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I was recently introduced to the .name TLD by a friend, since it would offer a good alternative to .com and .net, which are both taken for my last name. Naturally, I went to name.com, godaddy.com, gandi.net, etc. only to find out I couldn't register the domain name. It didn't give me any reason why so I decided to navigate to my desired .name domain in my browser and Chrome returned DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN. After a quick whois from the command line it returned this:

Disclaimer: ...

****

Not available for registration.
Second level domain name is reserved.

Why is my desired .name domain name not available for registration and reserved? Reserved by whom? I told my friend about this and he told me that his was available at almost every domain registrar. Why is it that my desired domain name isn't so "lucky"? What can I do to still acquire my domain?

user413139
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1 Answers1

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Both ICANN and the operator of the specific TDL set a list of reserved domains that cannot be registered for many different reasons. For example, according to .BIBLE Registry blog post:

ICANN requires these categories of names (also known as labels) required to be reserved and unavailable for registration:

  • Example.
  • Two-character labels.
  • Reservations for registry operations.
  • Country and territory names.
  • International Olympic Committee; International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
  • Intergovernmental Organizations.

I guess your last name is also a word that falls on one of these lists... If it is a reserved word there is not much you can do, maybe try a different TDL (.org, .us, etc.)? Or do like email addresses that add a number or something to differentiate it...

Some registrar's like GoDaddy will give you a bunch of good suggestions if the one you searched for is not available.

Esa Jokinen
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MrLumute
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