Statutory Name Requirements: Corporations

The AZ Corporation Commission LLC sets forth the requirements for all corporations and LLCs operating within the state. For all corporations, written approval from the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions is required before a name will be approved that contains any of these words:

  • Trust Company
  • Bank
  • Trust
  • Banc
  • Thrift
  • Banking
  • Savings Bank
  • Banco
  • Building and Loan Association
  • Banque
  • Savings and Loan Association
  • Credit Union
  • Building Association
  • Deposit
  • Savings Association 

Visit the Arizona Legislature website to view these statutes: A.R.S. §§ 10-401, 10-1506, 10-3401, and 10-11506.

Any for-profit corporation operating in the state of Arizona must meet the requirements found in A.R.S. §§ 10-1506 and/or 10-401. You can review the revised statutes on the website of the Arizona Legislature website. Additional requirements apply to for-profit corporations and fictitious names of foreign corporations. These include:

  • All for-profit corporations must include one of the following words: “incorporated,” “association,” “limited,” “bank,” “corporation,” or “company.” 
  • If the current name or fictitious name being used in the state of Arizona doesn't have one of those words or an acceptable abbreviation for one of those words, you must add one. 
  • Additionally, the name of a corporation cannot contain the words “limited company” or “limited liability company” or any of the abbreviations, such as “L.L.C.,” “LLC,” “L.C.,” or “LC.”

Per A.R.S. § 10-2215, any professional corporation name cannot conflict with the guidelines outlined. It should include one of these phrases:

  • Professional corporation (P.C., PC)
  • Chartered (Chtd.)
  • Professional association (P.A., PA)
  • Limited (Ltd.)
  • Service corporation (S.C., SC) 

All non-profit corporation names must meet the requirements set forth in A.R.S. §§ 10-3301, 10-11506, and/or 10-3401. The name cannot conflict with any requirements set for professional corporations or other types of corporations, based on A.R.S. 10-1506, 10-401, and 10-2215. The Arizona Legislature website outlines these statues under the Arizona Revised Statues link. If you plan to form a nonprofit corporation, additional requirements may apply under Title 10, Chapter 10 of the Arizona Revised Statutes.

Statutory Name Requirements: Limited Liability Companies

For an LLC, written approval from the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions is required before a name will be approved that contains any of these words:

  • Bank
  • Trust Company
  • Banker
  • Trust
  • Banking
  • Thrift
  • Banc
  • Savings Bank
  • Banque
  • Building and Loan Association
  • Credit Union
  • Savings and Loan Association
  • Savings Association
  • Deposit
  • Banco
  • Building Association

The details of this regulation are found in A.R.S. §§ 29-602, 29-804.

You can review all state statutes by visiting the Arizona Legislature website and clicking on Arizona Revised Statutes.

A nonprofessional LLC name must also meet the requirements laid out in A.R.S. § 29-602. The nonprofessional LLC statutes are available under Arizona Revised Statutes.

Every LLC or foreign LLC fictitious name must include:

  • Limited liability company (LLC, L.L.C.)
  • Limited company (LC, L.C.)

If an LLC name doesn't include one of those terms or abbreviations, one must be added. Additionally, an LLC name cannot contain the words “incorporated,” “corporation,” or “association” or any of the accepted abbreviations for those words.

Every professional LLC operating in Arizona must meet the requirements laid out in A.R.S. § 29-845. View the Arizona Revised Statutes on the Arizona Legislature website. The statute outlines that professional LLC names cannot conflict with guidelines for other business structures. The name must also include the words “professional limited liability company” or one of the abbreviations: PLLC, P.L.L.C., P.L.C., or PLC. 

Determining Distinguishability of Entity Names

Chapter 253 of Laws 2005 created an amendment to the regulations for corporation and LLC naming statues. This amendment requires that all business must be distinguishable from all other business entities registered with the Arizona Secretary of State and the Arizona Corporation Commission. Distinguishability is the minimum standard; it must be different from other trade names and entities. Certain differences between business names are not unique enough and will not create a distinguishable business name. 

For example, these differences do not create distinguishability:

  • Using articles: a, the, or an 
  • Using business identifiers: Corporation, Inc., LLC
  • Using numerals or written-out numbers (Four Brothers vs. 4 Brothers)
  • Punctuation (Sam's Sushi vs. Sam's Sushi!)
  • Using “and” or the ampersand symbol (Mike's Pianos and More vs. Mike's Pianos & More)
  • Adding spaces between words (roll out vs. rollout)
  • Uppercase versus lowercase letters (Apple Spice vs. APPLE SPICE)

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