Short answer: In Florida, you register a fictitious name, or DBA, with the Division of Corporations, online on its Sunbiz website or by mail. First, the name is advertised at least once in a newspaper in the county of your principal place of business. On November 10, 2026, registering cost $50.00, and a registration was valid for 5 years, until December 31 of the final year.
Before you read: This guide is based on the Sunbiz pages about fictitious names and on section 865.09 of the 2026 Florida Statutes. We read them on November 10, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.
What counts as a fictitious name in Florida
Florida’s Fictitious Name Act is section 865.09 of the Florida Statutes. It defines a fictitious name as any name under which a person transacts business in Florida, other than the person’s legal name.
On Sunbiz, a fictitious name, also known as a “doing business as” or DBA, is a name different from your personal name if you work as a sole proprietor. If you formed a corporation, an LLC or another separate legal entity, it’s a name different from the entity’s legal name.
Sunbiz says the act requires any person, individuals and business entities alike, to register their fictitious name with the Florida Department of State before doing business in Florida.
Sunbiz says the registration isn’t required for an individual’s legal name, or for the name of a corporation, LLC or limited partnership. It isn’t required to form one of those entities either.
Sunbiz lists exemptions, among them a business entity already registered and active with the Division that does business under no other name. Another is a person registered with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation whose licensing board doesn’t require the registration.
Registration lets an individual or a business operate under a name other than their legal name. It also lets the public search Sunbiz to see which individual or business operates under the name.
Before you register: search the name and advertise it
To find out whether a name is already in use, Sunbiz suggests a search of its records by name. Sunbiz says the message “Records not found in that direction” means the name isn’t registered with the Division.
According to Sunbiz, registering a fictitious name doesn’t grant you ownership or rights to the name. It doesn’t keep someone else from using or registering the same name either. The Division files fictitious names for public notice purposes only.
Section 865.09 says registration is for public notice only and doesn’t reserve a fictitious name against future use. It doesn’t affect trademark, service mark, trade name or business entity name rights that others acquired earlier in the same or a similar name.
The newspaper advertisement comes before the filing. According to Sunbiz, the name you register needs to be advertised at least once in a newspaper located in the county of your principal place of business. Section 865.09 refers to chapter 50 of the Florida Statutes for what counts as a newspaper.
Sunbiz says proof of the advertisement isn’t required. When you sign the application, you certify that the name has been advertised.
In our view, search the name on Sunbiz before you pay for a logo, signs or a domain.
How to register a fictitious name on Sunbiz
You can register online on Sunbiz with MasterCard, Visa, Discover or American Express. Card payments go only through the online registration.
By mail, you send the PDF application with a check or money order payable to the Florida Department of State, in US currency drawn from a US bank.
The application takes one fictitious name, entered exactly as you want to register it. The name can’t carry an entity term such as Corporation, LLC or Professional Association, unless a registrant is that type of entity and authorized to do business in Florida.
The instructions add that section 655.922 of the Florida Statutes reserves words such as bank, banco, credit union or trust company for financial institutions.
The mailing address doesn’t need to be your principal place of business, and it doesn’t need to be in Florida. You can update it free of charge if it changes.
You also pick the Florida county of your principal place of business, or “Multiple” if more than one county applies.
Your federal employer identification number (FEIN) is optional, and Sunbiz asks you not to enter a Social Security Number. Each owner can be an individual or a business entity, and the application lists up to 5 owners.
Sunbiz says an owner that is a business entity has to be registered and active with the Division, or provide documents showing why it isn’t required to register. The form asks for each entity’s document number and FEIN.
One owner signs the application. If the owner is a business entity, an authorized individual can sign for it, and online you type that individual’s name and title. Sunbiz says electronic signatures have the same legal effect as original ones.
Everything you submit on the application becomes part of the public record, and anyone can see it on the Division’s website.
Sunbiz confirms an online registration by email within 24 hours of posting it, with no confirmation by mail. A registration sent by mail gets its confirmation by mail. The confirmation includes the name registered, its registration number and the date of registration.
In our view, register the name exactly as customers will see it on your signs, your website and your invoices.
What a Florida DBA costs
On November 10, 2026, Sunbiz listed $50.00 to register a fictitious name, $50.00 to renew it and $50.00 to cancel it, with or without reregistering it.
The optional items, as listed on November 10, 2026, were a certified copy of the registration for $30.00 and a certificate of status for $10.00.
A certified copy is a stamped copy of your filed registration, verified as a true and correct copy of the record. A certificate of status confirms the status and existence of the registration and that the fees due were paid through a certain date.
Section 865.09 lists the same amounts and calls them nonrefundable processing fees.
How long a registration lasts and how to renew it
Sunbiz says a registration is valid for 5 years and expires on December 31 of the final year. Section 865.09 counts the year of registration, through December 31, as the first of those 5 calendar years.
