.dev Domain Zone: Statistics, Trends & Investment Insights
The .dev domain zone, launched in 2014 as a Google-operated gTLD, has grown into a premier namespace for developers, tech startups, and digital innovators. With 701.7K+ registered domains (701 665 total), .dev offers a unique blend of brevity and brandability. Understanding its composition—from average length (0.00 chars) to the prevalence of the letter 'a' (580 497 occurrences)—is critical for domain investors and SEO specialists. This data-driven analysis reveals patterns that drive value, helping you identify premium opportunities and anticipate shifts in the .dev landscape through 2026.
Domain Length Distribution in .dev
The most common length is 6 characters, with 92 364 domains. Average length is 0.00 chars, and the maximum is 63. Short domains like 0.dev (1 char) are rare but highly valuable.
Infographics for .dev
Domain length distribution by number of characters
Character Composition: Letters, Digits, and Hyphens
Letters dominate: 90.61% of domains (632 630) are purely alphabetic. Digits appear in 4.82% of domains (33 673), while only 0.07% (463) are all-numeric. Hyphens are minimal at 4.50% (31 406 domains).
Average domain name length
Top Symbols and First-Letter Trends
The most frequent character is 'a' (580 497 times), and the most common first letter is 's' (65 951 domains). These patterns influence brand recall and SEO.
Character frequency in domain names
| # | Symbol | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | a | 580497 |
| 2 | e | 549052 |
| 3 | i | 404217 |
| 4 | o | 398636 |
| 5 | r | 391401 |
| 6 | n | 356633 |
| 7 | s | 349786 |
| 8 | t | 341771 |
| 9 | l | 294077 |
| 10 | c | 221804 |
| 11 | d | 199657 |
| 12 | m | 193985 |
| 13 | h | 175493 |
| 14 | u | 175464 |
| 15 | p | 153468 |
| 16 | b | 139158 |
| 17 | g | 134358 |
| 18 | k | 125918 |
| 19 | y | 111029 |
| 20 | f | 86049 |
| 21 | v | 83271 |
| 22 | w | 71183 |
| 23 | j | 49440 |
| 24 | x | 44164 |
| 25 | z | 43801 |
| 26 | q | 15153 |
| 27 | 1 | 9478 |
| 28 | 0 | 9220 |
| 29 | 2 | 8230 |
| 30 | 3 | 7965 |
| 31 | 8 | 7578 |
| 32 | 4 | 6556 |
| 33 | 6 | 5578 |
| 34 | 7 | 4838 |
| 35 | 9 | 4265 |
| 36 | 5 | 4016 |
Vowel vs. Consonant Balance in .dev
Consonants make up 59.92% (3 482 080 chars) vs. vowels at 38.32% (2 226 459 chars). A balanced ratio often correlates with pronounceability and memorability.
Most common first character in domain names
| # | First char | Domains count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | 0 |
| 2 | 0 | 1151 |
| 3 | 1 | 1391 |
| 4 | 2 | 811 |
| 5 | 3 | 893 |
| 6 | 4 | 709 |
| 7 | 5 | 449 |
| 8 | 6 | 734 |
| 9 | 7 | 558 |
| 10 | 8 | 521 |
| 11 | 9 | 428 |
| 12 | a | 59076 |
| 13 | b | 35677 |
| 14 | c | 47846 |
| 15 | d | 35314 |
| 16 | e | 22522 |
| 17 | f | 23663 |
| 18 | g | 25189 |
| 19 | h | 22159 |
| 20 | i | 18735 |
| 21 | j | 26444 |
| 22 | k | 23724 |
| 23 | l | 26656 |
| 24 | m | 49111 |
| 25 | n | 24976 |
| 26 | o | 16753 |
| 27 | p | 34985 |
| 28 | q | 4445 |
| 29 | r | 31359 |
| 30 | s | 65951 |
| 31 | t | 38859 |
| 32 | u | 8076 |
| 33 | v | 16433 |
| 34 | w | 17050 |
| 35 | x | 4362 |
| 36 | y | 6388 |
| 37 | z | 8267 |
Top Words and Numeric Tokens in .dev Domains
The most common word is 'go', appearing in 11 601 domains (1.66% share). The top numeric token is '3' (3 691 domains). These indicate trending niches.
Character distribution in domain names
Hyphen Usage and Its Impact on Domain Value
Only 4.50% of domains contain hyphens (31 406), while 95.50% (666 766) are hyphen-free. Hyphen-free domains are generally preferred for branding and SEO.
Domain names with numbers and letters
Total Character Count and Structural Insights
All domains combined contain 5.8M+ characters (5 810 842). Digits account for 1.17% (67 859), and other characters are negligible (0.00%).
Most frequent word fragments inside domain names
| # | Word | Domains count | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | go | 11601 | 1.66 |
| 2 | lab | 11062 | 1.58 |
| 3 | pro | 7723 | 1.10 |
| 4 | tech | 6354 | 0.91 |
| 5 | app | 5944 | 0.85 |
| 6 | one | 5406 | 0.77 |
| 7 | web | 5197 | 0.74 |
| 8 | car | 4837 | 0.69 |
| 9 | my | 4822 | 0.69 |
| 10 | dev | 4379 | 0.63 |
| 11 | net | 4083 | 0.58 |
| 12 | cloud | 2971 | 0.42 |
| 13 | get | 2624 | 0.38 |
| 14 | hub | 2295 | 0.33 |
| 15 | data | 2258 | 0.32 |
| 16 | box | 1929 | 0.28 |
| 17 | star | 1854 | 0.27 |
| 18 | game | 1776 | 0.25 |
| 19 | top | 1652 | 0.24 |
| 20 | pay | 1527 | 0.22 |
Trends & Insights 2026
Hyphen usage in domain names
Popular numeric tokens in domain names
| # | Token | Domains count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3691 |
| 2 | 2 | 3425 |
| 3 | 0 | 3373 |
| 4 | 1 | 3123 |
| 5 | 4 | 3061 |
| 6 | 8 | 1818 |
| 7 | 7 | 1452 |
| 8 | 5 | 1265 |
| 9 | 9 | 1151 |
| 10 | 88 | 964 |
| 11 | 6 | 946 |
| 12 | 10 | 467 |
| 13 | 6686 | 403 |
| 14 | 11 | 356 |
| 15 | 24 | 349 |
| 16 | 99 | 295 |
| 17 | 42 | 292 |
| 18 | 360 | 290 |
| 19 | 77 | 247 |
| 20 | 365 | 242 |