Domain Search NZ: How to Check Whether a Name Is Actually Available

Checking a domain takes ten seconds. Checking it properly takes about two minutes and saves a surprising number of businesses from a rebrand eighteen months later.

The registrar search box tells you one thing: whether that exact string is currently registered. It doesn’t tell you whether someone already trades under that name, whether it’s trademarked, whether the handle is free on social media, or — importantly for .nz — whether an “unavailable” result means gone forever or gone for the next ninety days.

This guide covers how to search properly and what to do with the answer.

Where to actually search

New Zealand has a free tool built for exactly this, run by MBIE through business.govt.nz. ONECheck takes one name and checks, in a single search: whether it’s available as a business name, whether it conflicts with a registered trade mark, which web domains are free, and whether the social media handles are taken.

It searches the Companies Register, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand and the NZBN Register — which matters, because the NZBN Register covers all business types, not just companies. You’ll see if a sole trader, partnership or registered charity is already using the name.

It also gives you an indication of how original the name is on a sliding scale, which is a useful early signal of whether you’d be able to protect it as a trade mark later.

For anyone naming a new business, this is the first search to run, not the last.

The register itself has a public query search. This is the authoritative source for whether a .nz name is registered and who holds it.

One limitation worth knowing: eligible holders who aren’t trading can elect the Privacy Option, which withholds their contact details from public query results. It’s opt-in rather than automatic, and it’s not available to businesses trading under the domain — so if you’re looking up a commercial name, you’ll usually see the details.

Any authorised registrar’s search box queries the live registry and returns results instantly. These are fine for availability, and they’ll suggest alternatives when your first choice is gone. Just be aware that the alternatives they suggest are the ones they’d like to sell you.

What “unavailable” actually means

This is where a .nz search differs from a .com search, and where most guides stop. An unavailable result can mean several quite different things.

The one that catches people out most often is the redemption period. When a .nz registration expires, the domain is cancelled and enters a 90-day redemption period. During those ninety days it stops resolving — the website and email go dark — but it is not available to register, and the existing holder can reinstate it at any point.

So a name attached to a site that clearly hasn’t worked for weeks is not an opportunity. It’s a name whose owner has ninety days to change their mind. Only after that does it move to pending delete and then release.

The other .nz-specific case is conflicted names. When second-level .nz registration opened in 2014, some base names were already held by different parties across different second levels — one holding a .co.nz, another the .net.nz. The question of who’s entitled to the top-tier version still isn’t settled in every case, so an unusual result on a short name may have this history behind it.

Does searching a domain get it snapped up?

This fear comes up constantly, so it’s worth answering with evidence rather than reassurance.

The practice has a name — domain name front running — and it means using insider knowledge of someone’s availability check to register the name before they do. ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee investigated it directly. After reviewing around 120 submitted claims and running its own statistical analyses, the committee concluded it had insufficient information to conclude that front running is practised in any appreciable measure by the parties who provide query services. It also noted that plausible alternative explanations existed for every case it studied.

That said, the concern didn’t come from nowhere. In January 2008, Network Solutions began reserving names for four days after a customer searched them — presented as protection against front runners, but with the effect that you had to register through Network Solutions or wait. It became the subject of a class action that the company later settled.

Two practical conclusions. First, don’t let this stop you searching. Second, if a name genuinely matters to you, don’t check it repeatedly over three weeks while you deliberate — register it. At roughly NZ$23 to NZ$50 a year, holding a name while you decide is cheap insurance, and it removes the question entirely.

Check more than the domain

A free domain doesn’t mean a usable name. Three other checks matter, and ONECheck covers all of them.

Trade marks. Search the IPONZ register. A domain that conflicts with someone’s registered mark can be challenged through the Domain Name Commission’s Dispute Resolution Service, and the money you spent on it doesn’t come back.

