What is a domain name?

What a domain name is, how it works, its parts and endings, who runs the system, what it costs, and how a domain differs from a URL, a website and hosting. In plain English.

A domain name is the address people type to reach a website, like domainnams.com or wikipedia.org. It's a human-friendly name that stands in for the string of numbers computers actually use to find each other on the internet.

The simple explanation

Every website lives on a computer (a server) with a numeric address called an IP address, such as 104.21.32.1. Numbers like that are hard to remember, so the internet uses domain names instead. When you type a domain into your browser, a system called DNS (the Domain Name System) looks up the matching IP address and connects you, usually in a fraction of a second.

Think of it like a phone's contact list: you tap "Mom" instead of remembering her number. The domain name is the contact name, the IP address is the phone number, and DNS is the contact list.

The parts of a domain name

Read a domain from right to left:

When people say "my domain", they usually mean the second-level name plus the ending: sunnybakery.com.

Types of domain endings

• Generic endings (gTLDs): .com, .net, .org and the original set, plus more than a thousand newer ones added since 2013, like .app, .shop and .studio.
• Country-code endings (ccTLDs): two letters for a country or territory, like .us, .uk, .ca, .de. Some are used worldwide for other reasons, like .io, .ai and .co.
• Restricted endings: some require you to qualify, such as .gov for US government bodies or .edu for accredited US colleges.

Not sure which to pick? Read .com vs the new endings.

Who runs domain names?

Four groups are involved, and the names get confusing, so here they are in plain English:

• ICANN is the non-profit that coordinates the whole system and sets the rules for generic endings.
• Registries run each ending. For example, Verisign runs .com, and each country runs (or appoints someone to run) its own code.
• Registrars are the shops where you register names, like Cloudflare, Namecheap, Porkbun, Spaceship or GoDaddy. Many are accredited by ICANN.
• Registrants are the people and businesses who register names. That's you.

Do you own a domain name?

Not exactly. You hold the exclusive right to use it for as long as you keep renewing it. Most endings let you register for 1 to 10 years at a time. If you stop paying, the name expires, passes through grace and redemption periods, and eventually becomes available for anyone to register. That's why auto-renew is the most important setting on any domain you care about.

You can sell or transfer that right to someone else, which is how the domain resale market works. See what is my domain worth?

Domain name vs URL vs website vs hosting

A domain on its own doesn't make a website. You need hosting too, though many hosts and registrars bundle them, and some hosting for simple sites is free.

How a domain name works, step by step

1. You type sunnybakery.com into your browser.
2. Your device asks a DNS resolver (often run by your internet provider, or a public one like Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1) where that name lives.
3. The resolver asks the .com registry's servers which nameservers are in charge of sunnybakery.com.
4. Those nameservers reply with the website's IP address.
5. Your browser connects to that address and loads the site. The answer is cached so the next visit is even faster.

Domain name rules: what's allowed

• Characters: letters a to z, numbers 0 to 9 and hyphens. No spaces, underscores or symbols like & or !.
• Hyphens: allowed in the middle, but not at the start or end.
• Length: up to 63 characters for each part between the dots.
• Capital letters don't matter: SunnyBakery.com and sunnybakery.com are the same domain, so you can use capitals on signs and cards to make it easier to read.
• Other alphabets: internationalized domain names (IDNs) allow letters from scripts like Arabic, Chinese or Cyrillic, and accented letters, on endings that support them.

What happens when a domain expires

If a domain isn't renewed, it doesn't vanish at once. For a .com, the usual path is:

1. Expiry: the website and email usually stop working.
2. Grace period (often around 30 to 45 days, set by the registrar): the owner can still renew, usually at the normal price.
3. Redemption period (30 days): the owner can still recover it, but with a sizable restore fee.
4. Pending delete (about 5 days): no one can renew it.
5. Drop: the name is released and anyone can register it. Valuable names are often caught within seconds by backorder services.

Other endings follow their own rules, so check with your registrar. You can see a domain's expiry date with the free WHOIS lookup.

A very short history

The Domain Name System was designed in 1983, replacing a single shared file that listed every computer on the early internet. The first .com, symbolics.com, was registered on March 15, 1985. Today there are well over 150 million .com names and hundreds of millions of domains in total across all endings.

How much does a domain name cost?

A new .com usually costs about $10 to $20 a year at mainstream registrars. Some endings cost less, and some (like .ai or .io) cost several times more. Names already owned by someone else can cost anywhere from under $100 to millions, depending on demand. Always check the renewal price, not just the first-year deal.

How to get your own domain name

1. Brainstorm a name using our guide to choosing a domain name.
2. Check availability with the free DomainNams search.
3. Register it at a registrar, following our guide on how to buy a domain name.
4. Point it at your website and set up email.