.com vs .me vs .family: choosing your name's ending

There are thousands of domain endings, but only a handful make sense in front of a personal name. This guide is the short version: what each candidate says, what it typically costs, and how to choose in one sitting.

The decision in one line

Get the .com if any form of it is free. If not, take the closest variant of the .com — and add one ending with a job: .me for the professional brand, .family for the household.

The contenders

*Typical retail ranges observed across major registrars. Pricing changes constantly and first-year promotions differ from renewals — always check live prices at your registrar before deciding.

Three traps to avoid

1. Novelty endings for your core identity. .xyz and friends are fine for projects; for your name, boring is a feature.
2. Hyphen overload. One hyphen (first-last.com) reads fine; two hyphens never survive being read aloud.
3. Buying before checking the variants. People lock in a weak .com while a strong .me or .family sits unclaimed. Check the whole shape of your name in one go.

And if everything good is taken?

Then the name is valuable enough to be worth a conversation. Beyond variants, a structured acquisition through a marketplace or broker is a real path — slow, sometimes surprisingly affordable for personal names, and only worth it if you will use the name for years. The Name Concierge exists to make that first enquiry easy and pressure-free: you describe the name and the use, and you get an honest read on whether acquisition is realistic.

Check your own name’s shape with the free name search — it groups results into best matches, strong alternatives and registrar checks.

Sources: retail price ranges compiled from public registrar listings, September 2026; treat as indicative ranges, not quotes. Ending positioning reflects each registry’s public positioning (e.g. .me for personal brands, .family for households).