What’s in a Child’s Domain Name?

When the Beckham’s daughter Harper Seven turned five years old, they gave her an unusual birthday present. They trademarked her name, to protect its intellectual property.

Taking it one step further, Jay-Z and Beyonce not only trademarked their daughter’s name, Blue Ivy, but following a savvy domain name check, appear to have acquired different domain names under her name.

But if you thought this was a trend resigned to just celebrities, think again. A recent study by OnePoll reveals that as many as one in five millennials have chosen their child’s name after they check domain availability.

Futureproofing

So, should parents be futureproofing their children’s names, and how can they buy a domain name?

In celebrity circles, one of the biggest reasons for doing this is to protect their child. In an interview with Conan O’Brien, actor Ashton Kutcher said on the birth of his daughter Wyatt; “We immediately went home and we reserved all the domain names. We got the Twitter handle, the Instagram—everything that you could possibly…. I don’t want a porn site with my daughter’s name! It’s unacceptable to me and it’s not gonna happen!”

While the rest of us may not have the same concerns as those in the public eye, there’s still a number of reasons to futureproof your child’s digital identity.

While we don’t know what our children will go on to do, it can be a smart move to snap up their name before someone else does. Some regard this online real estate as an essential part of a child’s identity and their “personal brand”.

For the relatively low cost to buy a domain name – as little as €4.99 a year on Letshost.ie – it provides some reassurance that your child’s name is protected for its future digital self.

New Era

Inevitably, this means parents will need to give consideration to what they name their child. James Smith, Emily Murphy and Mary Walsh, might all be lovely names, but their popularity means that you may struggle to buy a domain name due to its lack of availability.

This is where it’s handy to register a domain name in Ireland, since .ie domains are exclusively available to Irish residents and are more readily available.

Perhaps this trend will result in more unusual monikers for children, including more prominent middle names.

Rather than keep the site idle, some parents decide to use it as a platform to showcase their child. It can, after all, be used to share photos or videos with family members (you may want to password protect it), or as a portfolio if your child is perhaps a model or actor.

Proving that it’s never too early to get blogging, a simple WordPress hosting site allows your child to perfect their typing and communication skills, with their first foray in to online publishing!

For a simple domain name check to secure your child’s domain name now, or for shared hosting solutions, visit industry leaders LetsHost.ie.