Domain Name Trends 2026

From rising abuse to growing interest in niche and geographic TLDs, these are the key domain trends we believe will influence brands in 2026.

1. Growth continues

The global domain name base continued to rise through 2025. By the end of Q4, there were 386.9 million domain registrations across all TLDs, up 6.2% compared to the previous year.

2. Abuse is growing at an alarming rate

A large share of phishing links comes from domains that attackers register specifically for abuse. That’s why monitoring new registrations, lookalike domains, and risky TLD patterns is an important part of prevention. At the same time, increasing regulatory pressure, including NIS2, is raising the bar for data accuracy, domain governance, and portfolio oversight.

3. Repurposed ccTLDs keep growing – .ai taking the lead

Country code domains used for branding continue to trend upward, but .ai stands out as the clear frontrunner.

Originally, the country-code for Anguilla .ai is now used as a “domain hack” for AI- and tech companies and treated by Google as a generic TLD. 

Demand has surged as businesses choose .ai when .com domains are unavailable. Other popular repurposed ccTLDs such as .io and .cc still remain popular.

4. More geographic reach

Interest is rising across several Middle East and Southeast Asia country domains, which matches how many companies expand market by market.

In Europe, we see ccTLDs like .nl, .uk, .de, and .fr consistently in demand.

5. Niche domains for specific use cases

More brands are complementing the standard set with niche gTLDs that align with their offerings, positioning or specific campaign. Examples include .shop, .coach, .guru, and .xyz.

.xyz in particular has gained traction among startups and digital-first brands, driven by strong adoption in the tech sector and broad availability of desirable domain names.

6. Premium location signals

City and regional domains are also picking up, often used to support local presence, trust, and regulatory or compliance messaging.

7. dotBrand for security and trust

As domain abuse rises and brands spread across more TLDs, more organisations are looking at dotBrand to regain control.

With a branded top-level domain (for example, .nike), you own the namespace and keep full control over registrations. This simplifies governance, reduces lookalike risk, and makes it easier for customers to spot what’s genuine.

Application windowing for the brand TLD is scheduled for April this year, and it may be many years before the next chance.

Photo credit

I'M ZION via Unsplash 

Marina Leonova via Pexels 

Source

Abion

DNIB 

DNS Abusive Mitigation Program - ICANN 

ICANN Presentation June 2025