defined in
the legal systems of various countries. These include
, and other specialized types of organization. Some of
these types are listed below, by country.
For guidance, approximate equivalents in the company law of
English-speaking countries are given in most cases, e.g. ≈
, etc. It should be remembered, however, that the
regulations governing particular types of entity, even those
described as roughly equivalent, may differ to a greater or lesser
extent between countries.
In Canada entities can be incorporated under either federal or
provincial (or territorial) law.
(R.S., 1985, c. C-44). ≈ Ltd. or Plc (UK)
As an exception, entities registered prior to 1985 may continue to
be designated
(1998, c. 1), a co-operative must have the word
“cooperative”, “co-operative”, “coop”, “co-op”,
, “united” or “pool”, or another grammatical
form of any of those words, as part of its name.
An SE or SCE may be created by registration in any of the EU/EEA
Member States, and is subject to the
. It may
relocate its registered office to any other EU/EEA Member State
with minimal formalities.
Of these, only nyrt., zrt., and kft. have
. There
were two forms of Company Limited by Guarantee, but only the form
is now used.
Note: Any of this entities can be incorporated as a "Capital
Variable" entity, in which case has to add the " de C.V." sufix to
its company name. Example: "S.A. de C.V.", "S. de R.L. de
C.V."
, in the Dutch Trade
Register.
Company formation is regulated by the Ukrainian Civil Code and
Commercial Code, Law of Commercial companies, Law of stock
companies,law and order.
In the United States, the individual states incorporate most
businesses, and some special types are incorporated by the federal
government.
rules. Under the rules, an entity may be
classified as a corporation, a partnership or disregarded entity,
and a corporation may be either an
Many governmental units are specially formed public corporations
and some private organizations have received a charter from
Congress.
| State |
Required in Corporation
name |
Authority |
Alabama |
"corporation," or "incorporated," or an abbreviation of one of
such words, or if a banking corporation the words "bank,"
"banking," or "bankers" |
§ 10-2B-4.01(a)(1) Code of Alabama 1975 |
Alaska |
"corporation", "company", "incorporated", or "limited", or an
abbreviation of one of these words; may not contain the word
"city", "borough", or "village" or otherwise imply that the
corporation is a municipality. |
§10.06.105 (a) and (b), Alaska Corporations Code |
Arizona |
"association", "bank", "company", "corporation", "limited" or
"incorporated" or an abbreviation of one of these words or the
equivalent in a foreign language. Corporation may not use "bank",
"deposit", "credit union", "trust" or "trust company" unless it
also has a license to operate one. May not use "limited liability
company" or "limited company" or the abbreviations "L.L.C.",
"L.C.", "LLC" or "LC" |
§10-401 Arizona Revised Statutes |
Arkansas |
"Corporation", "Company", or "Incorporated", or shall contain
an abbreviation of one of those words; but the name may not end
with the word "Company" nor the abbreviation "Co." if the final
word or abbreviation is immediately preceded by "and" or any symbol
for "and" |
§4-26-401 (1), Arkansas Code |
California |
"corporation", "incorporated" or "limited" or an abbreviation
of one of such words is required for closed corporations. May not
contain "bank," " trust," "trustee" or "credit union" unless
approved by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. |
§202(a), California Corporations Code |
Colorado |
“corporation”, “incorporated”, “company”, “limited”, “corp.”,
inc.”, “co.” or “ltd”; If the corporation is a professional
corporation, it must contain the term or abbreviation “professional
corporation”, “p.c.”, or “pc”. |
§7-90-601, Colorado Revised Statutes |
Connecticut |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", "Societa per Azioni"
or "limited", or the abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", "S.p.A."
