The steps to form an LLC in Arizona are straightforward and the associated costs are affordable. However, like all states in the U.S., Arizona has state-specific LLC requirements for a business owner to create a Limited Liability Company (LLC). If you have interest in starting an LLC, you have to register with the Arizona Corporation Commission. The state requires that you file the necessary documents, pay all the fees associated with the formation, and meet all other responsibilities, including naming the company. 

Selecting a Name for Your LLC 

The first step to forming a Limited Liability Company is to name it. It is so significant to organizing your LLC for the following reasons: 

  • Choosing a name offers massive federal trademark protection, not to violate any other company's service mark or trademark.   
  • Having just the right name makes it easy to recall and stays in your potential customers' minds.  
  • It provides a precise description of your services or products.  
  • You gain the privilege of being able to get (dot)com, (dot)net, (dot)info, (dot)biz, or (dot)org domain names for your company's website.  

You can verify any infringement risks on other businesses' trademark rights or service mark registration by doing a search on the United States Patent & Trademark Office database for your name prospect and any of its possible variations. 

As a business owner, you want to take the time to research and ensure the name you want is the best-suited identity for your business. You also want to make sure that potential customers can search for it without any issues or unnecessary difficulties. 

Guidelines for Picking an LLC Name 

While you mostly can choose whatever name you want, there are some rules for your selection including:

  • Arizona LLC law states that your chosen company name must have either the words, "Limited Liability Company" or one of its several abbreviated forms, which are "L.L.C.," "LLC," "L.C.," or "LC." If you have a professional LLC, the name must include the words "Professional Limited Liability Company," or an abbreviation, which could be either "PLC," "P.L.C," "PLLC," or "P.L.L.C."   
  • Be cautious of “restricted” words, such as University, Attorney, and Bank, for example. To use words like these in your business name, means you will need to file extra paperwork. In addition, there may be an obligation to have a licensed individual, like a lawyer or doctor, on staff or associated with the LLC in some way.   
  • Besides restricted words, the state also discourages using “prohibited” words. These words could lead people to confuse the LLC with a state or federal agency. Examples of prohibited words are Treasury, Secret Service, FBI, and so forth.   
  • The state of Arizona forbids business owners from naming their Limited Liability Company with words like, "corporation," "association," and "incorporated," or an abbreviation of any of these kinds of words.   
  • The final rule on this list of LLC naming "Do's and Don'ts" relates to one characteristic that is compulsory for your chosen name, which is distinguishability. All actively running business entities have a name registered in the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) files. Therefore, your name must be distinguishable from any of these other businesses in existence.  

To help distinguish the identity of your company, you can conduct a name search on the Arizona Corporation Commission Database to find out if another business owner has already taken your desired name. You can do the check on the state website or by contacting the ACC directly. 

To search for name availability online, follow these steps: 

  1. On the ACC website, navigate to the "Corporations and LLCs" page.   
  2. Select the text that reads "Name - Forms for entity name reservations."  
  3. Type the name you want in the "Name" field.   
  4. Click the option for LLC in the "Entity Type" field.   
  5. Hit the button that reads "Check Name."  

Distinguishability is an LLC name characteristic that is not negotiable, as the Arizona Corporations Commission does not provide approval for any business names that are not distinguishable from other names existing on record with the Secretary of State and ACC. 

If you find that your desired name is available, you might choose to reserve the domain name even if you don't plan to use it just yet. This reservation will prevent others from using it, so you don't have to restart the naming process when you're ready to form your business.

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