Single-letter second-level domain
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Single-letter second-level domains are domain names in which the second-level domain consists of only one letter, such as x.com. In 1993, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) explicitly reserved all single-letter and single-digit second-level domain names in the top-level domains com, net, and org, and grandfathered those that had already been assigned. In December 2005, ICANN considered auctioning these domains.
Active single-letter domains[]
On December 1, 1993, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) explicitly reserved the remaining single-letter and single-digit domain names. The few domains that were already assigned were grandfathered in and continued to exist.[1][better source needed]
The assigned domains in this group are the following:
Domain | 1993 Owner | Current Owner |
---|---|---|
i.net | INet Solutions Ltd | Future Media Architects |
q.com | JG | Lumen Technologies |
q.net | Privately owned | Q Networks |
x.com | - | Elon Musk |
w.org | - | WordPress Foundation |
x.org | - | X.Org Foundation |
z.com | HomePage.com | GMO Internet, Inc. |
Some other gTLD and ccTLD single-letter domain names are also in use, usually as shortcuts.
This list is incomplete; you can help by . (July 2017) |
Domain | Current User | Usage |
---|---|---|
a.co | Amazon.com | Amazon's official URL shortcut. Generally used by Amazon in SMS messages for informing purchasers of activity on an order |
a.org | Astana Inc. | |
c.org | change.org | Shortcut to change.org |
d.gs | Dragonsayen | Shortcut used by dragonsayen.com (DraGonSayen) |
e.im | MailTime | URL shortcut for MailTime Email Messenger |
e.gg | ||
f.org | FinTech Labs | |
g.co | Google's official URL shortcut | |
g.cn | Google's official URL shortcut to help Chinese users locate google | |
k.tt | Citynews SpA | Used as URL shortcut for https://citynews.it local news, owned by Krzysztof K. Wasielewski |
m.me | Facebook Messenger's official URL shortcut. | |
m.page | mmm.page | URL shortcut for mmm.page website builder |
n.pr | NPR | URL shortcut for public radio network NPR |
o.co | Overstock.com | URL shortcut for Overstock.com. |
s.co | Snap Inc. | Shortcut to Snapchat's download page |
s.de | Sparkassen-Finanzportal | Shortcut to sparkasse.de |
t.co | Twitter's official URL shortcut | |
t.me | Telegram | Telegram's official URL shortcut |
u.ae | United Arab Emirates | The United Arab Emirates' Government portal |
v.me | Visa Inc. | Visa's official URL shortcut |
v.ua | Serhii Rostilo | Private domain zone. More info www.v.ua |
w.org | WordPress | Redirects to wordpress.org, has some assets for wordpress.org (under s.w.org). |
y.org | YMCA of the United States | Shortcut to YMCA |
Many other single-letter second-level domains have been registered under country code top-level domains. The list of country code top-level domains which have been identified to allow single-letter domains are:
Single-character non-ASCII second-level domains also exist (as seen below), also known as Internationalized domain names (IDN), these domains are actually registered as their Punycode translations (which are more than a single character) for DNS purposes. ICANN oversees a process for determining registration rules that involves wide-ranging stakeholder input and assorted Working Groups. In the case of .com domains, decisions are then implemented by Verisign, the contracted backend operator for the .com Registry. The result is a list of 96,957 codepoints allowed for IDN registrations.[5] As mentioned above, some additional domains previously-registered are "grandfathered" and remain active. Many gTLDs also allow IDN domain registration.[6]
These 96,957 distinct IDN characters eligible for registration in .com are the essential building-blocks of languages worldwide. A single letter domain does not provide the context found in a longer string or group of words. They may appear similar to one another, or look like English / Latin characters. They sometimes are used as pictorial symbols and memorable links.
This list is incomplete; you can help by . (September 2018) |
Domain | Punycode | Usage | Registered on (WHOIS) |
---|---|---|---|
ዐ.net | xn--72d.net | NOC of the Internet | 2011 |
ᗅ.com | xn--upe.com | Former StrongestBrands URL shortcut | |