Ever thought about how the vast world of the Internet started with just one simple domain name? The Domain Name System (DNS) may not get a lot of attention, but it’s been the backbone of the Internet since day one. Its story is one of creativity, big dreams, and the drive to connect people worldwide. From its start in the early 1980s to where we are today, the evolution of domain names is a fascinating journey. Let’s take a look at how it all began and how far we’ve come.

The birth of DNS (1983-1985)

Imagine the Internet in 1983: chaotic and hard to navigate, like trying to find one specific grain of sand on a beach. That’s when the Domain Name System came in and changed everything. It brought structure and made the Internet easier to use.  By January 1, 1985, the first top-level domains (TLDs) were introduced. A few months later, on March 15, 1985, the first .com domain name ever—symbolics.com—was registered. At the time, this might not have seemed like a big deal, but it was the spark that set off the Internet as we know it. Who would have guessed that this single registration would lay the groundwork for billions of websites?
Fun fact: the first domain name ever created was actually Nordu.net, established in January 1985 as the identifier for the first root server, nic.nordu.net. Symbolics.com is the first domain name registered through the DNS (Domain Name System) process.

Slow and steady, the Internet finds its feet (1985-1997)

The Internet didn’t become a big deal overnight. Its growth in the early years was slow but steady: Owning a domain wasn’t cheap or easy back then. In 1995, a two-year registration cost $100. This high price made domains feel exclusive and hinted at their growing importance in a world that was starting to revolve around connectivity.

The dot-com boom (1995-2001)

The dot-com bubble, spanning 1995–2001, was a historic speculative surge driven by rapid growth in the Internet sector. Fueled by investor confidence, speculative stock buying, and abundant venture capital, companies with Internet-related branding, often dubbed “dot-coms,” saw skyrocketing valuations despite weak fundamentals like low profits or unsustainable business models. The NASDAQ’s price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio soared to unprecedented levels.  People started seeing domains as digital real estate. In 1999, business.com sold for a whopping $7.5 million, breaking records. 
Source: The New York Times
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing. By 1999–2001, the bubble burst, leading to the collapse of many companies, including pets.com and Webvan, while others, like Cisco, lost significant value but survived. Some, such as Amazon and eBay, recovered and later exceeded their pre-crash peaks. 

New frontiers open with ICANN’s gTLD Rounds

The 2000s brought a new wave of growth for domain names, thanks to ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). They launched several rounds of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), opening up more opportunities for businesses and individuals:
The 2012 gTLD round also saw the emergence of Radix. Read The Radix Origin Story here.

Domain names are a story still unfolding

From that first domain in 1985 to the billions of websites we have today, the history of DNS shows how far human creativity and technology can take us.  How will the Internet evolve? What role will domain names play in shaping our future? One thing’s for sure: the best is yet to come.