Useful Information

.fr Domain Zone: Statistics, Trends, and Investment Insights

The .fr country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) has been a cornerstone of France's digital identity since its delegation in 1986. Managed by AFNIC, .fr now hosts over 2 035 687 domains (2M+), making it one of Europe's most significant TLDs. For domain investors, SEO specialists, and developers, understanding the structural DNA of .fr is critical. Our data-driven analysis reveals that the average domain length is 12.51 characters, with the most frequent length being 8 characters (145 540 domains). The letter 'e' appears 3 245 325 times across all domains, while 'c' is the most common starting character (212 039 domains). These metrics help identify premium short domains, brandable patterns, and emerging niches. Whether you're acquiring, developing, or analyzing, .fr offers a mature yet dynamic market with 61.37% letter-only domains and 34.60% containing hyphens.

.fr Domain Length Distribution: Why 8 Characters Dominate

With 8 characters being the most frequent length (145 540 domains), and an average of 12.51 characters, short domains are scarce. The sample domain '0-00.fr' (4 chars) illustrates the premium on brevity. Investors should target lengths between 4-8 characters for maximum resale value.

Infographics for .fr

2,035,687
Total Domains
+0
New Today
−11,099
Dropped Today

Domain length distribution by number of characters

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

Letter-only domains make up 61.37% of the zone (1 249 227 domains), while domains with hyphens account for 34.60% (704 319). Pure numeric domains are rare at 0.09%. The high vowel share (40.77%) and consonant share (54.62%) reflect French language patterns, with 'e' being the most common character.


Average domain name length

12.51 characters
Representative domain: 0-00.fr
Representative name length: 4

Top Words and Numeric Tokens in .fr Domains

The most frequent word is 'pro', appearing in 38 609 domains (1.90% share). The top numeric token is '2' (15 657 occurrences). These patterns reveal branding trends and SEO opportunities.

Popular Domain Zones

.beauty .uk .xyz .ai .bg .se .net .recipes .network .health .church .baby .forum .run .travel .earth .pl .clinic .tour .construction

Character frequency in domain names

# Symbol Occurrences
1 e 3245325
2 a 2263178
3 i 1955399
4 r 1767217
5 o 1699098
6 s 1597951
7 n 1556750
8 t 1495692
9 l 1311496
10 c 1150650
11 u 970240
12 m 838228
13 d 706827
14 p 703021
15 g 514488
16 b 483548
17 h 436259
18 v 364339
19 f 342172
20 y 246051
21 k 144756
22 x 132128
23 j 96199
24 q 89428
25 z 88488
26 w 83962
27 2 35077
28 1 29177
29 3 28950
30 0 23828
31 4 23503
32 7 19257
33 6 17575
34 5 14487
35 9 13572
36 8 13415

Hyphen Usage in .fr: A Double-Edged Sword

34.60% of domains contain hyphens (704 319), while 65.40% are hyphen-free. Hyphenated domains can be keyword-rich but are often less brandable. The hyphen character count is 955 675 (3.75% of all characters).


Most common first character in domain names

# First char Domains count
1 - 0
2 0 658
3 1 4835
4 2 3287
5 3 3049
6 4 1298
7 5 714
8 6 632
9 7 932
10 8 390
11 9 487
12 a 202825
13 b 100684
14 c 212039
15 d 88249
16 e 104752
17 f 75176
18 g 71984
19 h 49685
20 i 59287
21 j 37978
22 k 27535
23 l 169383
24 m 156866
25 n 44843
26 o 45060
27 p 133213
28 q 7620
29 r 68963
30 s 152333
31 t 81939
32 u 18137
33 v 57009
34 w 23990
35 x 11870
36 y 10054
37 z 7931

Letter-Only vs. Mixed Domains: Investment Strategies for .fr

With 61.37% pure alphabetic domains and only 3.95% mixing digits and letters, the market favors clean, memorable names. The 'other' category (34.60%) includes hyphenated and special-character domains.


Character distribution in domain names

Vowels (10379291 · 40.77%)
Consonants (13903599 · 54.62%)
Digits (218841 · 0.86%)
Hyphen (955675 · 3.75%)
Other (0 · 0%)

The Role of Statistics in .fr Domain Valuation

Data on total characters (25.5M+), vowel/consonant ratios, and top symbols help quantify domain quality. For example, domains starting with 'c' are common, but unique starting letters may offer differentiation.


Domain names with numbers and letters

Only numbers (1833 · 0.09%)
Only letters (1249227 · 61.37%)
Numbers and letters (80308 · 3.95%)
Other (704319 · 34.6%)

Historical Context of .fr and Its Evolution

As one of the earliest ccTLDs, .fr has grown from academic roots to a commercial powerhouse. Understanding its history helps predict future trends, especially with the rise of local SEO and French digital economy.


Most frequent word fragments inside domain names

# Word Domains count %
1 pro 38609 1.90
2 go 33066 1.62
3 net 29228 1.44
4 car 28111 1.38
5 one 17827 0.88
6 my 15345 0.75
7 lab 14576 0.72
8 web 12320 0.61
9 tech 11967 0.59
10 dev 10678 0.52
11 info 10431 0.51
12 app 9104 0.45
13 shop 7746 0.38
14 club 7698 0.38
15 pay 7236 0.36
16 top 7067 0.35
17 media 6264 0.31
18 home 5244 0.26
19 box 5138 0.25
20 site 5108 0.25

Trends & Insights 2026

Short domains (under 8 characters) will become even more scarce and valuable as .fr approaches capacity; current average length is 12.51 chars.
The dominance of letter-only domains (61.37%) suggests a continued preference for brandable, language-specific names over numeric or mixed types.
Hyphenated domains (34.60%) may see a decline as search engines and users favor clean, hyphen-free URLs for trust and memorability.
The top word 'pro' indicates a strong professional/services niche; expect growth in industry-specific sub-niches.
With 40.77% vowels and 54.62% consonants, domain names will increasingly reflect French phonetics for better recall and SEO.
The low digit usage (0.86%) and near-zero other characters (0.00%) mean innovation may come from new gTLDs rather than .fr itself.

Hyphen usage in domain names

With hyphen (704319 · 34.6%)
Without hyphen (1331368 · 65.4%)

Popular numeric tokens in domain names

# Token Domains count
1 2 15657
2 3 7914
3 4 5124
4 1 4278
5 7 2366
6 24 1945
7 5 1864
8 6 1768
9 13 1681
10 33 1544
11 31 1537
12 77 1434
13 44 1358
14 9 1271
15 78 1267
16 17 1255
17 34 1194
18 06 1192
19 360 1154
20 35 1076