Register an Internationalised Domain Name (IDN)

Are you interested in buying a domain with special characters? A domain with special characters is known as an Internationalised Domain Name, or IDN, and comes with specific considerations. You can purchase it just like any other domain, but there are some restrictions depending on the top-level domain (TLD) you choose.  

In this article, we’ll explain how to acquire a domain with special characters and what you need to keep in mind. 

What is an IDN?  

An Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) is a domain name that includes characters beyond the standard ASCII set (a-z, 0-9, and -). IDNs let you register domains using characters from different languages and scripts, including Japanese (e.g., ア, ニ, メ), German (e.g., ü), Chinese, and Cyrillic, among many others. 

Special characters can be used in both the domain name itself and the top-level domain. A top-level domain (TLD) is the suffix that follows the dot in a domain name, such as .com or .net. For example, Russia uses the Cyrillic TLD .рф, and Bulgaria uses .бг. 

IDNs for various TLDs 

It’s worth noting that not all TLDs support all special characters. Let’s use the Swedish TLD .se as an example. .se supports Swedish characters like å, ä, ö, as well as those from Sweden’s official minority languages, including Finnish, Yiddish, and Romani Chib. However, .se does not support characters from other scripts, such as the Cyrillic alphabet or Chinese characters.  

Similarly, the TLDs .de (Germany) and .fr (France) support a variety of special Latin alphabet characters.  

Some TLDs support a wide range of characters, making them versatile for international use.  The top-level domains with the widest support for special characters are .com, .org and .net.  

If you’re unsure which characters are supported by a specific top-level domain, you can try to search for them using our domain search. 

Why register an IDN with special characters in your domain?  

Depending on your location and the type of website you are creating, using special characters in your domain name can help you stand out and reach a broader audience.  

Let’s say you have a business with a name that includes special characters. In this case, registering both the internationalised and ASCII versions can be useful. For example, a German bakery named “Müller’s Bäckerei” could register both muellersbaeckerei.de and müllersbäckerei.de. This ensures that customers can find the business regardless of how they spell the domain name. 

Special characters can also help reinforce brand identity, especially if the characters are a significant part of your brand name. A Japanese company, for instance, might prefer to use characters from the Japanese script to make the domain more recognisable and easier to find for local customers. 

What does xn-- mean? Understanding Punycode 

When searching for or purchasing a domain with special characters, you might come across the prefix “xn--“. This indicates that the domain is encoded using Punycode, a method that converts Unicode characters into ASCII.  

For example, the domain müllersbäckerei.de would appear as xn--mllersbckerei-jcb.de in Punycode. The “xn--” prefix signifies that the domain is an IDN, followed by the encoded characters. 

Most modern browsers display the Unicode version of the domain, but older browsers might show the Punycode version. While this rarely affects most users, it’s good to be aware of it, especially for older or non-standard systems. 

IDNs and cybersecurity – beware “homograph attacks” 

IDNs can sometimes be used maliciously to deceive users, a technique known as an IDN homograph attack. This occurs when a domain name uses characters from different scripts that look like standard ASCII characters. For instance, wikipediа.org (xn--wikipedi-86g.org) might look like “wikipedia.org”, but it in fact uses the Cyrillic “а” instead of the Latin “a”. 

Most modern browsers include safeguards against such attacks, warning users when a domain name might be suspicious. It’s vital to use IDNs ethically and avoid confusing or misleading users. 

Registering an IDN 

Registering an IDN is straightforward. Simply search for your desired domain and register it as usual. If you’re uncertain which TLDs support the special characters you want to use, you can check availability through a domain search.  

You can’t register a domain with a TLD that doesn’t support the characters you need, so start with a search to ensure you find a suitable option!