The only characters that are allowed in a domain name are all the letters of the alphabet A to Z, the numbers 0 to 9, hyphens ( – ) and lastly, the period punctuation ( . ). So you can have letters, numbers and hyphens before the period, and then the extension (e.g. com, net, org, etc) after the period.
Internationalized domain names that contain characters from a particular language may be allowed, such as ú, Æ, or even ë, however they are encoded in such a way that they are still restricted by the same characters mentioned previously.
Don’t get confused with characters allowed in a domain name versus characters allowed in a URL. The domain name is only one part of a URL, with completely different character rules being adopted for anything after the domain extension.
What Characters Are Not Allowed In a Domain Name?
The following characters are not allowed in a domain name:
- space
- semi-colon ( ; )
- colon ( : )
- quote ( ” )
- comma ( , )
- apostrophe ( ‘ )
- question mark ( ? )
- exclamation mark ( ! )
- at sign ( @ )
- hash ( # )
- tilde ( ~ )
- backquote ( ` )
- dollar sign ( $ )
- percent ( % )
- hat ( ^ )
- ampersand ( & )
- asterisk ( * )
- open/close round bracket ( )
- open/close square bracket [ ]
- open/close curly braces { }
- pipe ( | )
- forward slash ( / )
- back slash ( \ )
- underscore ( _ )
- equals ( = )
- plus ( + )
Can A Domain Name Start With a Number?
Yes, domain names can start with a number. However, it is only recommended where it makes sense.
For example, 101dalmations.com would be more appropriate than onehundrenandonedalmations.com. On the other hand, oneandonly.com is likely a more desirable domain name than 1andonly.com, purely due to popular culture and branding.
Can A Domain Name Start With a Hyphen?
No, domains names cannot start with a hyphen. Domain names can only start with a letter or a number.
Can A Domain Name Start With an Underscore?
No, domain names cannot start with an underscore? Domain names can only start with a letter or a number.
Are Domain Names Case Sensitive?
Domain names are not case sensitive. When you type the domain name in a web browser, you can type GoOgLe.cOM and it will be no different than if you typed google.com. It will take you to the same website.
Can You Use Symbols In Domain Names?
Yes, the only symbol you can use in a domain name is the hyphen ( – ) symbol, but it cannot be used as the beginning character. It is typically used as a last resort to enable you to generate a domain name using words that have already been used quite extensively.
Can Domains Have Accents?
Domain names can have accents that belong to international languages, for example, übèr-dœmâíñ.com However, when registering such a domain, you cannot register it as is. You would first need to convert it to its ASCII equivalent, which is xn--br-dm-7qa1b7bxb3gr9b.com, by using an online converter.
Your browser will be able to read and decode the internationalized domain name when you type it in the address bar.
What Is The Only Special Character Allowed In A Domain Name?
Apart from international characters, the only other special character that is allowed in a domain name is a hypen ( – ).
How Many Characters Can A Domain Name Have?
63 characters. This is not including the domain extension as .com or .net. Using the longest domain name by including as many keywords as you can is usually not recommended. Ideally, the shorter you can get it, the better.
What Is The Minimum Number Of Characters For A Domain Name?
2 characters. However, every possible 2 character combination is no longer available so a sweet spot of between 6 and 14 characters usually makes for a good length domain name.
