Definitions

• What is a reserved domain name?

  Reserved domain names are domain names that the central registry has held back from general registration. This means that they are not available to register.The reason for this can vary. In some cases, certain domains may be held back due to potential "name collisions." Often, registries will decide to not release one and two character domain names. And sometimes registries will hold back certain domain names they consider valuable. For example, the .ME registry has held back certain premium domain names that you can only register by application.Please note that sometimes registries decide to release previously reserved domain names. Generally when this is done, the reserved domain names are considered premium by the registry and sold at a higher price.Is the domain you’re looking for taken or unavailable? Enter keywords into our domain suggestion tool and discover quality domains that are available for registration.

• What is a second-level domain (SLD)?

  A second-level domain (SLD) is the section of a domain name that is to the left of the dot, while a top-level domain (TLD) is the section to the right of the dot, also known as the domain extension. For example, our domain name is dynadot.com, with "dynadot" being our SLD and ".com" being our TLD. This part of the domain is known as "second-level" due to the hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS).Sometimes an SLD can be considered part of the domain extension as some domain registries use an SLD to indicate the usage of the TLD. For example, the registry offers for general/commercial use, for non-profits, and for personal websites. These three examples are known as ccSLDs or country code second-level domains.Also please note that some registries do not allow direct registrations on the TLD. This was the case for until direct registrations were opened in June of 2014.What is a third-level domain?What is a subdomain?

• What are ISO country codes?

  ISO country codes are standardized two letter codes assigned to each country and used by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) to create country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). Specifically, it is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 codes that were used to create the ccTLDs delegated and in use today.ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization. The organization has been setting proprietary, industrial, and commercial standards for the world since 1947. ISO 3166-1 refers to standardized codes created for the names of countries and alpha-2 specifically refers to two letter codes (there were also three letter codes and numeric codes created under ISO 3166-1).Please note that there are a few ccTLDs that do not use their country's ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code. One example is , as the United Kingdom's ISO country code is GB.

• What is a top-level domain (TLD)?

  A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of a domain name to the right of the dot. For example, our domain name is dynadot.com and .com is our TLD.There are several types of top-level domains: generic, country, sponsored, and geographical.Generic TLDs or gTLDs include .COM, .NET, .ORG, and many more. These types of TLDs are available to everyone.Country code TLDs or ccTLDs are for specific countries. Each country is given their own code based on ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes (in most cases, there are a few exceptions). Some examples are .US for the United States, .UK for the United Kingdom, .DE for Germany, .CA for Canada, and .NL for the Netherlands. Some ccTLDs are restricted to residents of that country, while some are open to everyone. There are also some that are more popular within their home country, while others have been marketed for other uses - two examples of this are Montenegro's .ME, which is marketed for personal websites and Colombia's .CO, which is marketed as an alternative to .COM. These types of domains are sometimes called gccTLDs. See our full list of country code top-level domains.Sponsored TLDs (sTLDs) are specialized domain extensions that have a sponsor behind them that represents a specific community that the domain will serve. For example, .XXX is a sponsored TLD intended for adult sites.Geographic TLDs (geoTLDs) are part of a new group of TLDs that are being released for cities or geographic areas. Some examples include .NYC, .ASIA, .TOKYO, and more. See a full list of regional TLDs and city TLDs.You may have heard of the new TLDs as well. Starting in 2014, many new TLDs were released. We are continuing to launch new TLDs in 2016 and it could go into additional years. See what new TLDs launched in 2014 and launched in 2015.We offer over 500 TLDs - see our full list of TLDs to find and register your perfect domain name today! What is a second-level domain (SLD)? What is a third-level domain?

• What is a third-level domain?

  A third-level domain is the section of a domain name that is to the left of the dot of a second-level domain (SLD) that is considered a domain extension. For example, is a country code second-level domain (ccSLD) under the country code top-level domain (ccTLD). The registry supports domain registration under with serving as the domain extension. For example, we own , so our third-level domain is . Third-level domains are commonly used for structuring and organizing different components of a website, for example in a URL such as blog.website.com, "website" is a second-level name and "blog" is a third-level domain, and it can be used for hosting a blog section on the "website.com" domain.Please note that a third-level domain is different than a subdomain.

