NY · 4,291,309 records · measured 2026-10-02
NYS Corporation Search: Check a New York LLC or Corporation Name
A free nys corporation search that reads the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations’s own published data — 4,291,309 records — and tells you whether the name you want is already on record under New York’s name rule.
The New York registry behind the check
- Dataset
- Active Corporations: Beginning 1800 — New York Department of State, Division of Corporations
- Size
- 4,291,309 records
- Last updated
- 2026-10-02 · Monthly (accurate as of the last business day of the month)
- What it contains
- Every corporation, LLC, limited partnership and not-for-profit that is active, under its current name, with the date of incorporation and county.
- What it leaves out
- Inactive and dissolved entities (the State’s note: “This data does not include information on inactive corporations”), name reservations, names an entity used in the past, and the fictitious names that authorized foreign entities file in New York (they count under LLC Law §204(b)).
- Terms
- OPEN-NY Terms of Use — no attribution or pre-approval required
| Type | Records | Holds a name? |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic limited liability companies | 2,059,313 | Yes |
| Domestic business corporations | 1,452,067 | Yes |
| Domestic not-for-profit corporations | 287,738 | Yes |
| Foreign LLCs authorized in New York | 173,488 | Yes |
| Foreign business corporations | 134,991 | Yes |
| Professional service corporations and PLLCs | 113,888 | Yes |
| Filed in the last 12 months (since Oct 1, 2025) | 272,224 | Yes |
New York’s name rule: when is a name “distinguishable”?
“The name of each limited liability company … shall be such as to distinguish it from the name of (i) any domestic limited liability company, (ii) any authorized foreign limited liability company …, as such names appear on the index of names of existing domestic and authorized foreign limited liability companies …, or names the right to which are reserved.”
— N.Y. Limited Liability Company Law §204, read 2026-10-02.
- Records that hold a name: Existing New York and authorized foreign LLCs, corporations and limited partnerships, the fictitious names authorized foreign entities use in New York, plus reserved names (§204(b)(1)–(2)). The statute does not list which differences make a name distinguishable, so the check treats designators, punctuation, articles and “and/&” as no difference — the cautious reading.
- What an LLC name must include: “Limited Liability Company”, “L.L.C.” or “LLC”, written without abbreviating the words. (LLC Law §204(a))
Confirm with the official New York search
The SealForms check is a heuristic reading of public data, not legal advice and not a name approval. The Department of State decides when you file.
After the name check
Write down who owns the New York LLC and how it is run: the New York LLC operating agreement cites the state’s LLC act, and this table shows whether New York requires one.
Other registries in the check: Colorado · Oregon · Connecticut · Texas · Florida.