Up-to-the-minute business name search across all 50 states

Washington business name search

Check name availability against the Washington Secretary of State database

118,087
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
33,401
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
-16.4%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
469
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
Washington seal
Websitewww.sos.wa.gov
Phone(360) 725-0377
Address243 Israel Rd SE, Tumwater, WA 98501
Hours8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Mon-Fri

Washington business formation by the numbers

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

#15
Washington ranks 15th 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
+67.7%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSAWA
+23.2%
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
$180
LLC filing fee and processing time
Standard processing: 5-10 business days.
Washington Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
6,997
Federal trademark applications from Washington businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a Washington address, the 16th highest total of any state. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the Washington Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
flat
Trademark filing change since 2015
Washington filings went from 7,030 in 2015 to 6,997 in 2023, essentially unchanged.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about Washington

Applicants with a Washington address filed 6,997 federal trademark applications in 2023, almost exactly the 7,030 filed in 2015. Washington is one of a handful of states where the volume barely moved across eight years.

The country did not stand still around it. Florida (up 39%), Texas (up 36%), North Carolina (up 28%) and Georgia (up 20%) gained sharply over the same eight years and California (down 4%), New York (down 10%) and Illinois (down 7%) declined.

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

A trademark and a Washington registration are different things

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