ICANN and Verisign: why 22,000 .name domains will be deleted
ICANN has approved a request from Verisign to delete every third-level .name domain, addresses like john.doe.name , about 22,000 of them, including registrations paid for until 2040. Many registrants learned about it on September 3, 2026, from a Google engineer's blog post. If you own a domain, or log in anywhere with an email address on someone else's domain, this is a case study in who actually…
ICANN has greenlit Verisign's plan to delete 22,000 third-level .name domains, which includes addresses like john.doe.name. This decision was made on May 7, 2026, and the domains will be erased after a 90-day notice period, likely beginning in February 2027. Verisign claimed that this move would increase efficiency for the .name top-level domain (TLD), but the main concern is what happens after these domains disappear.
Once neil.fraser.name is gone, someone could register fraser.name and regain access to the associated email addresses, including password resets. The .name domain, launched in 2002, was designed for individuals rather than companies, with third-level names (e.g., neil.fraser.name) owned by individuals and second-level names (e.g., fraser.name) shared.
Verisign acquired Global Name Registry, the original registry operator, in 2008. The marketing promised a domain for life, but this may no longer be the case. Verisign reported $435 million in revenue in the latest quarter, and the 22,000 deleted domains represent only about 0.012% of its 179 million .com and .net domains.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
