域名|Chinese Perspective

[Kassey Lee]

I believe only short and easy-to-remember domain names are sustainable, regardless of where in the world you live and which cultural background you come from.

Now that the Chinese domain market has become a hot topic, I myself want to understand this trend too. Is there any real meaning behind each domain name sold in China? Here, I'd like to share with you what I've found as I read the Chinese news everyday.

GZX.com
GZX can stand for 更自信 (even more self-confident) which can be used in many fields such as education, self-help, and even consumer products to raise your self image.

XLY.com
XLY can stand for 夏令营 (summer camp) or 新领域 (new field) which can be used in recreation and high-tech products.

New: Follow my blog posts on NamePros for updates.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Chinese Domain News Source Date: Jan 23

3-pin .com matching company name gone live
360 Group's new investment service provder NiCaiFu (你财富) launched on matching domain name NiCaiFu.com. The name means "your wealth". Despite being a 3-pin, this domain name has only 7 characters so it's easy to remember.

 

[Chetan]

JTDK is a meaningful phrase ? i was offered double price for it when market was on $300 and i sold. After i sold i started receiving much higher offers on the same

 

[fuzzy]

Despite being a 3-pin, this domain name has only 7 characters so it's easy to remember.

Just like xunishi.cn

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Hey Kassey,

I am taking more interest in Chinese names and trying to learn from reading your posts. I bought NN8.com several years back and recently being offered in starting 5 figs (USD). Any meaning in Chinese?

Thanks in advance for your time and efforts in researching/responding in timely manner.

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

I have a few that seem promising.... at least using google translate. still haven't figured out how to use translate.baidu correctly though... i have attempted with english->chinese and chinese->english but insn't giving even remotely similar or interesting results. Aynwho, what do y'all think of these?

QWZD good name for Qatar... QNB.com sold 1 million
QWKN good name for Qatar... QNB.com sold 1 million
XRWW
XWHF
ZQXZ

 

[Kassey Lee]

TVV7, MDLKT and BJW33 are getting a lot of traffic. Any thoughts on meanings. Thanks.

BJW:北京网>Beijing net
BJW:搬家网>House moving net
So BJW33 is easy to remember. Tour, house moving etc. Hope it's .com.

what do u think about this one: eight8w.com

I feel it's a bit complicated: a word + a number + a letter. It's not my favorite combination, but may be liked by other folks.

JTDK is a meaningful phrase ?

Google Translate:
JTDK:極度痛苦>Extremely painful
JTDK:极地特快>Polar Express

My creation:
JTDK:集团贷款>Group lending

ust like xunishi.cn

XuNiShi:虚拟式>Virtual type
Yes, very short 3-pin

bought NN8.com several years back and recently being offered in starting 5 figs (USD). Any meaning in Chinese?

NN is great as it has many meanings, such as

NN:你你>You you
NN:南宁>Nan Ning city
NN:牛牛>Cow cow
NN:宁宁>Peace peace
NN:新新>New new

8 is a lucky number in China and it also rhymes with "bar" thus providing lots of possibilities and brands relating to money business. Also, it's 3C .com so very valuable imo. I like it.

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

eight.poker

 

[fuzzy]

XuNiShi:虚拟式>Virtual type

I didn't think of that variation (式), I like it thank you!
The one I was considering was "市", where XuNiShi 虚拟市 may be 'VirtualMarket' or 'VirtualCity'.

 

[AbdulBasit.com]

Many thanks Kassey Lee for your detailed input about my domain and I highly appreciate that. I will need to hold that for longer period of time because currently the offers are coming in from investors and I am always looking for the right enduser to come in

 

[The_General]

Hi Kassey,

Firstly, thanks for your informative posts - we can all see the pattern domains selling but you've put a real light on the meaning behind what might otherwise look like random domains!

I'd really appreciate some help in my understanding of different pinyin words I've seen that seem to mean the same thing:

Hun hau/ting hao - I've seen both of these mean 'very good' but using my knowledge of Chinese (I only know nee hau!) I thought the first way looks like it's used in formal greetings and the second is more general - is that right?

Hau chih/hau chi - (delicious?) is this a difference of interpretation of the accent above the last character in pinyin (it looks a bit like a small uppercase T)?

Gou mai / mie dohng-see - (buy things?) not sure about why these are so different, is it a subtle difference or is one not pinyin?!

Lastly, does 'woh nar' mean 'my place' (doesn't come up on yabla so is this not pinyin?)

Thanks!

 

[Kassey Lee]

Chinese Domain News Source Date: Jan 24

WandaHotels.com shows English words can be used in Chinese domain names
No other interesting content except the domain name.

