Creating a Domain Name

Introduction

A domain name is the name or the lettered expression that people will type in the address bar of a browser to come to your site. In order to make this possible, you must start by figuring out a domain name.

To create a domain name, you use a combination of the English alphabet words a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z. A domain name can also contain one or a combination of digits: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. A domain name must start with either a letter (example about) or a digit (example 1800Flowers). A domain name can also contain one or a combination of dashes "-".

There are various categories of names: meaningful, meaningless, foreign words, company names, and abbreviations.

Meaningful Domain Names

A name is referred to as meaningful when it bears a word or an expression that has an explicit meaning for the reader. Examples are cable, lesson, about, teach, or any common word of a spoken language. A domain name can also be a person's first or last name. Examples are Robert, Hussein, David, Hamid, Jacob, Olufemi.

A meaningful domain name can also be an expression. In this case, it would the combination of (spoken) words that each has a meaning. To make the expression a domain name, the words must be joined, or concatenated. This means that

• The words can simply be put together without space. Examples are CableTV, SpokenLessons, WordOfMouth, and any possible combination of words. The joined words don't have to be related. The only rule is that they be joined. Examples are TigerDirect, SideStep, GroupTraining, NewGeneration. Commercial companies whose names are a combination of words also join them to make up a domain name. Examples are: AirFrance, AmericanExpress
• The words can also be separated with a dash. Examples are About-Us, Join-The-Team
• The words can constitute somebody's (complete) name. Examples are JerryRawlings, AbrahamLincoln, ThomasSankara

Meaningless Domain Names

A name is referred to as meaningless when it doesn't mean anything explicit or is not commonly known in a know context. Such a name is made up out of nothing or it could primarily have a meaning only for the person or the people who made it up. Examples are Yahoo, Google. In the same way, a name can be a combination of words whose meaning may not be clear to the common person. An example is AltaVista.

Using Foreign Words For a Domain Name

A name can also be meaningful in one language but meaningless in another language. One of the geniuses of the Internet is that it is a combination of languages. This means that a word in one language can be used as a domain name even if the main people intended to use the site speak another language. Examples Songo or Yevol.

A domain name can also combine words from a foreign language. An example is AlJazeera.

A domain name can also be a combination of words from different languages.

Abbreviations

Instead of using a combination of words a domain name, a name can be an abbreviation. For example, if you have many words that would constitute the meaning of the web site, you can extract the first letter of each word, join them, and make up a domain name. Examples are AA (for American Airlines) or HSBC.