A trade name, also called a DBA ("doing business as") or fictitious name, is a name a company uses publicly that differs from its registered legal name. Registering a trade name lets an entity operate under a brand without forming a separate company.
One legal entity can hold several trade names, and a trade name does not create a new entity — it points back to the registered company that owns it.
For research this matters because a company may be known to customers by a trade name while its records live under a different legal name.
Related terms
- Entity type — Entity type
- Registry number — Registry number
- Jurisdiction — Jurisdiction