Found valuable information not in the main story but the side one
The article is an analysis of three .vc domain names (suning.vc, tmeng.vc, and 1001.vc) but unfortunately all of them did not resolve. Instead, I found the side story on 100X.vc much more valuable. If you visit 100X.vc you'll find a group of top Internet entrepreneurs in China forming an angel fund to incubate startups. The domain name 100x.vc is a perfect match because the program can accelerate your business by 100 times.

 

[168]

Chinese Domain News Source Date: Jan 22

4L .com but sold for mid 7 figures CNY, why?
XIAN.com was sold to another investor but it's no ordinary 4L. Xian is a single-pin which may refer:
Xian:鲜>Fresh
Xian:仙>Immortal
Xian:县>County
Xian:馅>Filling

Godaddy quietly entered China
An investor in China just received an email from Godaddy -- all in Chinese. Godaddy's website now provides UI in Simplified Chinese. Support in Chinese is available from 11am to 5pm China time. (Japanese is also available.)

English word + .cc can sell in China too
An investor just sold Marry.cc for mid 5 figures CNY. Past sales of .cc include J.cc for 3.9m CNY and Wo.cc for mid 6 figures CNY (already developed into mobile gaming platform).

2015 saw high growth in both .cn and .com
China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) 2015 statistics shows total domain names in China growing 51% from 21m in 2014 to 31m in 2015, with .cn taking 53% market share and .com 36%.

LLLN .com sold to investor for more than 30k CNY
DAI5.com rhymes with 贷网 (lending net).

Latest Chinese Internet statistics
From CNNIC again:
Internet users: 688m (6% growth rate, 50% penetration rate)
Mobile Internet users: 620m or 90%
Access via Wifi: 92%
Usage: Online education (110m), medical services (152m), taxi booking (97m)
Number of websites: 4m (26% growth rate)

This info is .Tops ! Looks like there will be a huge demand for website development in China, and a decent demand to replace inventory in .cn , .com Estimating 1-1.5m .com and 2m+ for .cn for 2016
Thanks again for the great info!.

 

[gareth1614]

I wonder @KasseyLee is there any particular meaning to the number 415 in Chinese?

I just caught a LNNN.com with this number (B415) and after checking this name with other letters than B I found that many of them are developed Chinese sites - mainly in the adult niche. Even the vowels are regged ("A" is developed but it's American) and v is regged and developed by Chinese/Taiwanese. Thanks.

 

[korganian]

Is the Google translation of yyaop as meaning "Pharmaceuticals" accurate Kassey? If so, is this a term that would be considered valuable in the Chinese market?

 

[168]

I wonder @KasseyLee is there any particular meaning to the number 415 in Chinese?

I just caught a LNNN.com with this number (B415) and after checking this name with other letters than B I found that many of them are developed Chinese sites - mainly in the adult niche. Even the vowels are regged ("A" is developed but it's American) and v is regged and developed by Chinese/Taiwanese. Thanks.

Hey gareth1614,
Here's an interesting use for 415,
Area code 415 is a California telephone area code that was one of the first three original area codes established in California in October 1947. It serves San Francisco and its northern suburbs in Marin County (across the Golden Gate Bridge), and the northeast corner of San Mateo County.

B415 would be a great name for a Silicon Valley start-up in just about any product or service. (I'm a native.)
It may be worth a hole lot more in the USA.

 

[Kassey Lee]

I didn't think of that variation (式), I like it thank you!
The one I was considering was "市", where XuNiShi 虚拟市 may be 'VirtualMarket' or 'VirtualCity'.

Actually, your translation is better than mine.

I will need to hold that for longer period of time because currently the offers are coming in from investors and I am always looking for the right enduser to come in

Totally agreed. In fact, NN8 can be used not just inside but also outside China. It's so short and neutral in meaning that it can be used globally. All the best!

Hun hau/ting hao - I've seen both of these mean 'very good' but using my knowledge of Chinese (I only know nee hau!) I thought the first way looks like it's used in formal greetings and the second is more general - is that right?

Hau chih/hau chi - (delicious?) is this a difference of interpretation of the accent above the last character in pinyin (it looks a bit like a small uppercase T)?

Gou mai / mie dohng-see - (buy things?) not sure about why these are so different, is it a subtle difference or is one not pinyin?!

Lastly, does 'woh nar' mean 'my place' (doesn't come up on yabla so is this not pinyin?)

I'm not sure but it looks like your spellings are based on Taiwan's Pinyin system. For example:

NeeHau:你好>>How are you? (Pinyin used in Taiwan)
But,
NiHao:你好>How are you? (Pinyin used in China)

I just caught a LNNN.com with this number (B415) and after checking this name with other letters than B I found that many of them are developed Chinese sites - mainly in the adult niche. Even the vowels are regged ("A" is developed but it's American) and v is regged and developed by Chinese/Taiwanese. Thanks.

For example:
415:司仪网>MC (Master of Ceremonies) net
415:死要玩>I'm dying to play
415:死要吻>I'm dying to kiss (someone)
415:死要我>(Someone) is dying to want me

s the Google translation of yyaop as meaning "Pharmaceuticals" accurate Kassey? If so, is this a term that would be considered valuable in the Chinese market?

Google Translate gives:
YYAOP:医药品>Pharmaceuticals

In this case, the translation is incorrect. YYAOP is not Pinyin. The correct one for "Pharmaceuticals" should be:
YYP:医药品>Pharmaceuticals

I have submitted a blog post to examine the accuracy of Google Translate. If you "follow" me you'll be notified when the post is published.

Area code 415 is a California telephone area code that was one of the first three original area codes established in California in October 1947. It serves San Francisco and its northern suburbs in Marin County (across the Golden Gate Bridge), and the northeast corner of San Mateo County.

B415 would be a great name for a Silicon Valley start-up in just about any product or service. (I'm a native.)
It may be worth a hole lot more in the USA.

Excellent point! Even as a Chinese, I usually think of global use when acquiring domain names. The Internet is global after all, so why limit your choice to just China?

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

update...

.com 123.031.889
.tk 27.458.988
.de 16.012.725 ( GERMANY )
.net 15.597.290
.cn 14.991.015 (30.11.2015)
.org 10.899.931
.uk 9.095.896
.info 5.156.358
.ru 4.829.511
.nl 4.586.697
.eu 3.780.169
.au 3.022.437
.br 2.993.198
.fr 2.868.682
.it 2.867.991
.pl 2.679.792
.biz 2.413.787
.ca 2.298.743
.ch 1.981.948
.es 1.795.898
.xyz 1.708.611
.us 1.670.223
.be 1.532.970
.jp 1.410.247
.se 1.398.451
.dk 1.314.215
.at 1.268.402
.cz 1.230.124
.top 937.427
.mobi 693.318
.hu 676.369
.wang (net) 598.380
.win 560.692
.club 542.038
.cl 492.938
.fi 379.540
.网址 (Netzwerkadresse) 351.680
.science 336.412
.hk 374.104
.ren 374.104
.asia 225.644
.party 219.173
.click 171.275
.link 166.657
.name 131.697
.kz (30.11.2015) 122.875
.online 121.521
.website 120.176
.tel 117.518
.pro 116.346
.loan 111.427
.date 109.124
.xxx 101.394
.space 93.976
.work 93.341
.pe 90.005
.lu 87.121
.site 80.372
.realtor 73.785
.nyc 73.282
.webcam 70.971
.guru 65.419
.li 63.241
.review 63.846
.rocks 60.384
.london 59.924
.red 58.710
.berlin 57.731
.xin 57.731
.email 52.888
.ninja 51.912
.photography 50.615
.公司 (Unternehmensorganisation) 48.271
.today 46.836
.pub 42.728
.bayern 30.035
.koeln 23.478
.hamburg 22.970
.wien 13.062
.ruhr 11.445
.nrw 9.588
.saarland 3.287
Stand: 01. Januar 2016

 

[168]

Actually, your translation is better than mine.


Totally agreed. In fact, NN8 can be used not just inside but also outside China. It's so short and neutral in meaning that it can be used globally. All the best!


I'm not sure but it looks like your spellings are based on Taiwan's Pinyin system. For example:

NeeHau:你好>>How are you? (Pinyin used in Taiwan)
But,
NiHao:你好>How are you? (Pinyin used in China)


For example:
415:司仪网>MC (Master of Ceremonies) net
415:死要玩>I'm dying to play
415:死要吻>I'm dying to kiss (someone)
415:死要我>(Someone) is dying to want me


Google Translate gives:
YYAOP:医药品>Pharmaceuticals

In this case, the translation is incorrect. YYAOP is not Pinyin. The correct one for "Pharmaceuticals" should be:
YYP:医药品>Pharmaceuticals

I have submitted a blog post to examine the accuracy of Google Translate. If you "follow" me you'll be notified when the post is published.

Excellent point! Even as a Chinese, I usually think of global use when acquiring domain names. The Internet is global after all, so why limit your choice to just China?

Yes ! I see more companies everywhere using n/l combos.
some examples:
A3Cube: super fast networks
IP2 Entertainment: turning movies into theme parks
C4Thera.com: therapeutic start-up
Bira91.com: hand crafted beer
360ride.in: ride share India
News55.se: News, Sweden
Open8.com: Tech, Japan
inov8.com.pk: Mobile Payments Pakistan
More2.com: B2B, London

 

[Kassey Lee]

15:死要玩>I'm dying to play
415:死要吻>I'm dying to kiss (someone)

Just noticed my errors. Should be:
415:死要玩>Dying to play
415:死要吻>Dying to kiss (someone)

Yes ! I see more companies everywhere using n/l combos.
some examples:

Thanks for the examples. That's what I have noticed in my daily reading of Techcrunch. Recent examples include:

Pine64.com selling the tiny $15 computers on 64-bit CPU.
J2Global.com, a division of Ziff Davis.
Call9.com, a old telemedicine startup

They give me the confidence to acquire mixed letter+number .com.

 

[gareth1614]

Thanks for that. "Dying to play" or dying to kiss someone. This would explain the adult sites in China with this number.
V interesting point about 415 in a Californian context too.

 

[gareth1614]

How about "GF" in terms of Pinyin? I tried using Yabla but couldn't really figure it out. G seems to be "Forward" or "Future" but there seems to be other possibles too.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Chinese Domain News Source Date: Jan 25

Cow means hard working in China
2-pin HaoNiu.com sold for 6 figures CNY has gone live. As a personal investment site, the use of the name Hao Niu (好牛, good cow) is excellent as cow is deeply rooted in the Chinese culture and is associated with "hard working". Its equivalent acronym HN.com is a for-sale page in Chinese and should be very expensive to buy.

Pinyin+English word popular among top Internet firms
Le group upgraded its sports site from sports.letv.com to LeSports.com, choosing a name very similar to Alibaba's AliSports.com. Attention is now paid to another giant Wanda group to see whether it would purchase WadaSports.com which currently does not resolve. This shows common English words are acceptable to Chinese consumers.

IDN .com owned but redirects to ASCII .com
The news is about Karaoke app/social network ChangBa.com (唱吧, let's sing or singing bar) getting financial backing from TV celebrities, but it also mentions the company's ownership of the equivalent IDN 唱吧.com which currently simply redircts to ChangBa.com. In this example, IDN is not actively used.

LL .cn prices soaring from low 6 to high 6/7 figures CNY
JG.cn sold for 1.05m CNY. JG may mean:
JG:价格>Price
JG:坚果>Nut
JG:机关>Trick
JG:监管>Supervision
JG:酒馆>Tavern
JG:机构>Organization
JG:金刚>King Kong

LL .cn domain name prices have been rising from low 6 figures CNY in 2014 to currently high 6 or 7 figures CNY.

190.com top executive talks about future of domain market
Market is expanding from collector type to bulk purchase by investors, the latter one being much bigger than the former one.

 

[Kassey Lee]

How about "GF" in terms of Pinyin? I tried using Yabla but couldn't really figure it out. G seems to be "Forward" or "Future" but there seems to be other possibles too.

For example:
GF:瓜分>Divide up
GF:高分>High score
GF:功夫>Effort
GF:股份>Stock (share)
GF:贵妃>Senior concubine

 

[deez007]

Hmm So I'm wondering.... I found a good phrase that has good meaning in Chinese culture but the English translation is 11 letters long... would that be considered too long for a domain even if the meaning is good? - actually wait let me reiterate - Not the english translation... I mean when u convert the chinese word into english text...the word is still in chinese just in normal letters..it comes to 11 letters..

 

[Kassey Lee]

Chinese Domain News Source Date: Jan 26

4L .com worth more than 10m CNY
Zhen.com is no ordinary 4L. It's an ecommerce site selling luxury goods. Founded in 2011, the listed company acquired zhen.com in 2012 for an undisclosed amount rumored to be more than 10m CNY, then upgraded its corporate site from ZhenPin.com to simply Zhen.com in 2015. It is said the company's branding strategy and premium, single-pin Zhen.com contributed to its speedy listing on the stock market. Zhen may have the following meanings:
zhen:真>True
zhen:珍>Rare
zhen:朕>I (royal person)

ZhenPin.com redirects to Zhen.com. Going short appears to be the domain trend in China.

Upgrade from 5L .cn to simpler .com
Real estate firm Le Shan Fang Di Chan (乐山房地产) recently rebranded to Fang Le Shan and upgraded its site from LSFDC.cn to Fang63.com, choosing to go with 63 instead of Le Shan in the domain name. 63 rhymes with "Le Shan" but is much shorter and more catchy. This shows 5L is quite difficult to remember and .com is better than .cn. Another choice the company might have considered is FLS.com which is a developed site of FLSmidth, a global equipment supplier with presence in China as well.

4-pin but still short and easy to remember
Educational service provider Le Le Ke Tang (乐乐课堂) just announced a new funding round. The company operates on matching domain name LeLeKeTan.com.
LeLe:乐乐>Fun fun
KeTang:课堂>Classroom

Although the domain name is a 4-pin, it has only 10 characters so is still short.