Existing businesses. The NZBN Register catches sole traders and partnerships that the Companies Register alone would miss. Two businesses trading under confusingly similar names is a problem for both of them.

Social handles. Consistency across your domain and your social accounts is worth more than getting the perfect domain and an awkward handle.

When your first choice is taken

The options, roughly in order of cost, work like this.

Take the other second level. If yourbusiness.co.nz is gone but yourbusiness.nz is free, that’s a straightforward answer. Both are country-code addresses and search engines treat them the same way.

Adjust the name. Adding a word that describes what you do usually works better than adding a hyphen or a number, both of which create friction every time someone types the address.

Approach the holder. Names in active use are still sometimes for sale. That’s a negotiation with its own rules — our guide to buying a domain someone already owns covers valuation, brokers and escrow.

Wait, if it’s in redemption. Ninety days, with no guarantee at the end. Backorder services will attempt to catch it on release, but if others are waiting it becomes a race.

What not to do: register a deliberate misspelling of an established brand, or a name that’s clearly trading off someone’s trade mark. Both can be taken off you through the Dispute Resolution Service, which makes them a liability rather than a shortcut.

Once you’ve found one

Register it promptly, from a registrar authorised by the Domain Name Commission. Before you commit, check three things: that you get full DNS record access, that two-factor authentication is available on the account, and — most importantly — what the renewal price is, not just the first year.

One rule worth knowing in your favour: the Domain Name Commission states that a provider must let you transfer your domain away free of charge, and cannot charge you to generate an authorisation code or levy an exit fee. So an unreasonable renewal is fixable, though it’s easier to avoid.

The full registration process — including pointing DNS at your hosting and setting up email — is covered in our guide to registering a .nz domain, and if you’re moving an existing name, our guide to transferring a .nz domain walks through that.

This article is provided for factual and informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, professional or purchasing advice. Availability results reflect the register at the moment you search and can change. Trade mark and business name conflicts can have legal consequences — seek advice from a qualified lawyer before committing to a name for a significant brand. For authoritative information see ONECheck, the Domain Name Commission and IPONZ.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the best way to check if a .nz domain is available?

Start with ONECheck, the free MBIE tool at business.govt.nz. One search tells you whether the name is free as a domain, whether it clashes with a registered trade mark or an existing business, and whether the social handles are taken. Then confirm the domain itself through an authorised registrar or the .nz register query search.

Does searching for a domain make someone else register it?

ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee investigated this and found insufficient information to conclude that front running is practised in any appreciable measure by the services that handle availability queries. If a name genuinely matters, register it rather than checking it repeatedly over weeks — at NZ$23 to NZ$50 a year that’s cheap certainty.

The website on my chosen domain doesn’t work. Can I take the name?

Not necessarily. When a .nz registration expires, the domain enters a 90-day redemption period during which it stops resolving but the existing holder can still reinstate it. A dead site often means a name in redemption, not a name that’s available.

Why do some .nz names show as unavailable when nothing is at that address?

Several possibilities: it’s registered and parked, it’s in the 90-day redemption period, it sits under a moderated second level like govt.nz or ac.nz where eligibility is checked, or it’s a conflicted name left over from when second-level .nz opened in 2014.

Should I check trade marks as well as domains?

Yes. A free domain doesn’t give you rights to a name. Registering something that conflicts with a registered trade mark can be challenged through the Domain Name Commission’s Dispute Resolution Service. Search IPONZ before you commit — ONECheck does this in the same search.

My name is taken on .co.nz. Is .nz just as good?

For most purposes, yes. Both are New Zealand country-code addresses, carry the same registry fee, and are treated the same way by search engines as a signal of New Zealand focus. Availability is usually the deciding factor rather than any technical difference.

Should I avoid hyphens and numbers?

Generally yes. Both create friction every time someone types your address or reads it aloud, and hyphenated names are easy to confuse with the unhyphenated version — which someone else may own. A slightly longer name without special characters usually works better.