DBA · Connecticut

How to File a Trade Name for an LLC in Connecticut

By Edmond Hui · Last updated October 6, 2026

Short answer

Connecticut requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register a trade name. An LLC must also have filed all required annual reports with the Secretary of the State before it can file. Leaving the LLC designator off its registered name does not by itself call for a trade name.

Connecticut Trade Name at a Glance

Requirement: Required
Where to file: City or town clerk
Fee: $20.00
How long it lasts: 5 years
Newspaper notice: None found
File online: Not confirmed

How an LLC Files

An LLC files the Trade Name Application with the town clerk in the city or town where the business is principally carried on.

Filing needs acknowledgment before a clerk or notary and the LLC in active status on the state's records.

Connecticut changed its trade name law on January 1, 2025, and again on October 1, 2026. For trade names recorded on or before December 31, 2024, each town clerk keeps its own index.

Open the filing office's site

Cost and Renewal

The filing fee is $20.00. The fee is set by state law and paid to the town clerk.

The registration has a 5-year term.

Trade names recorded before January 1, 2025, expire on December 31, 2029, unless renewed.

Renewal costs $20.00.

Publication

We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Connecticut.

If you skip it

Transacting business under an unrecorded trade name can bring a fine of up to $500, up to one year in jail, or both. It is also treated as an unfair or deceptive trade practice.

Sole proprietors

Connecticut requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register a trade name.

A sole proprietor files the Trade Name Application with the town clerk in the city or town where the business is principally carried on.

Filing needs acknowledgment before a clerk or notary and proof of identity.

The filing fee is $20.00. The fee is set by state law and paid to the town clerk.

The registration has a 5-year term.

Trade names recorded before January 1, 2025, expire on December 31, 2029, unless renewed.

Renewal costs $20.00.

We found no publication step for a sole proprietor's trade name filing in Connecticut.

Transacting business under an unrecorded trade name can bring a fine of up to $500, up to one year in jail, or both. It is also treated as an unfair or deceptive trade practice.

Requirement	Required
Where to file	City or town clerk
Fee	$20.00
How long it lasts	5 years
Newspaper notice	None found
File online	Not confirmed

Next steps

Frequently Asked Questions

: Connecticut requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register a trade name. An LLC must also have filed all required annual reports with the Secretary of the State before it can file. Leaving the LLC designator off its registered name does not by itself call for a trade name.
: An LLC files the Trade Name Application with the town clerk in the city or town where the business is principally carried on. Filing needs acknowledgment before a clerk or notary and the LLC in active status on the state's records.
: The filing fee is $20.00. The fee is set by state law and paid to the town clerk.
: The registration has a 5-year term. Trade names recorded before January 1, 2025, expire on December 31, 2029, unless renewed. Renewal costs $20.00.
: We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Connecticut.
: Transacting business under an unrecorded trade name can bring a fine of up to $500, up to one year in jail, or both. It is also treated as an unfair or deceptive trade practice.
: Connecticut requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register a trade name. A sole proprietor files the Trade Name Application with the town clerk in the city or town where the business is principally carried on.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's filing office publishes about registering a business name, with the sources this page cites. A filing here does not register a federal trademark, and fees and forms change between our reviews. Confirm with the office named on this page before you file.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Connecticut sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2026/ACT/PA/PDF/2026PA-00081-R00SB-00294-PA.PDFConnecticut Public Act 26-81 (Substitute Senate Bill 294), sections 1 to 5, as enacted (effective October 1, 2026); later amendments not checked
cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_620.htmConnecticut General Statutes, Chapter 620 (Trade Names), revised to January 1, 2025
cga.ct.gov/2026/sup/chap_092.htmConnecticut General Statutes 2026 Supplement, Chapter 92, Sec. 7-34a (Fees)
portal.ct.gov/-/media/sots/business-services/trade-name/instructions-business-organizations.pdfConnecticut Secretary of the State, Trade Name Application (Business Organizations) Instructions
portal.ct.gov/-/media/sots/business-services/trade-name/instructions-natural-persons.pdfConnecticut Secretary of the State, Trade Name Application (Natural Persons) Instructions
prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2026/ACT/PA/PDF/2026PA-00081-R00SB-00294-PA.PDFConnecticut Public Act 26-81, section 1 (Conn. Gen. Stat. 35-1a(b)), as enacted (effective October 1, 2026); later amendments not checked

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.