Another term commonly used is DBA, or Doing Business As. I had a small computer business in San Diego called Pentagraphics years ago. In order to get a business bank account and the tax forms, I needed to get my DBA Certificate filed. I filled out a few forms and checked if my business name had been already taken. I then paid a few bucks and walked out with my DBA cert. When you file a DBA certificate, you have to have it circulated in a newspaper. Most cities have a small newspaper that you pay $20 or so to advertise your legal notice. After that, I filed my tax certificate under my new business name and opened up a new bank account. It was a tidy little side business, building up 286 computers and the new 386 systems.