The Most Popular Domain Names in the World

The Most Popular Domain Names in the World

February 27, 2025

By Thals Volmar

Talking about the world's most popular domain names brings us directly to ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. While ICANN is the authority responsible for coordinating and implementing procedures to ensure the stability and security of Internet operations, its tasks are divided among different organizations. Indeed, to be sufficiently convincing in the following ranking, we referred to the IANA, or Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, i.e., the entity responsible for assigning IP addresses, managing domain names, etc.

According to IANA information from June 2024, there are approximately 1,447 TLDs (Top Level Domains) dedicated to the root zone. Therefore, talking about the most popular domain names means highlighting the domain names that are best represented worldwide in their category. There are different categories of domain names, including generic top level domains (gTLDs), country code top level domains (ccTLDs), internationalized top level domains (IDN TLDs), among others, as it is very well defined in the FAQs section of the Domain page. The most popular domain names in their category are:

1. .com
2. .net
3. .org
4. .de
5. .cn
6. with ccTLDs such as .ru, .uk, .nl, .br, .fr, etc.

The most popular category of TLDs is gTLDs, followed by ccTLDs. The 5 most popular domains in the world are .com, .de, .net, .org and .cn; the dot com alone has a global market share of more than 40%¹, followed by .de with a very huge gap. The dot de and the dot cn are the top-ranked ccTLDs in their category.

Without going through wooden paths, the .com is the universal domain in the broad sense of the term, in fact, talking about the internet without referring to the dot com domain is completely chimerical. This domain name was created in 1985, of course, during the flourishing of the internet and literally means commercial. At first, it was administered by the U.S. Department of Defense, but over time it came under the control of Verisign and is open to the public, that said, besides U.S. citizens, anyone can register a .com domain with an online registrar.

In the United States, the .com domain surpasses, in terms of popularity, the .us, which is a ccTLD. Due to its popularity, the dot com is now registered by all types of businesses and organizations. The .net is the second most popular domain in the gTLD category and the fourth most popular domain in the world. Established in 1985, it is one of the original TLDs and is currently registered in more than 200 countries². The dot net is derived from the word network dedicated mainly to organizations that work in networks and technology infrastructures. It is administered by Verisign.

The .org is the fifth most popular domain in the world and the third most popular domain in the gTLD category, just after the dot net; the gap that shares it with the dot net is not significant. The .org was created in 1985 and is one of the original top level domains, it is administered by Verisign; in January 2003, it came under the control of the public interest registry, the .org which literally means organization is the best known in the non-profit organization community. In terms of numbers, the dot org now has about 11 million domains³.

The most popular domain in the ccTLD category is the .de, created in 1986, it is one of the oldest domain names. The .de is derived from the ISO country code of Germany (Deutschland), it is administered by Denic and today has nearly 18 million domains⁴. The .cn is the second most popular domain in the ccTLD category, but it has also fallen into the IND TLDs category; created in 1990, its name comes from the ISO country code of China, it is administered by the China Internet Network Information Center, and viewed from all angles,  it is the largest ccTLD in the world.

We also have other very popular ccTLDs such as .uk, .ru, .nl, .fr, .br, etc. Today, there are many gTLDs that are starting to be very noticed on the net such as .pro, .biz, etc. The popularity of a domain goes hand in hand with its history, i.e. for what purpose it was developed. In the case of ccTLDs, for example, a domain will be ranked as popular based on the enthusiasm and interest that nationals show in such a domain. Your choice of domain should not only be based on its popularity, but it can also be strategic.

Note: Some of the data used to rank these domain names based on their popularity do not come from official sources, so the author does not commit to confirm this ranking.