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Nevada keeps assumed names at the county level. The rule is Chapter 602 of the Nevada Revised Statutes, titled doing business under an assumed or fictitious name. Everything on this page comes from the chapter text, and the chapter names no fee, so the price is a question for the county clerk.
Which office takes a Nevada DBA?
The county clerk. Under NRS 602.010 anyone doing business under a name that differs from the legal name of each owner files a certificate with the county clerk of each county where the business operates. A business in Las Vegas and Reno files in both counties.
You do not need to wait for launch. The statute lets you file before you start, in the county or counties where you plan to work.
What goes on the certificate?
NRS 602.020 lists the contents by owner type:
- Person: full name and the street address of home or business, plus a mailing address if it differs.
- Company or other artificial person: its name and mailing address.
- General partnership: each partner who is a person, with the same address details.
- Trust: each trustee.
The certificate must be signed and notarized. A county can drop the notary rule by ordinance, so ask the clerk whether yours has.
When is it due?
No later than 1 month after you begin business under the name. If a partner or trustee changes, a new certificate is due within 1 month of the change.
A county may also require renewal. The board of county commissioners can pass an ordinance that makes a certificate expire 5 years after it is filed. If your county has done that, you file a renewal before the end date. The clerk must tell certificate holders by newspaper notice and mail. Whether a given county has such a rule is something we did not check.
Which names does the law block?
Chapter 602 lists endings you cannot adopt unless you are that type of entity. Examples:
- Corporation, Corp., Incorporated or Inc. need a Nevada corporation or a qualified foreign one.
- Limited Liability Company, LLC and L.L.C. need a Nevada LLC, organized or registered.
- A name that imitates a government body is barred.
- A natural person cannot use a fictitious name that looks like a person's name, unless extra words show it is not one.
County clerks cannot accept a certificate that breaks these rules. Our LLC name search guide covers checking the LLC name itself.
How do you search a Nevada DBA?
The register is kept by each county clerk. NRS 602.050 requires the clerk to keep an alphabetical register of names with the owner names and addresses. So search at the clerk of the county where the business works. There is no statewide DBA index in the pages we read.
The Secretary of State's entity search is different. Its FAQ says trademarks, trade names and service marks on file with the office show up there, along with entity names. That does not replace a county search. For more on method, see DBA search.
What happens when the business ends?
You can file a certificate of termination with the same clerk. It is notarized and says when the business or your ownership ended. The clerk notes it in the index.
If you run an LLC, the next step is the state business license and the annual list. Our Nevada business license page covers both. For whether to use a DBA or form an entity, read DBA vs LLC and the Nevada LLC guide. For a neighbouring state, see the Utah DBA page.
This page does not cover individual county fees, forms or online filing tools.