Useful Information

.nl Domain Zone: Comprehensive Data & Investment Insights

The .nl country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) has been a cornerstone of the Dutch internet since its inception in 1986. Managed by SIDN, it ranks among the most popular ccTLDs globally. With over 3M+ registered domains (3 026 820 total), .nl offers a mature and stable market for domain investors and SEO professionals. Understanding the underlying statistics—such as average domain length (12.33 chars), character composition, and naming patterns—is crucial for making informed decisions. This data-driven analysis covers key metrics including the most frequent first letter (s), vowel/consonant ratios, and hyphen usage, providing a clear picture of the zone's landscape and future potential.

Domain Length Distribution: Why 10 Characters Dominate

The most common domain length in .nl is 10 characters, with 245 063 domains falling into this category. The average length of 12.33 chars suggests a preference for concise, memorable names. A representative domain like 0-0-00.nl (6 chars) illustrates typical naming patterns.

Infographics for .nl

3,026,820
Total Domains
+0
New Today
−0
Dropped Today

Domain length distribution by number of characters

Character Composition: Letters, Digits, and Hyphens in .nl

Domains in .nl are overwhelmingly letter-based: 84.18% (2 547 966 domains) consist solely of letters. Digits appear in only 0.52% of all characters, while hyphens are present in 12.55% of domains (379 973). Pure numeric domains are rare at 0.10%.


Average domain name length

12.33 characters
Representative domain: 0-0-00.nl
Representative name length: 6

Top Symbols and First Letters: The Role of 'e' and 's'

The most frequent character across all .nl domains is 'e', appearing 4 911 778 times. Domains most often start with the letter 's' (268 400 domains). These patterns reflect linguistic and branding preferences in the Dutch market.

Popular Domain Zones

.farm .law .works .io .de .style .earth .dev .guide .news .house .cn .live .app .il .gr .inc .social .ro .charity

Character frequency in domain names

# Symbol Occurrences
1 e 4911778
2 a 2993276
3 n 2754472
4 r 2670812
5 i 2572876
6 o 2475268
7 t 2303995
8 s 2241685
9 l 1707473
10 d 1398022
11 u 1097802
12 c 1095829
13 m 1091703
14 k 941704
15 g 924348
16 h 922851
17 p 922036
18 b 837330
19 v 711282
20 w 497404
21 f 493114
22 j 428483
23 y 306652
24 z 254059
25 x 123390
26 q 40214
27 2 39970
28 1 31184
29 4 30024
30 0 28514
31 3 21729
32 5 11741
33 6 9781
34 7 8330
35 8 7904
36 9 6404

Vowel vs. Consonant Balance: 38.46% Vowels in .nl Domains

Vowels account for 38.46% of all characters (14 357 652), while consonants make up 59.90% (22 360 206). This ratio influences domain pronounceability and memorability—key factors for SEO and user experience.


Most common first character in domain names

# First char Domains count
1 - 0
2 0 2145
3 1 8807
4 2 5831
5 3 4660
6 4 3549
7 5 1550
8 6 647
9 7 876
10 8 662
11 9 581
12 a 174136
13 b 216885
14 c 150227
15 d 194740
16 e 106165
17 f 105635
18 g 110122
19 h 148676
20 i 85481
21 j 71082
22 k 116876
23 l 109611
24 m 197851
25 n 74547
26 o 75604
27 p 154392
28 q 11255
29 r 121614
30 s 268400
31 t 155914
32 u 25548
33 v 145984
34 w 110950
35 x 7619
36 y 16637
37 z 41561

Hyphen Usage: 12.55% of Domains Include Hyphens

Hyphens appear in 12.55% of .nl domains (379 973), totaling 414 128 hyphen characters (1.11% of all chars). While hyphens can improve readability, they may reduce brandability; investors often prefer hyphen-free names (87.45% of domains).


Character distribution in domain names

Vowels (14357652 · 38.46%)
Consonants (22360206 · 59.9%)
Digits (195581 · 0.52%)
Hyphen (414128 · 1.11%)
Other (0 · 0%)

Top Words and Numeric Tokens: 'go' and '4' Trends

The most common word embedded in .nl domains is 'go', found in 65 353 domains (2.16% share). The top numeric token is '4', appearing 18 718 times. These insights help identify popular niches and branding strategies.


Domain names with numbers and letters

Only numbers (2936 · 0.1%)
Only letters (2547966 · 84.18%)
Numbers and letters (95945 · 3.17%)
Other (379973 · 12.55%)

Total Character Count: 37.3M+ Characters Across All Domains

The combined length of all .nl domain names is 37.3M+ characters (37 327 567). This massive dataset enables deep analysis of naming conventions, with only 0 special characters (0.00%), indicating a clean alphanumeric landscape.


Most frequent word fragments inside domain names

# Word Domains count %
1 go 65353 2.16
2 pro 46149 1.52
3 shop 31098 1.03
4 car 29551 0.98
5 one 26927 0.89
6 web 26719 0.88
7 online 24478 0.81
8 net 22925 0.76
9 app 20062 0.66
10 tech 18540 0.61
11 dev 16762 0.55
12 my 15607 0.52
13 top 15387 0.51
14 media 15006 0.50
15 best 11372 0.38
16 fit 9606 0.32
17 lab 9191 0.30
18 club 8999 0.30
19 site 8963 0.30
20 star 8544 0.28

Trends & Insights 2026

Short domains (under 10 chars) will remain premium assets; the average length of 12.33 chars suggests a competitive market for concise names.
Letter-only domains (84.18% of the zone) will continue to dominate, but alphanumeric combos (3.17%) may grow as brands seek uniqueness.
Hyphenated domains (12.55%) could see a slight decline as investors prioritize clean, brandable names without punctuation.
The dominance of 's' as the first letter and 'e' as the top character indicates strong linguistic patterns that new registrations will likely follow.
With 3M+ domains and a mature registry, .nl offers stable aftermarket opportunities; monitoring renewal rates and drop lists will be key.
Numeric tokens like '4' and common words such as 'go' will continue to influence domain hacks and creative branding strategies.

Hyphen usage in domain names

With hyphen (379973 · 12.55%)
Without hyphen (2646847 · 87.45%)

Popular numeric tokens in domain names

# Token Domains count
1 4 18718
2 2 17761
3 3 7796
4 1 6184
5 24 3834
6 123 3623
7 5 2550
8 7 2044
9 8 1874
10 10 1807
11 6 1329
12 365 1278
13 12 1204
14 0 1054
15 9 1044
16 360 1037
17 100 908
18 50 782
19 20 751
20 247 728