or "ltd." |
§33-655 General Statutes of Connecticut |
Delaware |
"association," "company," "corporation," "club," "foundation,"
"fund," "incorporated," "institute," "society," "union,"
"syndicate," or "limited," (or abbreviations thereof, with or
without punctuation), or words (or abbreviations thereof, with or
without punctuation) of like import of foreign countries or
jurisdictions (provided they are written in Roman characters or
letters) |
Title 8, §102, Delaware Code |
District of Columbia |
"corporation," "company," "incorporated," or "limited," or
shall contain an abbreviation of 1 of such words |
§ 29-101.08 District of Columbia Official Code |
Florida |
"corporation," "company," or "incorporated" or the abbreviation
"Corp.," "Inc.," or "Co.," or the designation "Corp," "Inc," or
"Co," |
§607.0401 Florida Statutes |
Georgia |
'corporation,' 'incorporated,' 'company,' or 'limited,' or the
abbreviation 'corp.,' 'inc.,' 'co.,' or 'ltd.,' or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language; must not be
longer than 80 characters |
O.C.G.A. § 14-2-401 |
Hawaii |
"corporation", "incorporated", or "limited", or the
abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", or "ltd." |
§414-51 Hawaii Revised Statutes |
Idaho |
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," "limited," or the
abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd.," or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language; provided however,
that if the word "company" or its abbreviation is used it shall not
be immediately preceded by the word "and" or by an abbreviation of
or symbol representing the word "and" |
§30-1-401 Idaho Statutes |
Illinois |
"corporation", "company", "incorporated", or "limited", or an
abbreviation of one of such words |
805 ILCS 5/4.05 Illinois Compiled Statutes |
Indiana |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", or the
abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd.", or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language |
§ 23-1-23-1 Indiana Code |
Iowa |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", or the
abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd.", or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language. |
§490.401 Iowa Acts |
Kansas |
(except for banks) "association," "church," "college,"
"company," "corporation," "club," "foundation," "fund,"
"incorporated," "institute," "society," "union," "university,"
"syndicate" or "limited," or one of the abbreviations "co.,"
"corp.," "inc.," "ltd.," or words or abbreviations of like import
in other languages if they are written in Roman characters or
letters |
§17-6002 Kansas Statutes |
Kentucky |
"corporation", "incorporated" or the abbreviation "Inc.," or
the word "company" or the abbreviation "Co."; but if the word
"company" or the abbreviation "Co." is used, it may not be
immediately preceded by the word "and" or the abbreviation
"&." |
§273.177 Kentucky Revised Statutes |
Louisiana |
(except for railroad, telegraph and telephone corporations)
"Corporation", "Incorporated" or "Limited", or the abbreviation of
any of those words, or may contain instead the word "Company" or
the abbreviation "Co." if the latter word or abbreviation is not
immediately preceded by the word "and" or the symbol "&". No
corporate name shall contain the phrase "doing business as" or the
abbreviation "d/b/a". Only a bank or bank holding company is
allowed to use any of "bank", "banker", "banking", "savings", "safe
deposit", "trust", "trustee", "building and loan", "homestead",
"credit union", "insurance", "casualty", "redevelopment
corporation", or "electric cooperative". |
§12:23 Louisiana Revised Statutes |
Maine |
words or abbreviations of words that describe the nature of the
entity, including "professional association," "corporation,"
"company," "incorporated," "chartered," "limited," "limited
partnership," "limited liability company," "professional limited
liability company," "limited liability partnership," "registered
limited liability partnership," "service corporation" or
"professional corporation"; beginning July 1
2007 may also include "limited liability
limited partnership" |
for business corporations: Title 13-C § 401 Maine Revised
Statutes; for non-profit corporations: Title 13-B § 301-A Maine
Revised Statutes; |
Maryland |
For Corporations: "Company", if it is not preceded by the word
"and" or a symbol for the word "and"; "Corporation", "Incorporated"
or "Limited" or abbreviations; for Limited liability companies:
"limited liability company", "L.L.C.", "LLC", "L.C.", or "LC"; for
Limited liability partnerships: "limited liability partnership",
"L.L.P." or "LLP"; for Limited partnerships: "limited partnership",
"L.P.", or "LP"; for Limited liability limited partnerships:
"limited liability limited partnership", "L.L.L.P.", or "LLLP"; for
Professional corporations: "chartered", "chtd.", "professional
association", "P.A.", "professional corporation", or "P.C." |
