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Virginia business name search

Check name availability against the Virginia Secretary of State database

145,707
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
41,259
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+15.7%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
578
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
Virginia seal
Websitewww.scc.virginia.gov
Phone(804) 371-9733
Address1300 E Main St, Richmond, VA 23219
Hours9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Mon-Fri

Virginia business formation by the numbers

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

#13
Virginia ranks 13th 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
+65.6%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSAVA
+18.3%
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
$100
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 24 hours online.
Virginia Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
7,678
Federal trademark applications from Virginia businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a Virginia address, the 12th highest total of any state. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the Virginia Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
+6%
Trademark filing change since 2015
Virginia filings went from 7,231 in 2015 to 7,678 in 2023, up 6%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about Virginia

Applicants with a Virginia address filed 7,678 federal trademark applications in 2023, compared with 7,231 in 2015, a change of +6%.

Adjusted for population that is about 88 filings per 100,000 residents, the 17th highest rate in the country.

The most common category for Virginia filings since 2019 is Class 041, covering education, training and entertainment services.

A trademark and a Virginia registration are different things

Registering an entity with the Virginia Secretary of State establishes that name for that entity within Virginia. 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 Virginia entity search and still overlap an existing federal mark, and why a federal mark can exist for a name no Virginia 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 Virginia mailing address, and reflect filings rather than registrations granted.