• What are TrueName domains?

  TrueName domains are domain names that provide protection against phishing and domain fraud using the Identity Digital registry's proprietary homographic blocking technology. This protection actively prevents bad actors from registering similar or look-a-like domains frequently used to deceive users online while taking advantage of your brand/domain name. This security, combined with the wide variety of unique domain extensions available through the Identity Digital registry, means you can build your brand presence or website without worry of common domain fraud or malicious phishing tactics. Features and Notes: TrueName domain protection is applied to all Top Level domains under Identity Digital. If you already own a domain under a Identity Digital TLD, it will automatically receive TrueName protection. There is no additional cost in registering TrueName domains. Protection will remain for as long as the domain name is registered. Protection is applied at the registry level, which will prevent look-a-like domains from being registered across the web.

• What is IANA?

  IANA is an acronym for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, one of the Internet's oldest institutions. IANA is responsible for managing the root zone of the Domain Name System (DNS), coordinating global Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation, and managing IP numbering systems. Basically, they take care of maintaining and managing the technical functions that keep the Internet running smoothly.IANA's services are provided by Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), an affiliate of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Learn more about them on their website, iana.org.

• What is a ccTLD?

  A ccTLD is a country code top-level domain extension that is assigned to a country in the world. Each country has their own domain extension based on the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. This means that all ccTLDs are only two characters, and all two character TLDs are ccTLDs. The first ccTLDs delegated were for the United States, for the United Kingdom, and .IT for Italy in 1985.Although some ccTLDs are restricted to use only by citizens of said country (an example would be Canada's ), many have open registration policies. Some ccTLDs have even branded themselves for alternative usage. An example would be Tuvalu's domain, which is branded for online video use. Because some ccTLDs are more often used in a general way, Google and other search engines see them as "gccTLDs" instead.Some ccTLDs also do not allow direct registrations. Instead you can only register a domain on the second-level of the ccTLD, known as ccSLD or country code second level domain. In addition, some ccTLDs offer both direct registrations and ccSLDs for registration. An example of a ccSLD would be .CO.UK and .CO.IN (both of these ccTLDs also allow direct registrations on .UK and ).Please note that there are a few exceptions to the rule that all ccTLDs are based on ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes. One such exception is .UK as "GB" is the UK's ISO country code.See our list of ccTLDsWhat is a gTLD?What is a geoTLD?

• What is a central registry (AKA domain name registry)?

  We are considered a domain name registrar and we partner with several domain name registries, also known as central registries, to provide a variety of top-level domains (TLDs).A central registry is a company that maintains a database of all the domain name registrations for a TLD. They also store the DNS and Whois records for that TLD.You can find the registry info for each of our TLDs on their individual pages under the "Domain Information" section towards the bottom of the page. For example, you will see that the registry for .COM is Verisign. Many registries support more than one TLD. Verisign also supports .NET, .TV, and .CC.Find out more about the "3 R's" of the domain industry: registries, registrars, and resellers.

• What is a gTLD?

  A gTLD is a generic top-level domain. Top-level domain (TLD) refers to what is to the right of the dot in a domain name, sometimes referred to as the domain extension. Generic means that search engines will see it as generic, i.e. having no regional targeting for searches.All generic TLDs are at least three characters or more. The original gTLDs are , , and , which were delegated in 1985. Since then, the number of gTLDs has grown, most recently with the new gTLD delegations starting in 2014.A gTLD is one type or category of TLD that is distinguished by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Other TLD categories include country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), sponsored top-level domains (sTLDs) and internationalized top-level domains (IDN TLDs).In addition, you may see reference to new TLDs (nTLDs) and regional or geographic TLDs (geoTLDs); however these are both unofficial categories because TLDs that fall into these categories are considered gTLDs*. Another unofficial category is gccTLDs, which are ccTLDs that are considered generic.*Google and other search engines generally consider regional TLDs to be generic for search usage and do not assign any regional targeting to them.