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 (3 015 413 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 244 142 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.nl (3 chars) illustrates typical naming patterns.

Infographics for .nl

3,015,413
Total Domains
+0
New Today
−11,407
Dropped Today

Domain length distribution by number of characters

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

Domains in .nl are overwhelmingly letter-based: 84.19% (2 538 646 domains) consist solely of letters. Digits appear in only 0.52% of all characters, while hyphens are present in 12.55% of domains (378 431). Pure numeric domains are rare at 0.10%.


Average domain name length

12.33 characters
Representative domain: 0-0.nl
Representative name length: 3

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

The most frequent character across all .nl domains is 'e', appearing 4 892 639 times. Domains most often start with the letter 's' (267 385 domains). These patterns reflect linguistic and branding preferences in the Dutch market.

Popular Domain Zones

.inc .no .us .works .tv .charity .expert .travel .il .net .agency .social .sk .hu .com .photography .health .group .art .homes

Character frequency in domain names

# Symbol Occurrences
1 e 4892639
2 a 2981340
3 n 2743841
4 r 2660688
5 i 2562975
6 o 2465531
7 t 2294662
8 s 2232893
9 l 1700686
10 d 1392421
11 u 1093427
12 c 1091555
13 m 1087591
14 k 938098
15 g 920775
16 h 919254
17 p 918395
18 b 834054
19 v 708701
20 w 495446
21 f 491174
22 j 426976
23 y 305366
24 z 253028
25 x 122868
26 q 40063
27 2 39737
28 1 30989
29 4 29895
30 0 28351
31 3 21588
32 5 11674
33 6 9727
34 7 8279
35 8 7853
36 9 6360

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

Vowels account for 38.46% of all characters (14 301 278), while consonants make up 59.90% (22 273 169). 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 2141
3 1 8766
4 2 5806
5 3 4642
6 4 3540
7 5 1540
8 6 644
9 7 872
10 8 660
11 9 579
12 a 173463
13 b 216016
14 c 149608
15 d 194012
16 e 105789
17 f 105231
18 g 109685
19 h 148128
20 i 85172
21 j 70889
22 k 116454
23 l 109202
24 m 197179
25 n 74286
26 o 75328
27 p 153858
28 q 11220
29 r 121183
30 s 267385
31 t 155219
32 u 25405
33 v 145439
34 w 110516
35 x 7587
36 y 16562
37 z 41407

Hyphen Usage: 12.55% of Domains Include Hyphens

Hyphens appear in 12.55% of .nl domains (378 431), totaling 412 425 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 (14301278 · 38.46%)
Consonants (22273169 · 59.9%)
Digits (194453 · 0.52%)
Hyphen (412425 · 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 65 069 domains (2.16% share). The top numeric token is '4', appearing 18 643 times. These insights help identify popular niches and branding strategies.


Domain names with numbers and letters

Only numbers (2927 · 0.1%)
Only letters (2538646 · 84.19%)
Numbers and letters (95409 · 3.16%)
Other (378431 · 12.55%)

Total Character Count: 37.2M+ Characters Across All Domains

The combined length of all .nl domain names is 37.2M+ characters (37 181 325). 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 65069 2.16
2 pro 45995 1.53
3 shop 30957 1.03
4 car 29438 0.98
5 one 26808 0.89
6 web 26599 0.88
7 online 24334 0.81
8 net 22847 0.76
9 app 19954 0.66
10 tech 18487 0.61
11 dev 16695 0.55
12 my 15558 0.52
13 top 15302 0.51
14 media 14948 0.50
15 best 11324 0.38
16 fit 9564 0.32
17 lab 9157 0.30
18 club 8953 0.30
19 site 8912 0.30
20 star 8510 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 (84.19% of the zone) will continue to dominate, but alphanumeric combos (3.16%) 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 (378431 · 12.55%)
Without hyphen (2636982 · 87.45%)

Popular numeric tokens in domain names

# Token Domains count
1 4 18643
2 2 17680
3 3 7756
4 1 6152
5 24 3818
6 123 3601
7 5 2537
8 7 2034
9 8 1865
10 10 1795
11 6 1318
12 365 1274
13 12 1195
14 0 1051
15 9 1038
16 360 1028
17 100 900
18 50 778
19 20 748
20 247 724