What is a third-level .name domain?
.name is a top-level domain intended for personal names.
Its third-level registration model lets people use an address in the
form firstname.lastname.name, such as
jan.ferme.name or neil.fraser.name.
Domain levels are counted from right to left:
name— top level- The ending that identifies the .name namespace.
ferme— second level- The family-name part in this example.
jan— third level- The given-name part, completing
jan.ferme.name.
This shared-surname model allows different people to register their
own names under the same surname, rather than one person having to
own the entire lastname.name domain.
How Neil Fraser helped preserve it
A personal domain can become part of someone's identity: an address used for a website, correspondence, and links collected over years. Losing it means more than moving a few files.
In his 10 November 2026 post, “.name Grandfathered”, Neil Fraser reports that Verisign withdrew a plan to terminate 22,000 domain names and email redirects.
Neil fought the proposal with legal help, alongside a wider community that submitted formal reconsideration requests, filed letters of support, and made its case to ICANN in person. He credits the outcome to that collective effort, including people within ICANN who supported them.
The outcome: existing third-level .name domains and email redirects will continue to be supported while at least one ICANN-accredited registrar offers these services at retail. Verisign still plans to close new registrations.
Read Neil's account of the campaign and the people who made it possible.
Where to register third level .name domain
To register an address in the form firstname.lastname.name,
try these registrars and check their current third-level .name availability:
Possible cutoff for new registrations: . This is a tentative date calculated from the original 180-day notice issued on 15 August 2026, as described in Verisign's 5 November 2026 letter to ICANN (PDF). The letter does not confirm a new-registration cutoff date and says revised requests will be submitted. Check with the registrar before relying on this date.