Nowadays, Limited Liability Companies (LLC) are extraordinarily common due to, among other things, the ability to quickly form an LLC online for a relatively low price. As part of forming an LLC, you need to come up with a name for it. In California, there are numerous requirements for that name. In this post, I’m going to go over one of those requirements: Is it necessary to include the abbreviation “LLC” in the name? For instance, if you want to use “Banana Pancakes” as the name of your LLC, does it have to be “Banana Pancakes, LLC” or can you literally just name your LLC “Banana Pancakes”? You might prefer the latter because you think it would be more catchy for advertising purposes, making merch, etc.
In California, the answer to this question is found in Section 17701.08(a) of the Corporations Code, which states:
“The name of a limited liability company shall contain the words “limited liability company,” or the abbreviation “L.L.C.” or “LLC.” “Limited” may be abbreviated as “Ltd.,” and “company” may be abbreviated as “Co.” “
You’ll notice that I bolded and highlighted the word “shall”. I did that because it reflects that the inclusion of “limited liability company” or “LLC” or “L.L.C.” is mandatory when choosing a name for an LLC in California. To refer back to my prior example, the name “Banana Pancakes” doesn’t comply with this requirement and is, thus, not an acceptable name in California for an LLC.
If we follow Section 17701.08(a), however, the following would be acceptable names:
- Banana Pancakes, LLC
- Banana Pancakes, L.L.C.
- Banana Pancakes, a Limited Liability Company
Of these three, my experience in California has been that the first option — namely, using the LLC suffix without the periods — is the most common. In my further experience in California, using the Ltd or Co. abbreviations — such as “Banana Pancakes, Ltd. Liability Co.” — is even less common. However, as with all experiences, my experience may not necessarily reflect or be applicable to your particular situation.
There are other requirements under Section 17701.08(a) which I’ll go over in future posts. Feel free to read the Section in the interim. As with all of my posts, this was not intended to be a comprehensive discussion about the relevant law. There could very well be facts in your particular situation that would be relevant in deciding what would be the best course of action. If you are dealing with a naming issue regarding a California Limited Liability Company, please do find a lawyer in your area to discuss the issue with face-to-face.
Good luck!
Andy Chen
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