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The Curious Bag
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The terms fictitious name and dba mean the same thing. A dba, or fictitious name, is used by a company for public display when the legal name of the company is something else.
Legal Name
If Bob Jones owns a hardware store, the legal name for the business is Bob Jones because business registration laws require the name of the business to be his own name.
Fictitious Name
If Bob Jones wants to call the store Lucky Hardware, then Lucky Hardware will be the fictitious name.
DBA
The term dba, or doing business as name, refers to the name on public display and is the same thing as a fictitious name. The Bob Jones company is actually doing business as Lucky Hardware.
Linked to Legal Name
The fictitious name or dba name is linked to the legal name through a government registration process. Registration is required by local or state governments, depending on where the business is operating.
Use
Fictitious names and dbas are used by single business owners and corporations. The use of fictitious names serves the same purpose for both, allowing the business owner to choose an alternate business name for public use.
Source:
Entrepeneur: Fictitious Name Certificate
Entrepeneur: Small Business Encyclopedia
Business.gov: Business Name Registration (Doing Business As)
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