A fictitious business name (FBN), aka DBA ("doing business as"), is any name your business uses that isn't the owner's legal name. "Maria's Bakery" is an FBN if Maria Lopez runs it as a sole proprietor.
In California, you register an FBN by filing an FBN statement with the clerk in the county where your business is located. The clerk stamps it and gives it a file number.
Then comes the step most people don't know about. California law, specifically Business and Professions Code Section 17917, says you must publish that statement in a newspaper. It has to start within 45 days of filing and run once a week for four weeks in a row.
Not just any newspaper counts. It must be an adjudicated newspaper, also called a court-approved newspaper, which means a California court has approved it to print legal notices, and it must circulate in the county where your statement was filed.
After the fourth week, the newspaper signs an affidavit of publication. That is a sworn statement listing the dates your notice ran. It must be filed with the county clerk within 45 days after the fourth publication, and that completes the process.
County clerks such as Orange County and San Diego County say that if publication doesn't start within 45 days, the statement expires and you have to file again and pay the fee again. One exception: a renewal with no changes doesn't need publication — as long as it's refiled by the expiration date or within 40 days after. If anything changed, or you refile later than that, publication is required.
Need your FBN published? Flat prices from $59, affidavit filed, affidavit copy emailed.