Register a Business Name in Gloucester County, NJ
This page includes a paid link to a private filing service. ClerkSifter may earn a commission. The office information on this page is independent of it.
Here's what to expect at the County Clerk — fees, what to bring, and where to go.
In New Jersey, a DBA is a Trade Name Certificate, and it is mandatory for sole proprietors and general partnerships operating under any name other than the owner's legal name. File it with the County Clerk— this office. New Jersey's own business portal says so in terms: a sole proprietor or general partnership not trading under a personal name “can register a business name at your local county clerk's office”. business.nj.gov ↗
And here is the statute behind that. N.J.S.A. 56:1-2 ↗: “No person shall conduct or transact business under any assumed name … other than the real name or names of the individual or individuals conducting or transacting such business, unless such person shall file a certificate in the office of the clerk of the county or counties in which such person conducts or transacts … such business”. That is both halves of the rule above — it is mandatory, and it is the county clerk — in the statute's own words. The same section requires a duplicate certificate for the Secretary of State, and § 56:1-3 ↗ has the clerk collect the Secretary's fee along with its own. The price on this card is not from the statute:§ 56:1-3 still sets $5.00, a 1965 figure no New Jersey county charges, so the figures here are the counties' own published prices and nothing else.
The filing only protects the name in this county. A trade name is effective in the county where it is filed and nowhere else, so a business trading across county lines files — and pays — in each one. To hold the name state-wide you would file in all 21.
What to bring
- The completed Trade Name Certificate, NOT yet signed. Every owner or partner signs in front of a notary — several New Jersey clerks notarize it for you at the counter, and Gloucester does it for $1.
- Multiple original copies. Counties differ: Cumberland asks for three originals, Essex and Union for four. Ring ahead rather than arriving with one.
- Photo identification for each owner or partner signing.
- The fee in a form this office takes. New Jersey clerks are markedly stricter than most — Gloucester does not accept checks at all, Ocean and Salem take cash or money order only, and Essex asks for a US Postal money order.
- A name you have already checked. The clerk searches the county index before filing, and a name already registered in this county is refused.
Only sole proprietors and general partnerships file here. An LLC, LLP or corporation registers with the State instead, through the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services.
Clerk fee list: "Trade Name $50 (Checks are not accepted)"; Dissolution of Trade Name $25. The County Clerk has notaries on staff who will notarize Trade Name forms only, for $1. source ↗
All owners sign, and the certificate must be notarized — some county clerks notarize in office (ask when you call). Some counties require in-person filing with all owners present with ID. There is no county renewal — the certificate is valid until you withdraw it.
An LLC or corporation using a different name registers an Alternate Name with the NJ Division of Revenue (DORES) — $50, renewed every 5 years. A trade name cannot contain Inc., Corp., LLC, or LP unless you are filed as that entity type with the state.
Gloucester County has its own Certificate of Trade Name. New Jersey has one trade-name statute (N.J.S.A. 56:1-1 to 56:1-3), so this shows you exactly what you will be asked for. The statute is readable at lis.njleg.state.nj.us (56:1-2 is the assumed-name certificate filed with the county clerk); an earlier pass recorded it as unreachable and that was wrong. But trade names are filed per county, each clerk issues its own certificate, and yours may not accept a copy from another county.
This page shows the best information we have for Gloucester County. Fees and hours may vary — call ahead to confirm before visiting.
Filing a DBA somewhere else in New Jersey? See the New Jersey DBA guide for statewide requirements and fees.