World’s Longest Domain Names: 63 Characters Maximum (Rules and Famous Examples)

What are the longest domain names in the world, and how long can a domain name actually be? When a friend wanted to register the longest domain possible back in 2007, we found plenty of people already claiming the record. The rules haven’t changed since: each part of a domain name can be at most 63 characters. Here are the famous examples and the limits you need to know.

Quick answer: The part of a domain before the extension (like the “example” in example.com) can be up to 63 characters long. The whole domain name, including dots and extensions, can be up to 253 characters. Letters, numbers and hyphens count. The “www” and “https://” don’t.

How long can a domain name be?

The limits come from the internet’s Domain Name System rules (RFC 1035 (external site)), written in the 1980s and still in force today:

Allowed characters are the letters a–z, numbers 0–9 and hyphens. A label can’t start or end with a hyphen, and domain names aren’t case-sensitive.

A clever trick for “longer” domains is subdomains: each subdomain can also be up to 63 characters, as long as the whole name stays under 253.

Famous longest domain names

The Welsh village with the 58-letter name

The best-known long domain belongs to a real place: the village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, the longest place name in Europe. Its upper part has a domain that hits exactly 63 characters by adding “uchaf”, Welsh for “upper”:

llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochuchaf.com

The village name on its own is used at:

llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.co.uk

Locals simply call it Llanfairpwll or Llanfair PG.

Multi-word record attempts

Plenty of people have registered 63-character domains just to claim the record, such as:

• thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com
• thelongestdomainnameintheworldandthensomeandthensomemoreandmore.com
• iamtheproudownerofthelongestlongestlongestdomainnameinthisworld.com

The alphabet and pi domains

Two more famous examples: the alphabet repeated until it hits 63 characters (abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijk.com), and a domain spelling out pi to dozens of decimal places, which uses a “3” subdomain so it can look like 65 characters while each label stays within the limit.

Some of these novelty domains have lapsed or changed owners over the years, so they may not all load today.

The longest domain extensions

Since 2013, ICANN (external site) has approved hundreds of new top-level domains (TLDs), and some are long themselves. Brand TLDs owned by companies, such as .travelersinsurance and .northwesternmutual, run to 18 or 19 characters, far longer than classics like .com or .in.

Should you register a long domain name?

For a real website, almost certainly not. Long domains are hard to remember, easy to mistype and awkward on business cards and in speech. The most visited websites in the world use short, simple names (see our list of the most visited websites in the US). Aim for something short, easy to spell and memorable, and use a long domain only for fun or a joke.

Frequently asked questions

What is the longest domain name allowed?

Up to 63 characters for each part between the dots, and up to 253 characters for the full name.

Do hyphens count towards the 63 characters?

Yes. Hyphens count as characters, but the dot and the extension (like .com) aren’t part of the 63-character limit for the name itself.

What is the shortest possible domain name?

Technically one character, but almost all one- and two-character .com names were taken long ago or are reserved, and they sell for huge sums.