DBA · Tennessee

How to File an Assumed Name for an LLC in Tennessee

By Edmond Hui · Last updated October 6, 2026

Short answer

Tennessee requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register an assumed name. An LLC files the Application for Registration of Assumed Limited Liability Company Name with the Secretary of State. The filing fee is $20.00. File before doing any business under the assumed name.

Tennessee Assumed Name at a Glance

Requirement: Required
Where to file: Secretary of State
Fee: $20.00
How long it lasts: 5 years
Newspaper notice: Not confirmed
File online: Not confirmed

How an LLC Files

An LLC files a separate application for each assumed name, and Tennessee's 2005 LLC law limits it to five assumed names at a time. Using a trademark or service mark the LLC owns or is licensed to use, or a division name shown together with the LLC's own name, does not count as using an assumed name.

File before doing any business under the assumed name.

An LLC files the Application for Registration of Assumed Limited Liability Company Name with the Secretary of State.

Tennessee files assumed names for LLCs and corporations with the Secretary of State, and the right to use each name must be renewed every five years.

Open the filing office's site

Cost and Renewal

The filing fee is $20.00.

The registration has a 5-year term.

The right to the name lasts five years from filing. Renewal is filed within the two months before it expires.

Renewal costs $20.00.

Sole proprietors

Tennessee's assumed name registration is only for business entities, and the Secretary of State says Tennessee does not recognize DBAs or fictitious names. A sole proprietor has no state filing for a trade name.

Requirement	No state filing

Next steps

Frequently Asked Questions

: Tennessee requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register an assumed name. An LLC files a separate application for each assumed name, and Tennessee's 2005 LLC law limits it to five assumed names at a time. Using a trademark or service mark the LLC owns or is licensed to use, or a division name shown together with the LLC's own name, does not count as using an assumed name. File before doing any business under the assumed name.
: An LLC files the Application for Registration of Assumed Limited Liability Company Name with the Secretary of State.
: The filing fee is $20.00.
: The registration has a 5-year term. The right to the name lasts five years from filing. Renewal is filed within the two months before it expires. Renewal costs $20.00.
: Tennessee's assumed name registration is only for business entities, and the Secretary of State says Tennessee does not recognize DBAs or fictitious names. A sole proprietor has no state filing for a trade name.

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 Tennessee 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.

publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/104/pub/pc0286.pdfTennessee 2005 Public Chapter 286 (Tennessee Revised Limited Liability Company Act), as enacted; later amendments not checked
sos.tn.gov/businesses/faqsTennessee Secretary of State, Business Services FAQs
sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com/s3fs-public/document/ss-4230.pdfTennessee Secretary of State, Form SS-4230, Application for Registration of Assumed Limited Liability Company Name
sos-prod.tnsosgovfiles.com/s3fs-public/document/ss-4402.pdfTennessee Secretary of State, Form SS-4402, Application for Registration of Assumed Corporate Name
publications.tnsosfiles.com/acts/104/pub/pc0286.pdfTennessee 2005 Public Chapter 286, s. 106(d)(1)(A) and (B), as enacted; 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.