Strange and Quirky Domain Name Facts
Strange and Quirky Domain Name Facts
Shakespeare wrote in Romeo and Juliet the famous quoted passage: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose; by any other name would smell as sweet." As far as roses go that is true – a rose smells like a rose whatever you call it. But when it comes to websites, domain names matter. And with over 150 million registered domain names in existence it is no surprise that there are some odd stories. So here are some of the best strange and quirky domain name facts.
Millions for made up words
In 2014 the Chinese technology company Xiaomi decided they needed a new domain name. The one they chose cost $3.8 million – for a domain that is not even a word. The domain name they bought was Mi.com.
Most expensive
Mi.com is nowhere near the most expensive domain name, though. That accolade belongs to VacationRentals.com which was bought in 2007 for $35 million. Other expensive domain names include Internet.com ($18 million), Hotels.com ($11 million), and Fb.com ($8.5 million).
All gone
The Fb.com domain name mentioned above was bought by Facebook. It is impossible to buy two letter domains like this unless you pay big bucks. The same applies to three-character domain names. Using the 26 letters of the alphabet you can make over 50,000 different three-character combinations. The .com domain name for each of these combinations is already registered.
More than three As
One of the combinations above is AAA.com, and that is already registered. So is AAAA.com, AAAAA.com, and AAAAAA.com. In fact, every AA… combination is already registered. Domain names can have a maximum of 63 characters and even A (plus 62 more As).com has been registered.
Long and unpronounceable
There is a village in Wales in the UK call Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. The domain name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.com is registered. And no, we can’t pronounce it – at one point it has 14 consonants without a vowel, and who outside of Wales knows how to pronounce a quadruple “l”?
Are you average?
Most registered domain names are 11 characters long. And the most common first letter is “S”.
Who is buying these domain names anyway?
Everyone is buying, it seems, but one of the most prolific is a man called Mike Mann. In 2012 he registered 14,962 in one day. Normally he registers just 300 per day. He says his company makes hundreds of thousands every month reselling domains.
Ahhh.com
The global drinks company Coca Cola owns Ahh.com, Ahhh.com and every other variation, including A-plus-62-Hs.com.
Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment
In 1996 the company Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment bought the domain name uTube.com. In 2005 three tech entrepreneurs registered Youtube.com and launched a video-sharing website. In 2006 the servers of Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment crashed because 68 million people typed uTube.com instead of Youtube.com in their browsers. Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment changed their website – it is now utubeonline.com.
Leading the way
The first ever domain name was registered by the company Symbolics Inc. It was a computer manufacturer that doesn't exist anymore, but it does hold a place in the history of the internet. On March 15, 1985 it registered the first ever domain name – symbolics.com.
The future
The most common domain name extension is .com, but most people are also familiar with .net, .org and .biz. Country specific domain names like .us and .co.uk are also common.
But a whole new world now beckons as the number of top level domains has exploded. You can now get yourcompany.REHAB, yourcompany.BARGAINS, yourcompany.TATTOO, and many more. In fact there are now hundreds to choose from, and more are becoming available every month.
The domain .rose isn’t available yet though. It’s a thorny topic – even for someone like Shakespeare.