How RareName works

Describe your idea (or paste a name you already have) and RareName runs four checks at once: live domain availability across your chosen extensions, a live USPTO federal trademark search, a web-presence scan, and a direct link to the right state's Secretary of State registry. It only shows you names that clear the automated checks. The whole pass takes about 60 seconds, and the core checker is free with no signup.

Not for the initial clearance. RareName automates the checks most founders do by hand — domain, federal trademark, web presence, and state registry — so you can rule names out quickly. A trademark attorney is worth it later if you're filing a federal trademark or entering a crowded category, but you don't need one to eliminate names that are obviously taken.

RareName queries the USPTO federal trademark database live, by exact name, every time you run a check — so the result reflects current USPTO records, not a cached list. It's designed to catch the obvious dealbreaker: a federally registered mark on your exact name. It is a screening tool, not a legal clearance — it doesn't analyze phonetically similar marks, design/logo marks, or common-law (unregistered) trademarks, and it isn't legal advice. Use it to narrow your shortlist fast, then confirm with a trademark attorney before you file.

Yes. For each extension you select (.com, .ai, .io and more), RareName checks live registry/WHOIS data and reports whether the domain is unregistered and available to register, or already taken — based on real registration status, not a guess. Note it flags whether a domain is available to register; it doesn't appraise or broker already-registered domains that may be listed for sale.

All 50 US states plus Washington, D.C. Instead of relying on a paid third-party database that can lag behind the official records, RareName links you straight to each state's official Secretary of State business-entity registry, where you confirm the name yourself — free, from the authoritative source. You pick your formation state and RareName opens the correct registry for it.

RareName runs a web-presence check — a live search for whether the name is already operating as a brand online (an existing company, product, or website). That surfaces the most important signal: a real business already using the name. It does not currently verify username availability handle-by-handle on each social platform (Instagram, X, TikTok, etc.) — that's a narrower, separate check. If exact handle availability matters to you, pair RareName's clearance with a dedicated handle checker.

The core checker is free — generate names and run the domain, trademark, web, and state checks with no account and no credit card. RareName earns money two transparent ways: an optional “pay what you want” tip if the tool saved you time, and disclosed affiliate links in the founder's checklist (domain registrars, formation services, and the like) that cost you nothing extra. None of the name-clearance features are paywalled.

Most name tools are owned by a domain registrar, a formation service, or a logo maker, so they only check the slice they sell — usually just the domain. A free domain says nothing about trademarks or state registrations. RareName generates names too, but checks domain, USPTO trademark, web presence, and all 50 state registries together, so a name that clears is one you can actually build a brand around. See the full comparison on the compare page.