4-letter domain names: every available pattern in 2026

Updated May 11, 2026

Short answer: every 4-letter .com (8 million combinations) has been registered since 2011. But 4-letter .io, .ai, .app, and .dev still have tens of thousands available — and the pattern matters more than the letters. Here are the patterns that produce findable names in 2026.

The 4-letter .com lockout

There are exactly 26⁴ = 456,976 possible all-letter four-character combinations. Every single one was registered by 2011, in a coordinated rush by domain investors. About 60% of 4-letter .coms now belong to brands; the rest are held by speculators. Prices range from $2,000 for an unmemorable LLLL (consonant-only) up to $1M+ for a real-word four-letter (like "ride.com" or "loop.com").

Where 4-letter names are still findable

TLD	Approximate 4-letter availability	Typical price
.com	Effectively zero	$2K-$1M premium
.io	Thousands available	~$50/yr standard
.ai	Tens of thousands available	~$80/yr standard
.app	Tens of thousands available	~$20/yr standard
.dev	Tens of thousands available	~$20/yr standard
.net	A few thousand still available	~$15/yr standard
.co	A few hundred available	~$30/yr standard

Pattern 1: CVCC (consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant)

Words like LIFT, FONK, ZURP, BLIK. They sound like real words but aren't. They're easy to say, hard to confuse, and have plenty of availability on .io / .ai / .app. Classic example: "Lyft" was originally CVCC before the vowel drop.

Tech-friendly: BURP, MOSH, NURK, GRIP, ZILT
Brand-friendly: VANG, KRIB, FLUX, ZARR, DRIP
Verb-feeling: SHIM, PORK (taken — used by Porkbun), BREN

Pattern 2: Real-word + single letter

Take a real 3-letter word and append a single letter. Adds character without losing meaning. Examples:

TOWN + S = TOWNS (real word — likely taken)
INK + Y = INKY (real word — likely taken)
SIP + X = SIPX (invented — likely available)
JET + S = JETS (real)
KIN + O = KINO (real, taken)

Pattern 3: Vowel-drop on a 5-letter word

Take a real 5-letter word; drop the second-to-last vowel. The 2010s indie pattern. Less fashionable now but the names age fine.

Pickr (from picker)
Buzzr (from buzzer)
Tappr (from tapper)
Gripr (from gripper)

Pattern 4: Latin / Greek roots, shortened

Take a Greek or Latin root and truncate to 4 letters: LUMA (from "lumen"), CALM, KORA (from "core"), VIVA. These read as polished brand names and have surprisingly good availability on .ai and .io.

Generation strategy

AI generators (including NameBuddy) are particularly good at this length because the search space is small enough to enumerate. Tell the generator your vibe, set goal to 10-20, and explicitly request 4-character names — the model will navigate the patterns above without needing to brainstorm.

Try this starter prompt

“AI agent for personal task management — 4 letter names only”

Generate 4-letter names →

What to skip

All-consonant LLLL names — hard to say, look like SaaS spam.
Names where two letters are doubled — feels typo-prone (KIKK, ZZAA).
Names with X / Q / Z unless they reinforce the brand — they look like 2010-era cryptocurrency.

Frequently asked

Is a 4-letter .com really worth the premium price?+

For a venture-backed company at Series A: yes, often. The brand equity built on a short, memorable .com compounds over a decade. For a pre-seed bootstrapper: no — the same $15K spent on customer acquisition will outperform the TLD upgrade.

How do I find available 4-letter names quickly?+

Use an AI generator with a length constraint, or enumerate patterns + bulk-check via WHOIS. Manual search via a registrar UI is futile for 4-letter — the search space is too large.

Are 4-letter names trademarkable?+

Yes, provided the name is not descriptive of your goods/services. Invented words like LYFT or ZULA trademark easily; descriptive 4-letter terms like SHOP may face challenges in some classes.