New Jersey Business Entity Search: Complete Guide (2025)

The New Jersey Department of Revenue and Enterprise Services offers a business search tool through their business records service. Whether you’re searching names so you can access status reports and other business documents or searching name availability, a business entity search can be a valuable tool.

But how do you run a business search? The tool can feel a bit overwhelming, but with the right guidance, you can use it quickly and easily. In this guide, we’ll show you how to make the most of the business search tool, must-know business naming guidelines, and what to do after you’ve searched an entity name in New Jersey.

New Jersey Secretary of State Contact Information

New Jersey Business Name Guidelines

When you’re starting a business, more goes into the process than just filing a business registration certificate. One of the most important things you’ll do is pick your business name. And like other states, New Jersey has several rules about naming your business. 

First, your name needs to be different from the names of other registered companies, including both domestic and foreign corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and so on. This is one of the simplest but most important naming standards. 

That said, uniqueness isn’t the only naming guideline to adhere to. Here are a few other rules your New Jersey business name should follow: 

• The name needs to include a business entity identifier (sometimes called a designator), such as “corporation,” “incorporated,” or “company” for corporations or “Limited Liability Company” or “LLC” for LLCs. 
• Your name cannot include any words that are prohibited by state statutes. 
• Your name cannot imply that you’re conducting activities that aren’t permitted by your business formation documents.

If you’re in a licensed trade or profession, keep in mind that you’ll need to meet any naming rules that your industry has in place, too. If your business name doesn’t meet these requirements, you’ll need to pick a new one. 

Run a Business Name Availability Search on the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services Website

If you’ve come up with a business name, you need to check if it’s available. Thankfully, New Jersey offers a dedicated tool for this, the business name availability search. Here’s how to run this search.

For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll use the name “John Smith Landscape” as our proposed name. So to get started with this search, you’d type the name into the search bar and click “Search.”

After you hit search, you’ll get one of two possible results. If the name is available, you’ll get a green “Available!” notice on the confirmation page. But if the name isn’t available, you’ll see a list of all the entity names on file that conflict with yours.

Search by NJ Business Name

If you want to learn more information about registered businesses and you know all or part of the business name, you’ll want to run a New Jersey business name search. To get started, type the business name into the search bar and click “Search.”

On the following page, you’ll see a list of all entity names that contain the word (or words) you used in your search. On this page, you can see the entity ID, business type, the city (you can’t access the business address), and the incorporation date for each result. If your search isn’t specific enough, you’ll get a notice that only the top 500 results are visible. If this happens, try to make your search more specific to increase your odds of finding what you need.

Search the NJ Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services by Keyword

You can also run a keyword search on the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services website. This search is helpful if you’re unsure of a company’s exact name but know some related keywords for it.

It’s also a valuable way to assess what business names your competition might be using by searching some of the keywords related to your industry. For example, if you wanted to know the business names of other daycares in the state, you could search industry keywords like “daycare,” “child care,” or “preschool” to learn business names that contain those keywords.

To start, choose your keywords. The keyword search allows you to enter up to five keywords into the search tool (wildcards are not permitted, though). Simply type the keyword (or keywords) you’re planning to use into the search bar and click “Search.”

After you hit “search,” you’ll be taken to a page with a lot of information, similar to the image shown below. On the left, you’ll see the business names that match your result, and on the right, you’ll see the entity ID, city of incorporation, type of entity, and date of incorporation.

You’ll also receive a warning if your search yields more than 500 results; if that happens, you might want to add keywords to make your search more specific.

Search by NJ Entity ID

If you know a company’s ID number (as assigned by the New Jersey Division of Revenue), you can search the ID number directly. All you have to do is navigate to the Entity ID Search page, type in the ID number, and click “Search.”

The entity search only yields exact matches, so you’ll either get a message saying that no matches were found or you’ll see the company details that you’re looking for.

What to Do After Searching Business Names in New Jersey

After you’ve come up with a name and searched it, you’re probably feeling like you’ve done a lot of legwork. You’d hate for that hard work to go to waste, right? Here are some steps you can take to protect your New Jersey business name and make the most of it. 

Reserve your New Jersey business name (optional)

If you’ve picked the perfect business name but you’re not quite ready to file your business formation paperwork, New Jersey allows you to reserve your business name. 

New Jersey makes it pretty straightforward to reserve a business name online through the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services website. There’s a $50 fee for a reservation.

Your New Jersey name reservation is valid for six months. This step is optional, and you should only pursue it if you’ve picked a name but aren’t ready to enter a full-fledged business status by filing your formation paperwork just yet.

Form an LLC or register your business

One of the best ways to protect your business name is to register your business. After you register a business under your chosen name, no one else in New Jersey will be able to register their own company with the same name. 

Registering a new business in New Jersey is an important legal process. Learn more about starting a New Jersey LLC. 

Get a domain name that matches

You want it to be easy for your customers to find your business website. That means you need a domain name that matches your business name as closely as possible. A matching domain will help your brand maintain consistency both in person and online.

If you’re struggling to come up with a domain name (or the one that matches your name is already taken), try using a domain name generator. A generator can help you come up with a domain that matches your brand image. 

Register an alternate name or DBA (optional)

If you’d like to operate under a name different from the one listed on your company’s legal documents, you’re allowed to obtain an alternate name or “doing business as” (DBA) name (sometimes called a trade name in other states).

It’s important to note that an alternate name is actually a bit different from a DBA name in New Jersey. An alternate name is used by businesses that are already registered in New Jersey but want to operate under a name that isn’t their legal name. In contrast, DBA names are for out-of-state businesses only. Foreign business entities must register a DBA if their legal name is not available in New Jersey.

Set up your business online

Today, you can’t run a business without a good digital footprint. A good business website is a decent starting point. But don’t stop there; set up social media accounts like a Facebook page, a TikTok profile, and an Instagram account. Make sure your business name is included on each account so your brand is consistent across your online presence.

Last but not least, set up a Google Business Profile for your business (or claim it if it already exists). This profile will help you direct customers to your website or your store location. Plus, it’ll help you respond to customer reviews and build a good brand reputation within the Garden State.

Trademark your business name (optional)

If you want the most robust protections for your business name, you could pursue trademark registration. Trademarks can be registered at the state or federal level (with federal protections being the strongest). 

Getting a trademark can be pretty complicated and time-consuming. If you go this route, it’s highly recommended to work with a trademark attorney.