.lmao
Is .lmao a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .lmao in its own right, as of 7 October 2026. Endpoint Domains, Inc. named .lmao as the replacement string of its .fab application.
A meme-slang ending for jokes, creators and novelty sites; memorable, but few serious projects would make it their main address.
meme accounts, comedy creators, streamers and novelty-site builders who want a slang domain hack, plus a thin layer of speculators on short words
No applications recorded for this TLD yet.
The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet exactly: a typed-chat laughter initialism with no owner and no category behind it, sold as a punchline suffix for jokey, disposable registrations rather than anyone's primary identity.
Same structural bet as .lmao — an internet-vernacular initialism of an exclamation whose value is the phrase it completes, betting that expressive slang moves volume without needing an industry, community, or brand to anchor it.
Same meme-register, expressive-novelty bet aimed at joke and callout registrations, though it is a word rather than an initialism and a registrant points it at someone else instead of voicing their own reaction.
What a .lmao domain is
.lmao is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under Culture. Nobody has applied for .lmao in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .lmao domain extension real yet?
.lmao is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .lmao domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .lmao name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .lmao was .lol, delegated on 2 May 2015.
Is .lmao a real TLD?
Not yet. .lmao is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .lmao as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- Endpoint Domains, Inc. · first recordedICANN
“EDI2665T-T44209 · Endpoint Domains, Inc. · replacement string of .fab”ICANN
“EDI2665T-T86695 · Endpoint Domains, Inc. · replacement string of .central · Deactivated XL2625T-T57527 · XYZ.COM LLC · replacement string of .hub · Deactivated”ICANN
“Each of these is a primary application. Plus additional applications to be revealed.”Endpoint Domains, Inc.
“The company says the applications are fully paid.”Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann)
- Band chosen: 10-29 (vanity/joke/narrow). The string is internet slang whose meaning is humor, so it reads as a punchline rather than an identity: a meme page, a comedy creator's landing, a novelty project. The nearest analogies (flagged as analogy) are humor and slang TLDs from the 2012 round such as .lol, .wtf and .fail; in my understanding they drew registrations mainly when priced low or promoted, saw weak renewal and a thin aftermarket, and were rarely chosen as a primary identity by funded projects. .lmao is narrower than .lol because the slang is more informal and dated-feeling, and it carries a mildly unserious connotation that most businesses would avoid. It is not in the 30-49 band because there is no category in which it is a plausible default and volume would depend on pricing rather than organic pull. It is not in the 1-9 band because meme and creator culture is a real, repeat buyer group that does register slang names when they are cheap and available, and a few short names would attract speculative interest. Operator fact, stated neutrally: the record shows one standard application by Endpoint Domains, Inc., filed as a replacement string for .fab, and no contention on the record; a single uncontested applicant makes a straightforward launch plausible but says nothing about demand. Main market uncertainty: whether short-form creator culture adopts slang TLDs as sticky identities (which would lift it toward the top of the band) or treats them as throwaway novelties with low renewal, which is where analogy from the 2012 humor TLDs points.