If you are running any website, you surely know how important a domain name and its extension is for your online business brand. But if you are a beginner and want to build your own website with the proper domain name and reliable hosting then this article is equally important for you. Did you know every domain name is based on different elements? In this article, you will learn what is a TLD (Top-Level-Domain), what does .com mean and a list of popular TLDs.
Domain suffix or Top-Level-Domain (also known as domain extension) is the last segment of your domain name located after the last dot. There are more than 1200 TLDs but .com is the most popular extension. Let’s understand the basic knowledge of all popular top domain extensions.
Popular Domain Suffixes
| Domain Suffix | Meaning |
| .com | Commercial |
| .net | Network |
| .org | Organization |
| .edu | Educational |
| .biz | Business |
| .gov | Government |
| .mil | Military |
| .info | Information source |
| .name | Personal Name |
| .me | Personal Websites |
| .tv | Television Station |
| .us | United States |
| .mobi | Designed for Mobile Phones |
What Does .COM Mean?
Type: gTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: 1985
Managing Authority: Verisign
Registry Provider: Verisign
The first .com domain was claimed on March 15, 1985, by symbolics – a computer manufacturer company. The internet was a project managed by computer scientists and universities for research and communication purposes but when people began to use the network the electronic communication became challenging. It was nearly impossible to manually route messages through gateways, so the Jon Postel and his colleagues at the University Of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute (USCIS) bring the order to the chaotic universe.
Postel was the editor of RFC (Request For Comment) and shaped the internet with the help of his colleagues. RFC 920 “domain requirements in the ARPA-Internet and the DARPA research community” was published in October 1984 headed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the internet society, setting the stage for the birth of .com TLD.
.com TLD is the most common domain suffix in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It stands for “Commercial” that indicates its original intended purpose for domains registered by commercial organizations. However, anyone who wants to register any .com domain either he is going to run a commercial (business) website or personal use he can register a name ending with .com. Because of its popularity, most people try to register their all domains with .com domain suffix but they don’t know what does .com mean and its purpose in the internet world.
There is no doubt .com is the most popular domain suffix, .net, .org, .info and .edu are also popular. The .com TLD was originally administered by the United States Department of Defense, but is nowadays operated by Verisign and registrations are processed via registrars accredited by ICANN. The domain was one of the original TLDs in the Internet when the DNS (Domain Name System) was implemented in January 1985.
What Does .net Mean?
Type: gTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: 1985
Managing Authority: Verisign
Registry Provider: Verisign
.net (derived from the word network) is one of the original TLD implemented in January 1985 has become the most popular TLD. It is the generic top-level-domain in the domain name system of the internet that has been working with full operational stability and accuracy for more than 15 years by the Verisign. As the name indicates, it is used by the organizations involved in networking technologies including ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and other infrastructure companies.
What Does .org Mean?
Type: gTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: 1985
Managing Authority: PIR
Registry Provider: Afilias
.org (stands for “organization”) is the generic top-level-domain used by nonprofit organizations such as NGOs, educational, charities and other open-source projects. It was also established in 1985 to represent the organizations that didn’t match the intent of other domain names: not an educational institute, not the government, not military, not commercial and not in networking. The restriction of .org exclusively for nonprofit organizations is removed in August 2019, so anyone can register .org domain for the purposes other than nonprofit.
What Does .edu Mean?
Type: sponsored top level domain (sTLD)
Country: United States
Implementation Date: 1985
Managing Authority: EDUCAUSE
Registry Provider: Verisign
It is also the original top-level-domain name that was established in 1985 and implemented in the root zone of DNS (Domain Name System) for educational institutions. It is operated by the EDUCAUSE which is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting the intelligent use of IT (Information Technology) to enhance higher education.
What Does .biz Mean?
Type: gTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: 2001
Managing Authority: Neustar
Registry Provider: Neustar
.biz is gTLD (generic Top-Level-Domain) in the DNS of the internet intended to be used by the businesses. It is the phonetic spelling of the first syllable of business and created to relieve some of the demand of .com TLDs to provide an alternative for those whose .com domain is already registered.
What Does .gov Mean?
Type: sponsored top level domain (sTLD)
Country: United States
Implementation Date: 1985
Managing Authority: General Services Administration (GSA)
Registry Provider: General Services Administration (GSA)
.gov is the short form of word government and original Top-Level-Domain in the DNS’ root zone. It is restricted to the US government agencies that are the reason why it is considered as sponsored top-level-domain and administrated by the General Services Administration (GSA).
What Does .mil Mean?
Type: gTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: 1985
Managing Authority: DISA
Registry Provider: DISA
.mil is derived from military and one of the original TLDs created in January 1985. It is managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to operate command & control information sharing to support national leaders, soldiers and other coalition partners.
What Does .info Mean?
Type: gTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: May 11, 2001
Managing Authority: Afilias
Registry Provider: Afilias
The explosive growth of the internet has brought great and amazing opportunities for the people but it has also some challenges. One of the major challenges was the high demand for domain names and more space required on the internet for sharing the information between individuals, businesses or organizations. So, the info domain extension was created to satisfy the global need for domain names without any particular registration requirements. .info is a generic top-level-domain derived from “information” and managed by the Afilias.
What Does .name Mean?
Type: gTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: November, 2000
Managing Authority: Verisign
Registry Provider: Verisign
.name is a gTLD in the DNS of the internet and intended for use by individuals to represent their personal names, nicknames, screen names to denote their websites, blogs, profession, or other types of identifications.
What Does .me Mean?
Type: Open ccTLD
Country: Montenegro and International
Implementation Date: 2007
Managing Authority: doMEn
Registry Provider: doMEn
.me is the ccTLD (country code top-level domain) for Montenegro and open registration for personal name extension, social media users, and other companies. .me is also the fastest growing TLD in Europe, the second most popular TLD for start-ups after .com and registered within 200 countries worldwide.
