Is my domain name taken? How to check — and what to do next.

How to check if a domain name is taken

Type the name into the tool above — it queries the live domain registry (RDAP) and tells you in seconds whether it's registered, and which alternatives are still free. There are three reliable ways to check:

1. A live availability tool — the one above, or the Domain Search King homepage, checks the registry in real time and only shows names you can actually register.
2. A registrar's search box — any registrar will tell you if a specific name is taken (expect an upsell if it is).
3. A WHOIS / RDAP lookup at lookup.icann.org — the authoritative record; if it returns registration details, the name is taken. Note: a name can be registered with no website on it — parked or held by an investor still counts as taken.

One thing that does not reliably check: asking an AI chatbot. A language model was never connected to the registry, so most names it calls "available" are already owned — we ran the test and 96 of 96 AI-suggested names were already registered, many for decades. If an AI handed you a name, verify it against the live registry before you get attached to it.

If it's taken: the 7 moves that fix it

1. Try a variation — add a word, drop a word, swap an article
2. Toggle the TLD — .io, .co, .app, .net, and .ai are legitimate for most brands
3. Use an AI domain generator that only shows available names — not ideas you still have to check
4. Check if the owner will sell — WHOIS lookup, then a low-ball offer
5. Look at aged domains with backlinks — pre-owned .coms that give you SEO credit from day one
6. Try a modifier keyword — "get", "my", "try", "go", "use" in front of the brand name
7. Reframe the brand name entirely — the biggest brands rarely got their first-choice domain

Why this problem is getting worse

There are over 150 million registered .com domains. The short, clean, obviously-good ones were grabbed in the 1990s. The other problem: most domain search tools show you names that are already taken — you click "register" and find out the hard way. Domain Search King is built differently: every name is RDAP-verified against the live registry before it appears. If it's taken, it never shows up.

Move 1: Try a variation before you give up

Add a category word (RiverBrew → RiverBrewCo, DrinkRiverBrew), drop a filler word, pluralize, or add a founder/location signal. Most people try two or three variations manually — an AI namer tries hundreds in seconds and verifies each one live. Avoid random numbers or hyphens unless they're genuinely part of the brand. Stuck for directions? Browse catchy domain name ideas or available one-word domains for patterns that are still open.

Move 2: The multi-TLD toggle

When your .com is taken, the honest answer on alternatives depends on your audience:

Hold out for .com if you're consumer e-commerce (customers type .com by reflex), a traditional industry (law, finance, healthcare), or your brand is a generic word (the .com owner keeps your type-in traffic forever). Weighing one specifically? See .io vs .com, .net vs .com, .co vs .com and .ai vs .com. The rescue tool above checks all of them live in one shot.

Move 3: An AI generator that only returns available names

Most domain name generators are idea generators, not availability generators — they show you names and let you find out 90% are taken. Our AI domain name generator queries live RDAP for every name before it appears, so every result on screen is one you can register right now. Describe your business in plain English on the homepage → or browse 290+ pre-researched niches with curated available names already surfaced.

Move 4: Check whether the owner will sell

Run a WHOIS lookup at lookup.icann.org. If privacy-protected, check for a "for sale" landing page, or look on aftermarket platforms like Sedo, Afternic, or Dan.com. Start low, don't reveal your budget, and be ready to walk away — many parked domains are priced at $5,000–$50,000 for names that cost $10/year to hold. If the price is out of reach, Moves 1–3 are almost always the better use of your time.

Move 5: Look at aged domains with backlinks

A pre-owned .com with real inbound links starts your SEO clock much earlier than a brand-new registration — you inherit authority instead of building it from zero. Look for a clean backlink history from real sites in your industry, no spam penalties, and a prior topic adjacent to your new use. This move takes more research but can compress years of SEO work into day one.

Move 6: Add a modifier keyword

get[name].com, try[name].com, use[name].com, my[name].com, go[name].com — several modifier domains have become recognizable brands in their own right. The modifier adds one syllable and usually solves availability without hurting recognizability.

Move 7: Reframe the brand name entirely

If nothing feels right after six moves, the blocked domain may be telling you the name is too generic to own outright. Some of the most successful brands pivoted their name because the .com was taken — and ended up more distinctive for it. Describe what your business does and feels like on the homepage rather than the literal product, and the AI often surfaces names you wouldn't have thought of. Our guide to how to choose a domain name walks through the tradeoffs, including invented names vs keyword domains.

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