Glossary
DBA (doing business as)
A name a business operates under that is different from its legal name.
Also called: Assumed name, Trade name, Fictitious name, Fictitious business name.
A DBA lets "Northside Holdings LLC" trade as "Northside Bakery" without forming a second company. It is a label, not a separate legal entity, and it gives no liability protection of its own.
Where you register one depends on the state. Some keep DBAs in the same state database as companies, some in a separate state list, and some at the county level. That is why a name can be missing from a state business search and still be in use.
A DBA registration generally doesn’t stop another company from forming under the same words, and it is not a trademark.
Where you'll see it in a business search
In some states as its own record type in the business search; in others only in a county or separate state index.