You renew from January 1 through December 31 of the year it expires. In that year, the Division notifies you of the coming expiration no later than September 1, by email if you gave it an email address.
If you don’t file the renewal and pay its fee by December 31 of that year, the registration expires. Section 865.09 adds that not receiving the notice isn’t grounds to appeal the expiration.
Sunbiz says an expired fictitious name can’t be renewed or reinstated, and you file for a new one instead.
You can renew online with a credit card, a Visa or MasterCard debit card or a prepaid Sunbiz E-File Account. You need your registration number, which is on your notice, or you can find it with a search by name.
When you renew, you can change the owner on the renewal application, but not the name. To change the name itself, Sunbiz says not to renew. You cancel and reregister it at the same time on sections 1 to 4 of the registration form, sent with a check or money order.
In our view, note the expiration year in your calendar the day your confirmation arrives.
When you stop using the name or transfer the business
Section 865.09 says that if you stop doing business under a registered fictitious name, you file a cancellation with the Division within 30 days.
If you stop because you transferred the business and the new owner will do business under the name, that owner can reregister it at the same time as the cancellation.
To cancel, the Sunbiz forms page says to fill out only section 4 of its cancellation form.
Proof of registration
Sunbiz says you need proof of registration to apply for a local occupational license or to transfer a business license. The county or municipality asks for a copy of your current registration, or a written statement of why the act doesn’t require you to register.
Sunbiz adds that most banks and financial institutions ask for proof of registration to open an account.
In our view, keep the confirmation with the papers you take to open the business bank account.
Sunbiz also notes that a fictitious name registration doesn’t meet the requirements for a workers’ compensation exemption.
Your name beyond Sunbiz
Our guide to choosing a business name covers names that are easy to say and spell, and the checks with your state, the USPTO and the domain.
For rights across the whole country, our guide to trademarking a business name or logo covers the USPTO application.
Our guide to changing your business name on Google and Google Maps covers the edit and the name Google asks for.
If the new name is part of a rebrand, our rebranding guide covers how to update every place customers find you.
In our view, settle the name before any design work starts, so the logo carries the name you register.
Before you file on Sunbiz
- You searched the Sunbiz records for the name.
- The name was advertised at least once in a newspaper in the county of your principal place of business.
- The name has no entity term, such as LLC, unless a registrant is an entity of that type formed or authorized to do business in Florida.
- You have the mailing address, the county and each owner’s details ready.
- You know whether you will pay online by card or mail a check or money order.
- You know the registration expires on December 31 of its fifth calendar year.
RememberIn Florida, you advertise a fictitious name at least once in a newspaper in the county of your principal place of business. Then you register it with the Division of Corporations on Sunbiz. On November 10, 2026, registering and renewing each cost $50.00. A registration lasts until December 31 of its fifth calendar year, and it gives you no rights to the name.
Our branding service designs the logo, colors, fonts and voice of your brand, with a guide your team can use without us, in English and Spanish. You own every file.
Questions about a Florida DBA
How much does a DBA cost in Florida?
On November 10, 2026, Sunbiz listed $50.00 to register a fictitious name, $50.00 to renew it, $30.00 for a certified copy and $10.00 for a certificate of status. The copy and the certificate are optional. Section 865.09 calls these processing fees nonrefundable.
Do you have to advertise a DBA in a Florida newspaper?
Yes. According to Sunbiz, the name you register needs to be advertised at least once in a newspaper located in the county of your principal place of business. Proof of the advertisement isn’t required. When you sign the application, you certify that the name has been advertised.
How long does a Florida fictitious name last?
Sunbiz says a registration is valid for 5 years and expires on December 31 of the final year. You renew it from January 1 through December 31 of the year it expires. An expired fictitious name can’t be renewed or reinstated, so you file for a new one.
Does a DBA protect your business name in Florida?
No. According to Sunbiz, registering a fictitious name doesn’t grant you ownership or rights to the name. It doesn’t keep someone else from using or registering the same name either. Section 865.09 says registration is for public notice only.
Does an LLC need a DBA in Florida?
Only if it does business under a name other than its registered name. Sunbiz says the registration isn’t required for the name of a corporation, LLC or limited partnership. Section 865.09 exempts an entity registered and active with the Division, unless the name it does business under differs from its registered name.
Sources
All read on November 10, 2026. From Sunbiz, the website of the Florida Division of Corporations: Florida Fictitious Name Registration, Fictitious Name Registration Instructions and Fictitious Name Renewal. Also its forms page, Fictitious Name, and Search for a Fictitious Name by Name. From Online Sunshine, the website of the Florida Legislature: 865.09 Fictitious name registration, in the 2026 Florida Statutes.