in Ohio, a business registers a trade name or a fictitious name with the Secretary of State. The filing fee for either is $39, while the renewal fee is $25. A trade name designates the business, while a fictitious name is a "doing business as" name. ...

A DBA, short for "doing business as," is known as a fictitious name in Virginia. Using a fictitious name allows you to operate your business using something other than your given name. For example, if you'd rather call your grocery store "Family ...