How to Change Your Illinois Business Name

How to Get a New Business Name

Corporations or LLCs that want to change names have to do a fair amount of preparation before filing to amend their formation documents. We can help you make these preparations in three easy steps. 

1.) Choose a new business name

You can be quite creative when choosing a new business name in Illinois. However, there are a handful of rules you have to follow. In general, any new corporation name or LLC name you choose needs to:

• Contain appropriate words, abbreviations, or phrases that identify what kind of legal entity you’re running 
• Not contain words that Illinois law restricts
• Be distinguishable from other names already on record with the Illinois Secretary of State 
• Contain letters, numbers, and symbols the Secretary of State can reproduce

Arguably, one of the hardest parts of a business name change in Illinois is choosing a distinguishable name. This step normally requires searching the names that are already in the Secretary of State’s database, and sometimes it requires reserving a new business name until you’re ready to use it.  

2.) Gather information for filing your amendment

When you file paperwork to change a business name in Illinois for an LLC or a corporation, the government needs to know more than the new name you want to use. Usually, LLC owners and corporation owners filing Articles of Amendment need to provide the Secretary of State with: 

• The business’s current name
• The date the business adopted the name change (for corporations), or the date the name change should become effective (for LLCs)
• Information about how the business adopted the name change (for corporations), or a declaration that the business properly approved the change (for LLCs)
• The desired new name
• Signature(s) from authorized officers and agents

You file Articles of Amendment with the Secretary of State, and you need to pay an accompanying filing fee. You can find the amendment cost on the Articles of Amendment forms and the Secretary of State’s website. 

3.) File your Illinois amendment

You can file your Articles of Amendment in person, by mail, or on the Secretary of State’s online filing service. For filing fee payments, the Secretary of State accepts checks, money orders, or major credit cards. If you’re too busy to handle these kinds of filings on your own, we can take care of them for you with our Amendment Filing Service. 

After You Change Your Business Name

Properly changing your business’s name usually doesn’t stop at filing paperwork with the state. After a name change, it’s important to make sure you take other steps to maintain your business’s market visibility and legal rights. Additional changes you might have to make to maintain your rights and visibility include: 

• Updates of legal documents, such as names on contracts, accounts, and insurance policies
• Revisions to marketing materials such as logos, business cards, websites, etc. 

These steps might seem tedious, but if you don’t take them, a name change could cause confusion and hurt your business.

We can help

As a business owner, you’re probably juggling a lot of important tasks. But you don’t have to let your many obligations prevent you from updating your business’s image. We can help you easily make changes to your enterprise and keep it legally compliant with our Worry-Free Compliance Service. 

If you’re still trying to step into business ownership and you don’t know how, you can use our Illinois LLC and Illinois Corporation Formation Services to help you get started today. We’re in the business of supporting entrepreneurs like you so that you have more time and space to achieve your dreams.