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

Tennessee business name search

Check name availability against the Tennessee Secretary of State database

109,603
Business applications, last 12 months
Census BFS via FRED, trailing 12 months
30,170
Filed Q2 2026
Census BFS via FRED, Q2 2026
+20.4%
Year-over-year growth
FRED, trailing 12 months vs prior 12
435
Filings per business day
Derived from TTM applications, FRED
Tennessee seal
Websitesos.tn.gov
Phone(615) 741-2286
Address312 Rosa L Parks Ave, 6th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243
Hours8:00 AM – 4:30 PM, Mon-Fri

Tennessee business formation by the numbers

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

#16
Tennessee ranks 16th 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
+86.7%
Formation activity since 2019
Comparison of trailing-twelve-month business applications to the 2019 calendar year total. Captures the post-pandemic formation surge.
FRED / BABATOTALNSATN
+12.5%
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: 5-10 business days.
Tennessee Secretary of State, verified Mar 2026
5,908
Federal trademark applications from Tennessee businesses
Filed with the USPTO in 2023 by applicants with a Tennessee address, the 19th highest total of any state. Trademarks are federal, so this is separate from registering a business name with the Tennessee Secretary of State.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage
+10%
Trademark filing change since 2015
Tennessee filings went from 5,364 in 2015 to 5,908 in 2023, up 10%.
USPTO Trademark Case Files, 2023 vintage

What the filing data shows about Tennessee

Applicants with a Tennessee address filed 5,908 federal trademark applications in 2023, compared with 5,364 in 2015, a change of +10%.

Adjusted for population that is about 83 filings per 100,000 residents, the 21st highest rate in the country.

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

A trademark and a Tennessee registration are different things

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