How to Check If a Business Name Is Available

Finding a name you love is satisfying. Discovering that someone else already owns it — after you've printed business cards, built a website, and told everyone about it — is one of the more avoidable mistakes in early-stage business. Here is exactly how to check availability before you commit to anything.

1. Check the domain first

The domain is almost always the first thing to check, because it's the fastest filter and the one most likely to rule out a name quickly. The .com extension is still the standard for most businesses — if you're building anything that will operate internationally or needs to project credibility, owning the .com matters.

That said, .io, .co, .app, and .dev are widely accepted in tech circles, and industry-specific extensions like .studio or .agency can work well for certain businesses. The key question is whether your target audience will instinctively type the .com when trying to find you — if they will, and someone else owns it, that's a problem worth taking seriously before you go further.

Naimfy checks domain availability in real time for every name it generates, so you can see what's free the moment results appear.

2. Search for trademarks

A name can be available as a domain and still be legally unavailable if it's registered as a trademark in your industry. This is a step many founders skip until it's too late, and the consequences can be severe — cease and desist letters, forced rebrands, and legal costs that dwarf anything you spent building the original brand.

In the United States, search the USPTO database at tmsearch.uspto.gov. In the European Union, use euipo.europa.eu. Most countries have a publicly accessible trademark register. Search not just for your exact name but for similar-sounding variants, particularly in your specific product or service category.

A name that's trademarked in an unrelated industry may still be available to you — trademark protection is generally limited to specific categories of goods and services. When in doubt, consult a trademark attorney before investing in a name.

3. Check social media handles

Even if you don't plan to be active on every platform, you want to own your name across the major ones before someone else does. Check Instagram, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube at minimum.

Tools like Namecheckr let you search multiple platforms simultaneously. Ideally you want the exact match on all major platforms, but a minor variation (adding "hq" or "app" as a suffix) is usually acceptable if the exact handle is taken by an inactive account.

4. Search Google

A simple Google search for your candidate name will surface competitors, existing businesses, and any negative associations that might not show up in official registers. Pay attention to what comes up in the first two pages of results — that is the landscape your name will have to compete in for organic search visibility.

Also search for the name combined with keywords from your industry. If your name produces strong, established results in your exact category, you will have an uphill battle ranking for it — even if you're not technically infringing on anything.

5. Check your local business registry

If you're registering a legal entity, most jurisdictions require that your business name be unique within the register. This is a separate check from trademarks — a name can be registered as a business in your state or country without being trademarked, and vice versa.

Most business registries are searchable online. In the US, each state has its own Secretary of State database. In the UK, Companies House has a free name availability checker. Do this check before you file any incorporation paperwork.