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Welcome to the home of the national, that is UK-wide, rules and principles for registering and managing a .gov.uk domain name. These rules are an integral part of the Guidelines for UK government websites, Illustrated handbook for web management teams (section 1.9 - updated September 2004).
Are you eligible to have a .gov.uk name?
UK government and devolved administration departments and agencies
Local and regional government bodies, including town and parish councils
Other associated and NDPB organisations and projects
Making an application
Review our domain naming conventions and terms and conditions. Then if you are eligible your application must be made by an appropriate Internet Service Provider, using the correct UKERNA template formats. If the supporting information detailed in rules paragraph 1.9.3.1 is not provided the application will automatically be rejected.
The national rules
These are available in HTML, PDF and MS Word formats from:
WHOIS *#8211; checking if the name is available
Being shown available on the JANET Lookup Service or any WHOIS does not mean that the name you are seeking is acceptable. The .gov.uk Naming and Approvals Committee review individual names within the context of the .gov.uk domain and the information provided by the applicant.
www.ja.net/cgi-bin/wp/wp.cgi [External link]
Please direct any queries on the Rules or on specific names to: