Register a DBA in Georgia
Filed at the county level
A DBA (fictitious or assumed business name) lets you operate, bank, and advertise under a trade name. Below: who must file in Georgia, where, for how long, and what happens if you don't — quoted from the statutes.
Filing office
Filings are made at the county level with the clerk of the superior court, who registers the statement and keeps an alphabetical index of registered trade names in a permanent record book.
Term & renewal
Georgia trade name registrations have no fixed term and no renewal cycle. A registrant must file a new and amended registration statement only upon a change of ownership.
Publication
After filing, notice of the registration, giving the names and addresses of each person, firm, or partnership engaging in business under the trade name, must be published once a week for two weeks in the county's official legal advertising newspaper (the paper carrying the sheriff's advertisements).
Exclusive rights?
Registration generally does not create exclusive name rights.
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Filing fee (published by the filing office)
No state-level fee. The county superior court clerk's fee is set under O.C.G.A. § 15-6-77 plus surcharges; verified county totals run about $166 to $175 (DeKalb $174, Gwinnett $172, Fulton $175, Hall $175, Bulloch $166); a roughly $4 across-the-board civil fee increase took effect July 1, 2024. Newspaper publication adds about $40 to $60, paid to the county legal organ.
Fees published by the filing office come from the office's own fee schedule rather than the act text, and the office can change them without any change to the statute. Confirm the current amount with the office.
State and county fees are set by law, never discounted, and collected with your order.
Who must file in Georgia
| Business type | Required? | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sole proprietors (every person) | Yes | Clerk of the superior court of the county in which the business is chiefly carried on |
| Firms and general partnerships | Yes | Clerk of the superior court of the county in which the business is chiefly carried on |
| Domestic corporations using a name other than their corporate name | Yes | Clerk of the superior court of the county of the corporation's legal domicile |
| Corporations, limited partnerships, and LLCs operating under their own registered names; professional partnerships | No | Not applicable (exempt from the trade name registration part) |
County-level filings go to the clerk or recorder of each county where you do business — requirements and fees vary by county, so confirm with the county office (we handle this as part of every Georgia DBA order).
The law behind it
Quoted verbatim from Registration of Businesses Using Trade Names (O.C.G.A. Title 10, Ch. 1, Art. 16, Pt. 3) (O.C.G.A. §§ 10-1-490 to 10-1-493).
What the law requires
Georgia requires every person, firm, or partnership doing business under a name that does not disclose the individual ownership of the business to file a verified trade name registration statement with the clerk of the superior court of the county where the business is chiefly carried on (or, for a domestic corporation using a name other than its corporate name, the county of its legal domicile), followed by newspaper publication. There is no statewide DBA registry.
"Every person, firm, or partnership carrying on in this state any trade or business under any trade name or partnership name or other name which does not disclose the individual ownership of the trade, business, or profession carried on under such name shall, within 30 days from March 29, 1937, or thereafter before commencing to do business, file in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county in which the business is chiefly carried on or, in the case of a domestic corporation using any name other than its corporate name, in the county of its legal domicile, a registration statement, verified by affidavit..." — O.C.G.A. § 10-1-490(a)
Where filings go
Filings are made at the county level with the clerk of the superior court, who registers the statement and keeps an alphabetical index of registered trade names in a permanent record book.
"(b) The clerk shall register the same by filing the verified statement in his office and shall keep an alphabetical index of all such registrations in a permanent record book to be kept in his office, the index to show the trade, partnership, or other name registered and in connection therewith the names of the owners." — O.C.G.A. § 10-1-490(b)
Publication requirement
After filing, notice of the registration, giving the names and addresses of each person, firm, or partnership engaging in business under the trade name, must be published once a week for two weeks in the county's official legal advertising newspaper (the paper carrying the sheriff's advertisements).
"Notice of such filing giving the names and addresses of each person, firm, or partnership to engage in business under such trade name or partnership name shall be published in the paper in which the sheriff's advertisements are printed once a week for two weeks." — O.C.G.A. § 10-1-490(a)
How long it lasts
Georgia trade name registrations have no fixed term and no renewal cycle. A registrant must file a new and amended registration statement only upon a change of ownership. Renewal: None required; a new and amended statement of registration is required only upon a change of ownership.
"...and shall, upon any change of ownership, likewise file a new and amended statement of registration... No person, firm, or partnership already registered shall be required to reregister except in the event of a change of ownership." — O.C.G.A. § 10-1-490(a)
Entities and assumed names
On the entity side, a foreign corporation whose real corporate name is unavailable in Georgia may use a fictitious or trade name to transact business by delivering to the Secretary of State a certified copy of the board resolution adopting the fictitious name; the fictitious name must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records.
"(a) If the corporate name of a foreign corporation does not satisfy the requirements of Code Section 14-2-401, the foreign corporation to obtain or maintain a certificate of authority to transact business in this state:... (2) May use a fictitious or trade name to transact business in this state if its real name is unavailable and it delivers to the Secretary of State for filing a copy of the resolution of its board of directors, certified by its secretary, adopting the fictitious or trade name." — O.C.G.A. § 14-2-1506(a)(2)
Statutory text quoted from the official published statutes; dataset last regenerated 2026-09-09. Read the full code at the Georgia statutes. This is information, not legal advice — laws change.
If you skip it
Carrying on a business subject to registration without filing is a misdemeanor, though the statute expressly caps the consequences at that plus court costs. (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-493)
A party who has not registered its trade or partnership name at the time an action is filed is cast with (must pay) the court costs. (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-491)
Contracts made under an unregistered trade name are expressly validated, and no action in contract or tort is defeated because of a failure to register. (O.C.G.A. § 10-1-491)
Georgia DBA FAQs
Where do I file a trade name (DBA) registration in Georgia?
Does Georgia require newspaper publication of a trade name registration?
Does a Georgia trade name registration expire or need renewal?
What happens if I do business in Georgia under an unregistered trade name?
Related services
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