How do I check whether my company name is available in Delaware?
DelawareNameFormation
Search the Delaware Division of Corporations entity search at icis.corp.delaware.gov. It is free, needs no account, and returns every active and inactive entity whose name matches what you typed. The state does not say in the results whether it will accept your name; it shows you what already exists. A name that is not distinguishable from one on the register is rejected at filing, and in practice a different suffix or a change of punctuation is usually not enough to distinguish it. A different word is.
Reserving it
If the filing is weeks away, Delaware will hold a name for 120 days for $75. If you are filing now, the reservation is unnecessary, because the filing itself claims the name. A reservation can be transferred to someone else for the same fee, which matters if a co-founder reserved it in their own name.
What available does not mean
The search checks Delaware's register and nothing else. It does not check the federal trademark register, the other forty-nine states, or the domain registry. A name that is clear in Delaware can still infringe someone's trademark, and a trademark owner's rights beat your certificate of formation. Search the USPTO database for the mark, check the domain, and only then order the business cards. The state will happily form a company whose name it will later watch you change.
After you order a formation, Arabella checks the name against the state's records before filing. If it is taken, you rename on screen and the filing goes in under the new name, instead of a rejection arriving weeks later.
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Written by the lawyers who built Arabella. This is legal information, not legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not make us your lawyers. For a real dispute or a high-stakes decision, talk to a licensed attorney. More questions.