Maryland Code CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS § 1-502 |
Massachusetts |
"any name which, in the judgment of the secretary, indicates
that it is a corporation" |
GENERAL LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS Chapter 155: Section 9 |
Michigan |
"corporation", "company", "incorporated", or "limited" or shall
contain 1 of the following abbreviations, corp., co., inc., or
ltd. |
Act 284 of 1972 Section 450.1211 MICHIGAN BUSINESS CORPORATION
ACT |
Minnesota |
nonprofit corporations are not required to use any of these
words; for business corporations, they must use "corporation,"
"incorporated," or "limited," or shall contain an abbreviation of
one or more of these words, or the word "company" or the
abbreviation "Co." if that word or abbreviation is not immediately
preceded by the word "and" or the character "&" |
Chapter 302A, Section 302A.115 Minnesota Statutes (for Business
Corporations); Chapter 317A, Section 317A.115 Minnesota Statutes
(for non-profit corporations) |
Mississippi |
"corporation," "incorporated," "company" or "limited," or the
abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co." or "ltd." or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language |
§ 79-4-4.01 Mississippi code |
Missouri |
"corporation", "company", "incorporated", or "limited", or
shall end with an abbreviation of one of said words |
Chapter 351 Section 351.110 Missouri Revised Statutes |
Montana |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited"; the
abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd."; or words or
abbreviations of similar meaning in another language |
35-1-308 Montana Code Annotated |
Nebraska |
corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or the
abbreviation corp., inc., co., or ltd., or words or abbreviations
of like import in another language, except that a corporation
organized to conduct a banking business under the Nebraska Banking
Act may use a name which includes the word bank without using any
such words or abbreviations |
Section 21-2028 State of Nebraska Statutes |
Nevada |
No specific requirements stated except that a name appearing to
be that of a natural person and containing a given name or initials
must not be used as a corporate name except with an additional word
or words such as “Incorporated,” “Limited,” “Inc.,” “Ltd.,”
“Company,” “Co.,” “Corporation,” “Corp.,” or other word which
identifies it as not being a natural person |
78.035 Nevada Revised Statutes |
New Hampshire |
Contain the word "corporation," "incorporated," or "limited" or
the abbreviation "corp." ""inc.", or "ltd." |
New Hampshire Revised Statutes TITLE XXVII; Section 293-A:4.01
for business corporations |
New
Jersey |
Shall contain the word "corporation," "company,"
"incorporated," or shall contain an abbreviation of one of those
words, or shall include the abbreviation Ltd. |
New Jersey Statutes 14A:2-2 |
New
Mexico |
contain the separate word "corporation," "company,"
"incorporated" or "limited" or shall contain a separate
abbreviation of one of these words |
New Mexico Statutes Unannotated 53-11-7 |
New
York |
Shall contain the word "corporation", "incorporated" or
"limited", or an abbreviation of one of such words; there is also a
long list of words a business corporation is not allowed to use
without additional approval from other agencies including "board of
trade", "state police", "urban development", "chamber of commerce",
"state trooper", "urban relocation", "community renewal", "tenant
relocation", "acceptance", "endowment", "loan", "annuity",
"fidelity", "mortgage", "assurance", "finance", "savings" and many
others |
New York State Consolidated Laws, Business Corporations Law
§301; Not-For-Profit Corporations Law, §301 |
North Carolina |
a corporation must contain the word "corporation",
"incorporated", "company", or "limited", or the abbreviation
"corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd."; a limited liability company must
contain the words "limited liability company" or the abbreviation
"L.L.C." or "LLC", or the combination "ltd. liability co.",
"limited liability co.", or "ltd. liability company"; a limited
partnership that is not a limited liability limited partnership
must contain the words "limited partnership", the abbreviation
"L.P." or "LP", or the combination "ltd. partnership"; a limited
liability limited partnership must contain the words "registered
limited liability limited partnership" or "limited liability
limited partnership" or the abbreviation "L.L.L.P.", "R.L.L.L.P.",
"LLLP", or "RLLLP"; a registered limited liability partnership's
name must contain the words "registered limited liability
partnership" or "limited liability partnership" or the abbreviation
"L.L.P.", "R.L.L.P.", "LLP" or "RLLP". |
North Carolina General Statutes § 55D‑20 |
North Dakota |
must contain the word "company", "corporation", "incorporated",
"limited", or an abbreviation of one or more of these words; may
