Fundamental terms: Prohibited and Reserved terms

Summary

• Nature of prohibited and reserved terms
• Domains and second-level domains concerned
• About the list of prohibited and reserved terms
• Non-exhaustive list of prohibited and reserved terms

Nature of fundamental terms

Prohibited terms

Except with the agreement of the AFNIC's Board of Directors, they cannot be legitimately registered, particularly because they are unlawful or contravene public policy.

Eg.: Abusive, racist or obscene terms or terms relating to crime or offences.

Reserved terms

They can be registered only subject to special conditions, based on the identity or rights of the applicant.

Eg.: Technical Internet terms, the names of regulated professions, terms relating to State functioning, the names of the countries that have signed the Paris Convention or terms used for international organizations as well as the names of the French towns and villages as published in their canonical form (i.e. in their simplest form possible, without dash or apostrophe) by the INSEE-The National Statistical and Economic Studies Institute.

More information about names of the French towns and villages and "canonical form(s)":

• The official list of the names of the French cities used to determine the reserved domain names is available on the INSEE website.

• Example of the canonical form:
  
  
  • Name of the city as in the INSEE list:
    (L') ABERGEMENT-CLEMENCIAT / (L') Abergement-Clémenciat/
    
    
  • Canonical form(s):
    abergementclemenciat (with the article) and labergementclemenciat (without the article)
    
    
  • Other reserved forms:
    abergement-clemenciat, labergement-clemenciat, aber-gement-clemenciat, la-berge-ment-cle-menciat, etc.
    
    
  • Non-reserved forms (when a caracter minimum is different from the canonical form(s):
    labergemanclemenciat, la-bergementclefmensiat, abergementclemenciat92, etc.

Domains and second-level domains concerned

The reserved terms will not be delegated under .fr, .com.fr and .asso.fr.

Thow and except for the names of the French cities, they might be delegated under the only .gouv.fr and .tm.fr zones, under justification.

About the list of prohibited and reserved terms

AFNIC maintains an updated list of prohibited and reserved terms.

AFNIC verifies that the requested term is not on the list of names that cannot be registered because they are prohibited or reserved.

A term's being added to the list does not adversely affect the renewal or registration of the term, if that renewal or registration was completed first.

The list can only be modified by the Minister in charge of Electronic Communications based on a recommendation from AFNIC.

Any dispute arising from the refusal to register a domain name considered to be a fundamental term is directed to the AFNIC Board of Directors. Requests must be for cause.

The list published online is not exhaustive, given that the simple fact of publishing certain of these terms might offend some readers.

AFNIC can send to its members (only) the complete list⁽¹⁾ of prohibited and reserved terms after receiving a written demand.

(1): except for the list of the names of the French cities that is available on the INSEE website.

