Jay,
If the state has a state brand office like Colorado has they will have a book where you can research your possible brand. Other states like Texas do brand registrations on a county by county basis so you will have to check at that office. A call to the brand office will be especially helpful as they can help you to narrow down your choices. As far as letters or characters for your brand, here are a few items to keep in mind:
1) Unless you purchase a registered brand you will have to have at least 2 characters and very likely three
2) letters that have sharp corners like "B" "E" and "N" do not work very well unless you leave the sharp corners off and "vent" the letters
3) characters are best stacked vertically
4) Brands belong on the hip to minimize hide damage - never brand over the ribs
One item to keep in mind is that unless you are running your cattle in remote areas where they would be easy to rustle, you probably don't need to brand them unless your state requires it. Branding the hide severely damages it at the brand site which makes it worth less for the processor. As a result some programs either dock you for branding or will reward you for not branding.
[email protected]