not contain the words "limited liability company", "limited
partnership", "limited liability partnership", "limited liability
limited partnership", or any abbreviation of these words. |
North Dakota Century Code 10-19.1-13 |
Ohio |
It shall end with or include the word or abbreviation
"company," "co.," "corporation," "corp.," "incorporated," or
"inc." |
Ohio Revised Code §1701.05 |
Oklahoma |
The name of the corporation which shall contain one of the
words “association”, “company”, “corporation”, “club”,
“foundation”, “fund”, “incorporated”, “institute”, “society”,
“union”, “syndicate”, or “limited” or abbreviations thereof, with
or without punctuation |
Oklahoma Statutes §18-1006 |
Oregon |
For private corporations it shall contain one or more of the
words “corporation,” “incorporated,” “company” or “limited” or an
abbreviation of one or more of those words; shall not contain the
word “cooperative.” For non-profit corporations there is no
specific requirement except the name cannot imply a purpose not
dictated in its articles of incorporation and cannot contain the
word "cooperative" or the phrase "limited partnership." |
Oregon Revised Statutes
60.094 for Private Corporations; ORS 65.094 for Non-Profit
corporations |
Pennsylvania |
Corporation, Corp., Company, Co., Incorporated, Inc., Limited,
Ltd., Association., Fund., Syndicate or words or abbreviations of
like import in languages other than English. |
Pennsylvania Code, Chapter 19, §23.3 |
Rhode Island |
"corporation," "company," "incorporated," or "limited," or an
abbreviation of one of these words |
Rhode Island General Laws § 7-1.2-401 |
South Carolina |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", the
abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co.", or "ltd.", or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language |
South Carolina Code of Laws Section 33-4-101 |
South Dakota |
corporation, incorporated, company, or limited, or the
abbreviation, corp., inc., co., or ltd., or terms or abbreviations
of like import in another language |
South Dakota Codified Laws 47-1A-401 |
Tennessee |
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," or the abbreviation
"corp.," "inc.," "co.," or words or abbreviations of like import in
another language (provided they are written in Roman characters or
letters); existing corporations which were formed using only
"limited" or "ltd" are not required to change their name |
§ 48-14-101 Tennessee Code |
Texas |
"corporation," "company," or "incorporated," or shall contain
an abbreviation of one of such words, and shall contain such
additional words as may be required by law; shall not contain the
word "lottery." |
Art. 2.05 Business Corporation Act |
Utah |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company"; the abbreviation:
"corp.", "inc." or "co." or words or abbreviations of like import
to the words or abbreviations listed in another language; without
the written consent of the United States Olympic Committee, may not
contain the words "Olympic", "Olympiad", or "Citius Altius
Fortius"; without the written consent of the Division of Consumer
Protection may not contain the words "university", "college" or
"institute" |
§ 16-10a-401 Utah Code |
Vermont |
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," or "limited," or the
abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd.," or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language; shall not have
the word "cooperative" or any abbreviation thereof as part of its
name unless the corporation is a worker cooperative
corporation; |
Title 11A, § 4.01 Vermont Statutes |
Virginia |
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," or "limited," or the
abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd." |
§ 13.1-630. Code of Virginia |
Washington |
"corporation," "incorporated," "company," or "limited," or the
abbreviation "corp.," "inc.," "co.," or "ltd."; must not include
"Bank," "banking," "banker," "trust," "cooperative," or any
combination of the words "industrial" and "loan," or any
combination of any two or more of the words "building," "savings,"
"loan," "home," "association," and "society," |
§ 23B.04.010 Revised Code of Washington |
West Virginia |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company" or "limited", or the
abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co." or "ltd.", or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language |
§31D-4-401 West Virginia Code |
Wisconsin |
"corporation", "incorporated", "company" or "limited" or the
abbreviation "corp.", "inc.", "co." or "ltd." or words or
abbreviations of like import in another language |
§180.0401 Wisconsin Statutes (for Stock corporations) and §181.0401
Wisconsin Statutes (for non-stock
corporations) |
Wyoming |
Unclear; apparently any of "corporation," "company,"
"incorporated," and probably the usual abbreviations of "Corp."
"Co." and "Inc." |
§ 17-16-401. Wyoming Statutes |
.
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
