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How to check if a business name is taken

GoDaddy · godaddy.com Free Beginner

This is a plain, ordered walkthrough of the same sweep a careful founder runs: a quick web search, domain availability, social handles, trademark databases, and the business registry. It ties the scattered checks into one sequence so you know what to look at and in what order before you fall in love with a name. The registry and trademark steps are US-framed, so treat those as the shape of the check and swap in the MCA and IP India portals if you are in India.

  • Lays out the availability check as an ordered sweep: web search, domain, social, trademark, then registry
  • Shows what to do when the name is taken, from tweaks to location-based variants, instead of just saying no
  • Registry and trademark steps are US-specific, so map them to MCA and IP India if you are building in India
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The question it answers

  1. How do I check if a startup name is already taken before I fall in love with it?

Read with it

  1. Before you get attached to a name, you want one screen that tells you if the handle is free everywhere at once. Namechk checks... namechk.com Tool Namechk: Username and Domain Availability Checker Namechk
  2. If you plan to register in India, a free handle and a free domain still will not save you if the name is already a registered... mca.gov.in Tool Check Company/LLP Name on the MCA portal Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India
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