Skip to main content
Language Foundation

DBA

DBA, short for doing business as, means a business name that a person or company uses for business and that is different from that person’s or company’s legal name.

In plain English

A person or company may use one name in business even though its legal name is different. This term refers to that different business name, not to the legal name itself.

In context

Here, DBA means the alternate business name used by the person or company, as distinct from its legal name.

Situation
Reading agreement sections, parties, dates, signatures, and execution status
What it communicates
labels an alternate business-name field following the legal-name field.

Meaning limits

The term itself does not identify the legal name; it only refers to a business name that differs from it.

Examples

“The lease names Harbor Light Catering as the DBA, but the legal tenant is Elena Cruz Enterprises Ltd.”

Core meaning

“At weekend fairs, she sells jam under the DBA Orchard Table.”

In context

  • business name Broader Term

    A DBA is one kind of business name.

  • legal name Contrast

    A DBA is distinct from the legal name of the person or company.