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Texas business name search

Check name availability against the Texas Secretary of State database

565,835
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
153,893
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+14.9%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
2,245
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
Texas seal
Websitewww.sos.texas.gov
Phone(512) 463-5555
Address1019 Brazos St, Austin, TX 78701
Hours8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Mon-Fri

Texas business formation by the numbers

State-level data from official sources on business formation activity in Texas.

#3
Texas ranks 3rd in U.S. business formations
Ranking is based on total business applications filed in the trailing twelve months across all 50 states and D.C.
Census BFS via FRED, TTM rank
+85.4%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSATX
+11.0%
Quarter-over-quarter change
Current quarter applications compared to the prior quarter. A useful read on whether momentum is building or fading.
FRED, latest 3 months vs prior 3
$300
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 10-12 business days (online SOS Direct), 13-15 business days (online SOS Upload), 4-8 weeks plus mail time (paper).
Texas Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
29,751
Federal trademark applications from Texas businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a Texas address, the third-highest total of any state. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the Texas Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
+36%
Trademark filing change since 2015
Texas filings went from 21,907 in 2015 to 29,751 in 2023, up 36%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about Texas

Applicants with a Texas address filed 29,751 federal trademark applications in 2023, behind only California and Florida. Filings rose from 21,907 in 2015, a change of +36%.

The national pattern runs the same way. Florida (up 39%), North Carolina (up 28%) and Georgia (up 20%) posted comparable gains, while California (down 4%), New York (down 10%) and Illinois (down 7%) all lost volume over the same period.

The most common category for Texas filings since 2019 is Class 035, covering advertising, business management and office services.

A trademark and a Texas registration are different things

Registering an entity with the Texas Secretary of State establishes that name for that entity within Texas. A federal trademark is granted by the USPTO, applies nationally, and covers only the goods or services it is registered under.

The two records are separate, which is why a name can clear a Texas entity search and still overlap an existing federal mark, and why a federal mark can exist for a name no Texas entity has registered.

Trademark figures on this page come from the USPTO Trademark Case Files dataset, which covers applications through March 2024. Counts are applications filed by applicants with a Texas mailing address, and reflect filings rather than registrations granted.