by UBI number to pull up one specific business directly.
  6. Read a clean result correctly. It means no obvious conflict is on record. The Secretary of State's own guidance is that name availability is determined by staff when your filing is submitted — the search cannot promise approval.

If you are not ready to file, a name reservation holds a name for 180 days and is filed by mail or in person only; the fee is reported as $30 — check the current Secretary of State fee schedule to confirm.

Washington's name rules

RCW 25.15.011 requires an LLC name to comply with Article 3 of RCW 23.95 — mainly RCW 23.95.300 (permitted names) and RCW 23.95.305 (designators).

Designator. The name must contain "Limited Liability Company," "Limited Liability Co.," "L.L.C.," or "LLC." A quirk worth knowing: if you file without any designator, the Secretary of State's instructions say the name will default to "LLC" when processed.

Distinguishable. The name must be distinguishable on the records of the Secretary of State from:

Differences that do not count. Entity designators, punctuation, capitalization, special characters, and abbreviations or plural forms of the same word do not make a name distinguishable.

Prohibited content. The name cannot state or imply the entity is organized for a purpose other than those permitted by its public organic record. Words restricted by other Washington statutes, such as banking and trust terminology, are effectively gated behind those industries' regulators.

What the search can't tell you

If the name looks available

Washington calls the formation document a Certificate of Formation (RCW 25.15.071), not Articles of Organization. File online through CCFS or by mail.

The second trap: the Initial Report. Every new LLC owes an Initial Report within 120 days of formation. It is free if you file it together with the Certificate of Formation (the online flow bundles the two) and $10 if you file it separately later. Missing it is a classic new-LLC mistake.

Ongoing: the Annual Report.

FAQ

Is the Washington LLC name search free? Yes. CCFS search is free with no login, and most filed documents on a record can be viewed or downloaded free.

How much does it cost to form a Washington LLC? $180 on paper, or $200 online — CCFS adds a $20 online processing fee to the $180 Certificate of Formation fee.

What is a "Governor" in Washington records? Washington's umbrella term for a member, manager, officer, or director with authority over the entity. CCFS publishes governor names from initial and annual reports, and Advanced Search lets you search by governor name.

What is the Washington LLC Initial Report? A report due within 120 days of formation. It is free when bundled with your Certificate of Formation and $10 if filed separately afterward.

Does Washington register trade names (DBAs) with the Secretary of State? No. Trade names are registered with the Department of Revenue as part of the state business license, so a complete name check means looking in both places.

Sources

Run the check now

Use the workflow tool below — it is pre-set to Washington and builds your printable checklist with the official links.

Name-Check Workflow Tool

Pick your state, choose your entity type, and type the name you want. The tool builds your step-by-step checklist — the official search, the trademark check, the domain check, and your filing options. It runs entirely in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.