DBA · North Carolina

How to File an Assumed Name for an LLC in North Carolina

By Edmond Hui · Last updated October 6, 2026

Short answer

North Carolina requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register an assumed name. An LLC files for any name other than the one in its articles of organization. One certificate filed in any one county where it does business can cover every county it lists.

North Carolina Assumed Name at a Glance

Requirement: Required
Where to file: County office (register of deeds)
Fee: See Cost and renewal
How long it lasts: Does not expire
Newspaper notice: None found
File online: Not confirmed

How an LLC Files

File before starting to do business under the name.

An LLC files the Assumed Business Name Certificate with the register of deeds in any one county where it does business (one filing covers the others).

Filing needs the LLC registered on the state's records.

The register of deeds sends the filing to a statewide database kept by the Secretary of State. A certificate of amendment is due within 60 days after any information in the certificate changes.

Open the filing office's site

Cost and Renewal

The filing fee is $26.00. The $26 is paid to the county register of deeds, at a rate state law makes uniform in every county. It is the same whether the certificate names one county or all 100.

The registration does not expire.

Publication

We found no publication step for an LLC's assumed name filing in North Carolina.

Does it protect the name?

Registering does not give the LLC ownership of, or an exclusive right to, the name.

If you skip it

A business that fails to file is liable to anyone injured by the failure for the reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, of finding out the information the certificate would have shown.

Sole proprietors

North Carolina requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register an assumed name. A sole proprietor files for any name other than their own real name, and a general partnership for any name other than the real names of its general partners. One certificate filed in any one county where the business operates can cover every county it lists.

File before starting to do business under the name.

A sole proprietor files the Assumed Business Name Certificate with the register of deeds in any one county where the business operates (one filing covers the others).

The filing fee is $26.00. The $26 is paid to the county register of deeds, at a rate state law makes uniform in every county. It is the same whether the certificate names one county or all 100.

The registration does not expire.

We found no publication step for a sole proprietor's assumed name filing in North Carolina.

A business that fails to file is liable to anyone injured by the failure for the reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, of finding out the information the certificate would have shown.

Requirement	Required
Where to file	County office (register of deeds)
Fee	See Cost and renewal
How long it lasts	Does not expire
Newspaper notice	None found
File online	Not confirmed

Next steps

Frequently Asked Questions

: North Carolina requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register an assumed name. An LLC files for any name other than the one in its articles of organization. One certificate filed in any one county where it does business can cover every county it lists. File before starting to do business under the name.
: An LLC files the Assumed Business Name Certificate with the register of deeds in any one county where it does business (one filing covers the others). Filing needs the LLC registered on the state's records.
: The filing fee is $26.00. The $26 is paid to the county register of deeds, at a rate state law makes uniform in every county. It is the same whether the certificate names one county or all 100.
: The registration does not expire.
: We found no publication step for an LLC's assumed name filing in North Carolina.
: Registering does not give the LLC ownership of, or an exclusive right to, the name.
: A business that fails to file is liable to anyone injured by the failure for the reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, of finding out the information the certificate would have shown.
: North Carolina requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register an assumed name. A sole proprietor files for any name other than their own real name, and a general partnership for any name other than the real names of its general partners. One certificate filed in any one county where the business operates can cover every county it lists. A sole proprietor files the Assumed Business Name Certificate with the register of deeds in any one county where the business operates (one filing covers the others).

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 North Carolina 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.

ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_66/Article_14A.htmlN.C.G.S. Chapter 66, Article 14A, Assumed Business Name Act
ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_161/GS_161-10.htmlN.C.G.S. 161-10, Uniform fees of registers of deeds
sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration/assumed_business_namesNorth Carolina Secretary of State, Assumed Business Names
sosnc.gov/manual/assumed_business_names/Page6North Carolina Secretary of State, Assumed Business Names Manual, page 6
sosnc.gov/manual/assumed_business_names/Page7North Carolina Secretary of State, Assumed Business Names Manual, page 7
sosnc.gov/manual/assumed_business_names/Page8North Carolina Secretary of State, Assumed Business Names Manual, page 8
sosnc.gov/manual/assumed_business_names/Page9North Carolina Secretary of State, Assumed Business Names Manual, page 9
sosnc.gov/manual/assumed_business_names/Page14North Carolina Secretary of State, Assumed Business Names Manual, page 14
b2b.sosnc.gov/webfiles/documents/forms/Assumed_Business_Name/Assumed_Business_Name.pdfNorth Carolina Secretary of State, Assumed Business Name Certificate form

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.