Master List Of Valid Domain Name Characters (+Invalid Ones)

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means, if you click on the link and purchase the product, I will receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Don’t worry, I only recommend products or services that I have personally used and believe will add value to my readers.


Imagine that you have a very successful business, and now you want to take it online. So you want to register a domain name but want some special characters or symbols in it.

Can you actually register a domain name with special characters and symbols? What are the valid characters that a domain name can contain anyway?

Let’s see…

List Of Valid Domain Name Characters That You Can Have

I have detailed out below all the valid and invalid characters that a domain name can contain.

If you are interested in reading all the finer details of a particular character, then skip to the last to see the table of all the characters that you can or cannot include in your domain name.

Okay! With that said, let’s begin…

Can Domain Names Have Numbers?

Yes, domain names can have numbers in them. These numbers can be in the middle of the domain name, right at the start, or at the end. Basically…

A domain name can start with numbers, end with numbers, or can contain the numbers somewhere in the middle of the domain name.

Can Domain Names Have Dots?

Domain names can or cannot contain dots. A dot is a reserved character for Top Level Domains (TLDs) and Sub-Domains. Examples of TLDs are .com, .net, etc. and examples of Sub-Domains are mail.mybusiness.com, support.mybusiness.com, etc.

So yes, a domain name can contain dots. However, you cannot register a domain name with dots in it. For example, you cannot register a domain name mail.mybusiness.com. What you will need to do is first register mybusiness.com and then create a sub-domain for it called mail.mybusiness.com. You can easily create a sub-domain for free once you have registered the domain.

Recommended Further Reading: How To Register A Domain Name (and Why You Shouldn’t Get It For Free)

Can Domain Names Have Underscores?

No, domain names cannot contain underscores. If you try to register a domain name with underscores, many Domain Registrars will remove the underscore before you can register that domain name.

Can Domain Names Have Spaces?

No, domain names cannot have spaces. Again, Domain Registrars will remove the spaces before you can register the domain name.

Can Domain Names Have Dashes?

Both a dash and a hyphen are represented by a “-” character. But a dash has spaces on both sides, and a hyphen does not. For example, the text “my – business” is using a dash, while “my-business” is using a hyphen.

A domain name cannot contain dashes. You cannot register a domain name “my – business.com”, but you can register it as “my-business.com” which is using a hyphen. So…

Can Domain Names Have Hyphens?

Yes, domain names can have hyphens. You can register a domain name with a hyphen in it, for example, my-business.com.

However, a domain name cannot start or end with a hyphen. The hyphen needs to be in the middle of the domain name. And you cannot have two consecutive hyphens in the middle of the domain name.

Can Domain Names Have Symbols?

No, domain names cannot have any symbols.

Can Domain Names Have Special Characters?

No, domain names cannot contain any special characters like !, @, #, etc.

Can Domain Names Have Letters?

Yes, domain names can have letters in them. In fact, the majority of the domain names that get registered have only letters in them.

Can Domain Names Have Capital Letters?

No, domain names cannot have capital letters in them.

Can Domain Names Have Apostrophes?

No, domain names cannot contain apostrophes. Apostrophes are special characters, and domain names cannot have special characters in them.

Can Domain Names Have Ampersand?

No, domain names cannot have ampersand. An ampersand is a special character. Domain names cannot have special characters.

Can Domain Names Have Commas?

Domain names cannot contain commas. A comma is a special character similar to &, @, #, etc. Domain names cannot contain such special characters.

Table Of Valid and Invalid Domain Name Characters

CharacterValid Domain Name Character?
NumbersYes
DotsYes and No
UnderscoresNo
SpacesNo
DashesNo
HyphensYes
SymbolsNo
Special CharactersNo
LettersYes
Capital LettersNo
ApostrophesNo
AmpersandNo
CommasNo


To Summarize…

Domain names can contain only letters, numbers, hyphens, and dots to an extent. They cannot start or end with a hyphen though. And all special characters like underscores, spaces, ampersand, etc. cannot be included in the domain name.

Great!

Now that you know which characters you can include in your domain name, go back in that imagination you started at the start of this article and register the domain name before someone else starts imagining.

About The Author

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *