Your name as a domain: the professional's guide

When someone hears your name — in a meeting, on a CV, at the end of a podcast — their next step is to type it into a browser. A domain built from your name makes sure something good is waiting there: a profile, a portfolio, a contact page, or simply an email address that looks like you mean business.

Why a name domain is worth owning

• It is the only domain you will never rebrand. Companies pivot; your name follows you for life.
• It controls the search result for your name. A simple page at your-name.com reliably ranks for your name and says exactly what you want said.
• Email that opens doors. Note the difference between emma@emmawilson.com and emma.wilson84@freemail.example in a job application — recruiters notice.
• It is cheap insurance. A personal .com typically costs in the range of US$10–20 per year at major registrars (check current pricing; it changes often).

Which ending fits

If in doubt: get the .com, and add .me or .family only when it has a real job. Redirecting extras to your main site costs pennies and protects the name.

When the .com is taken

Common names are often registered — sometimes by people who share your name, sometimes by investors. You still have good moves, roughly in this order:

1. Take a variant that stays you: first-last.com, f-last.com, or firstlast.me.
2. Check what the taken .com actually is. Many are parked pages; some owners sell.
3. If it matters enough, use a structured acquisition: an approach through a broker or marketplace. Personal-name sales do happen — domain investor forums record first-name-plus-surname sales in the hundreds to low thousands of dollars — but treat every figure as anecdotal.
4. In parallel, secure the variants now. They are cheap, and owning more of your name makes any later negotiation easier.

What to do with it in the first hour

1. Point it at a one-page profile (even a simple one) so the name answers to something.
2. Set up email on the domain — even just forwarding to start.
3. Add the URL to your CV, LinkedIn and email signature so the name circulates.
4. Turn on auto-renew. The single most common way people lose a name domain is an expired card.

Ready to see which forms of your name are free? The free name search checks the registries live and needs no account.

Sources: registrar pricing is publicly listed and changes frequently — verify at your registrar before buying. Anecdotal personal-name sale figures come from public domain-investor community discussions (e.g. NamePros), not from audited marketplaces.