If you do business in Santa Clara County under a name other than your own legal name, you must file a fictitious business name statement with the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder’s Office. This filing is often called a DBA, short for “doing business as.”
This guide summarizes the filing rules, fees and deadlines the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder publishes on its website, current as of Nov. 2, 2026. The Clerk-Recorder is the official authority on these rules. Fees and procedures can change, so confirm details on the Clerk-Recorder’s FBN page before you file.
Why the county registers business names
According to the Clerk-Recorder, registration ensures consumers can find the true name and address of a business’s owners. You file in the county of your principal place of business. If you have no place of business in California, the Clerk-Recorder’s form directs you to file with Sacramento County.
Santa Clara County fictitious business name fees
The Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder charges $40 to file a fictitious business name statement, according to its fee schedule.
Filing
Fee
FBN statement, including one business name, one or two owners and one certified copy
$40
Each additional business name or owner, same address and statement
$7
Statement of abandonment
$37
Statement of withdrawal from a partnership
$37
Business name research by staff, per name
$30
Each additional certified copy
$10
Each additional plain copy
$7
For mail filings, the Clerk-Recorder’s form directs you to make checks payable to Clerk-Recorder’s Office.
How to file
The Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder accepts filings online, in person, by email and by mail. Search for your name first, then choose a filing method.
Search the Clerk-Recorder’s free Self-Service system to see whether your name is taken. Staff searches cost $30 per name.
File online through the Clerk-Recorder’s Self-Service portal, or download the application from the Clerk-Recorder’s FBN page.
Submit a paper application in person, by email to bus-rdc@rec.sccgov.org or by mail with a check and a self-addressed stamped envelope.
The Clerk-Recorder notes that walk-in customers may wait. Its forms must be typed or completed in black ink. The office provides computer terminals for members of the public to research filings already in the database and to complete their forms.
Office and mailing address Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder’s Office Attn: Business Division 110 W. Tasman Drive, First Floor San Jose, CA 95134
Publish your statement
After you file, you must publish your statement in a Santa Clara County legally adjudicated newspaper of general circulation once a week for four consecutive weeks. Under California law, you must publish within 45 days of filing.
Adjudicated newspapers serving Santa Clara County include Metro, the Los Altos Town Crier, the Los Gatan, the Morgan Hill Times and the Gilroy Dispatch.
The easy way to publish your Santa Clara County statement is to use your mobile phone to photograph and upload your document to PublishMyNotice.com.
According to the Clerk-Recorder’s publishing information page, you must publish for any of these filings:
A new fictitious business name statement
A renewal or refiling with changes
A renewal or refiling more than 40 days after the expiration date
A statement of abandonment
A statement of withdrawal from a partnership
The Clerk-Recorder notes that the newspaper publishes all information on your statement, including your address. An affidavit of publication must be filed with the Clerk-Recorder within 45 days after publication ends. The newspaper may file it for you.
Key deadlines
Step
Deadline
File your statement
Within 40 days of first doing business
Publish your statement
Within 45 days of filing
File the affidavit of publication
Within 45 days after publication ends
Renew your statement
Before the expiration date
Renewals
A fictitious business name statement stays in effect for five years. The Clerk-Recorder’s form states that you must refile before expiration. A renewal without changes, filed no more than 40 days after expiration, does not require publication, according to the Clerk-Recorder.
Search Santa Clara County fictitious business names
Search the Clerk-Recorder’s free Self-Service system before you file. Staff research costs $30 per name.
Visit the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder’s office
Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder’s Office Business Division 110 W. Tasman Drive, First Floor San Jose, CA 95134
Get directions in Google Maps
Map embed code for the web page:
Sources
All filing rules and fees in this guide come from the Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder. The 40-day filing deadline and 45-day publication deadline come from California Business and Professions Code sections 17910 and 17917. PublishMyNotice.com is not affiliated with the County of Santa Clara.
Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder, Apply, renew or refile a Fictitious Business Name (FBN) Statement
Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder, Publishing information
Santa Clara County Clerk-Recorder, Fee schedule
California Business and Professions Code sections 17910 and 17917