What Does .tv Mean?
Type: Open ccTLD
Country: Tuvalu and Entities involved in television etc.
Implementation Date: 1996
Managing Authority: .tv Corporation International
Registry Provider: Verisign
.tv is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to the Polynesian island nation of Tuvalu and all entities involved in film, television, animation, video-related websites, etc. It is operated by the .tv corporation international which a subsidiary of Verisign and known as the common abbreviation for “television”.
What Does .us Mean?
Type: ccTLD
Country: USA
Implementation Date: 1985
Managing Authority: DOC (Department of Commerce)
Registry Provider: Neustar
.us also a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) used for the United States and operated by the department of commerce. Moreover, the DOC is also responsible for choosing the administrator for this particular domain suffix. It is not only created for state and local governments but other private entities are also able to register .us domain names.
What Does .mobi Mean?
Type: sTLD
Country: International
Implementation Date: 2005 – 2006
Managing Authority: dotMobi (a fully-owned subsidiary of Afilias)
Registry Provider: mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd
.mobi is the sponsored top-level-domain dedicatedly used for the websites optimized access by the smartphone and other mobile devices. This TLD is managed by dotMobi (mTLD Top Level Domain Ltd) which is a fully-owned subsidiary of Afilias. dotMobi was originally founded through the investment of major companies involved in mobile technology and communication.
Domain Suffixes (ccTLDs) of Countries Around the World
| Domain Suffix | Country |
| .ad | Andorra |
| .ae | United Arab Emirates |
| .ag | Antigua and Barbuda |
| .ai | Anguilla |
| .al | Albania |
| .am | Armenia |
| .ar | Argentina |
| .at | Austria |
| .au | Australia |
| .aw | Aruba |
| .ba | Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| .be | Belgium |
| .bg | Bulgaria |
| .bh | Bahrain |
| .bm | Bermuda |
| .bn | Brunei Darussalam |
| .bo | Bolivia |
| .br | Brazil |
| .bs | Bahamas |
| .bw | Botswana |
| .by | Belarus |
| .bz | Belize |
| .ca | Canada |
| .ch | Switzerland |
| .ci | Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) |
| .cl | Chile |
| .cn | China |
| .co | Colombia |
| .cr | Costa Rica |
| .cu | Cuba |
| .cy | Cyprus |
| .cz | Czech Republic |
| .de | Germany |
| .dk | Denmark |
| .dm | Dominica |
| .do | Dominican Republic |
| .ec | Ecuador |
| .ee | Estonia |
| .eg | Egypt |
| .es | Spain |
| .et | Ethiopia |
| .fi | Finland |
| .fj | Fiji |
| .fm | Micronesia |
| .fo | Faroe Islands |
| .fr | France |
| .gb | Great Britain |
| .ge | Georgia |
| .gi | Gibraltar |
| .gl | Greenland |
| .gr | Greece |
| .gt | Guatemala |
| .gu | Guam |
| .gy | Guyana |
| .hk | Hong Kong |
| .hn | Honduras |
| .hr | Croatia |
| .hu | Hungary |
| .id | Indonesia |
| .ie | Ireland |
| .il | Israel |
| .in | India |
| .ir | Iran |
| .is | Iceland |
| .it | Italy |
| .jm | Jamaica |
| .jo | Jordan |
| .jp | Japan |
| .ke | Kenya |
| .kg | Kyrgyzstan |
| .kr | Korea (South) |
| .kw | Kuwait |
| .kz | Kazakhstan |
| .lb | Lebanon |
| .lc | Saint Lucia |
| .li | Liechtenstein |
| .lk | Sri Lanka |
| .lt | Lithuania |
| .lu | Luxembourg |
| .lv | Latvia |
| .ma | Morocco |
| .mc | Monaco |
| .md | Moldova |
| .mk | Macedonia |
| .mn | Mongolia |
| .mo | Macau |
| .mt | Malta |
| .mu | Mauritius |
| .mv | Maldives |
| .mx | Mexico |
| .my | Malaysia |
| .na | Namibia |
| .nc | New Caledonia (French) |
| .ng | Nigeria |
| .ni | Nicaragua |
| .nl | Netherlands |
| .no | Norway |
| .np | Nepal |
| .nu | Niue |
| .nz | New Zealand |
| .om | Oman |
| .pa | Panama |
| .pe | Peru |
| .pf | Polynesia (French) |
| .pg | Papua New Guinea |
| .ph | Philipines |
| .pk | Pakistan |
| .pl | Poland |
| .pt | Portugal |
| .py | Paraguay |
| .qa | Qatar |
| .ro | Romania |
| .ru | Russian Federation |
| .sa | Saudi Arabia |
| .se | Sweden |
| .sg | Singapore |
| .si | Slovenia |
| .sk | Slovak Republic |
| .su | USSR (former) |
| .sv | El Salvador |
| .th | Thailand |
| .tn | Tunisia |
| .tr | Turkey |
| .tt | Trinidad and Tobago |
| .tw | Taiwan |
| .tz | Tanzania |
| .ua | Ukraine |
| .ug | Uganda |
| .uk | United Kingdom |
| .us | United States |
| .uy | Uruguay |
| .uz | Uzbekistan |
| .va | Vatican City State |
| .ve | Venezuela |
| .vi | Virgin Islands (USA) |
| .vn | Vietnam |
| .ws | Western Samoa (commonly used for “website”) |
| .ye | Yemen |
| .yu | Yugoslavia |
| .za | South Africa |
| .zm | Zambia |
| .zw | Zimbabwe |
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