Non-exhaustive list of prohibited and reserved terms

Countries

afrique-du-sud, afrique-dusud, afriquedu-sud, afriquedusud, albanie, algerie, allemagne, angleterre, antigua, argentine, armenie, australie, autriche, azerbaidjan, bahrein, bangladesh, barbade, belarus, belgique, belize, benin, bolivie, bosnie-herzegovine, bosnieherzegovine, botswana, bresil, bulgarie, burkina-faso, burkinafaso, burundi, cambodge, cameroun, canada, centrafique, chili, chine, colombie, congo, coree, coree-du-nord, coree-du-sud, coree-dunord, coree-dusud, coreedu-nord, coreedu-sud, coreedunord, coreedusud, costa-rica, costarica, cote-d-ivoire, cote-divoire, coted-ivoire, cotedivoire, coteivoire, croatie, cuba, danemark, dominique, egypte, el-salvador, elsalvador, emirats-arabes-unis, emirats-arabesunis, emiratsarabes-unis, emiratsarabesunis, equateur, espagne, estonie, etats-unis, etats-unis-d-amerique, etatsunis, federation-de-russie, federation-derussie, federationde-russie, federationderussie, finlande, gabon, gambie, georgie, ghana, grande-bretagne, grandebretagne, grece, grenade, grenadines, guatemala, guinee, guinee-bissau, guinee-equatoriale, guineebissau, guineeequatoriale, guyana, haiti, hollande, honduras, hongrie, inde, indonesie, iran, iraq, irlande, islande, israel, italie, jamahiriya-arabe-libyenne, jamaique, japon, jordanie, kazakhstan, kenya, kirghizistan, laos, lesotho, lettonie, liban, liberia, libye, liechtenstein, lituanie, luxembourg, madagascar, malaisie, malawi, mali, malte, maroc, maurice, mauritanie, mexique, monaco, mongolie, mozambique, nevis, nicaragua, niger, nigeria, norvege, nouvelle-guinee, nouvelle-zelande, nouvelleguinee, nouvellezelande, oman, ouganda, ouzbekistan, panama, papouasie-nouvelle-guinee, papouasie-nouvelleguinee, papouasienouvelle-guinee, papouasienouvelleguinee, paraguay, pays-bas, paysbas, perou, philippines, pologne, portugal, republique-arabe-syrienne, republique-arabesyrienne, republique-centrafricaine, republique-de-coree, republique-de-moldova, republique-decoree, republique-democratique-du-congo, republique-democratique-ducongo, republique-democratique-populaire-laos, republique-dominicaine, republique-islamique-d-iran, republique-populaire-democratique-de-coree, republique-tcheque, republique-unie-de-tanzanie, republique-yougoslave-de-macedoine, republique-yougoslave-demacedoine, republique-yougoslavede-macedoine, republiquearabe-syrienne, republiquearabesyrienne, republiquecentrafricaine, republiquede-coree, republiquede-moldova, republiquedecoree, republiquedemocratique-du-congo, republiquedemocratiqueducongo, republiquedemoldova, republiquedominicaine, republiquetcheque, republiqueyougoslave-de-macedoine, republiqueyougoslavede-macedoine, republiqueyougoslavedemacedoine, roumanie, royaume-uni, royaumeuni, rwanda, saint-kitts, saint-kitts-et-nevis, saint-marin, saint-siege, saint-vincent-et-les-grenadines, sainte-lucie, saintelucie, saintkittnevis, saintkitts, saintkitts-et-nevis, saintkittsetnevis, saintmarin, saintsiege, salvador, sao-tome-et-principe, sao-tome-principe, saotome-et-principe, saotome-principe, saotomeetetprincipe, saotomeprincipe, senegal, sierra-leone, sierraleone, singapour, slovaquie, slovenie, soudan, sri-lanka, srilanka, suede, suisse, suriname, swaziland, syrie, tadjikistan, tanzanie, tchad, togo, trinite-et-tobago, trinite-ettobago, triniteet-tobago, triniteettobago, tunisie, turkmenistan, turquie, ukraine, uruguay, usa, vatican, venezuela, viet-nam, vietnam, yougoslavie, zambie, zimbabwe

Crimes

abus-de-pouvoir, abusdepouvoir, antisemite, antisemites, antisemitisme, antisemitismes, arme, armes, aryen, atrocite, atrocites, barbarie, barbaries, barbarisme, barbarismes, bombardement, bombardements, bombe, bombes, camp-de-concentration, camp-de-concentrations, camp-deconcentration, camp-deconcentrations, campde-concentration, campde-concentrations, campdeconcentration, campdeconcentrations, camps-de-concentration, camps-de-concentrations, camps-deconcentration, camps-deconcentrations, campsde-concentration, campsde-concentrations, campsdeconcentration, campsdeconcentrations, carabine, carabines, carnage, carnages, chambre-a-gaz, chambre-agaz, chambrea-gaz, chambreagaz, chambres-a-gaz, chambres-agaz, chambresa-gaz, chambresagaz, chemise-brune, chemise-brunes, chemise-noire, chemisebrune, chemisebrunes, chemisenoire, chemises-brune, chemises-brunes, chemises-noires, chemisesbrune, chemisesbrunes, chemisesnoires, collaboration, collaborations, combat, combats, courdassise, croix-gammee, croix-gammees, croixgammee, croixgammees, deportation, deportations, epuration-ethnique, epurationethnique, epurations-ethniques, epurationsethniques, espion, espionnage, espionnages, espionner, espions, ethnocide, ethnocides, etoile-jaune, etoile-jaunes, etoilejaune, etoilejaunes, etoiles-jaune, etoiles-jaunes, etoilesjaune, etoilesjaunes, eugenisme, eugenismes, explosif, explosifs, extermination, exterminations, fascisme, fascismes, fasciste, fascistes, fausse-monnaie, fausse-monnaies, faussemonnaie, faussemonnaies, fausses-monnaie, fausses-monnaies, faussesmonnaie, faussesmonnaies, faux, four-crematoire, four-crematoires, fourcrematoire, fourcrematoires, fours-crematoire, fours-crematoires, fourscrematoire, fourscrematoires, fuhrer, fuhrers, fusil, fusils, genocide, genocides, gestapo, guerre, guerre-civile, guerre-civiles, guerre-froide, guerre-froides, guerrecivile, guerreciviles, guerrefroide, guerrefroides, guerres, guerres-civile, guerres-civiles, guerres-froide, guerres-froides, guerrescivile, guerresciviles, guerresfroide, guerresfroides, hitler, hitlerien, hitleriens, hitlerisme, hitlerismes, hitlers, holocauste, holocaustes, insurrection, insurrections, kapo, kristallnacht, mafia, massacre, massacrer, massacres, mein-kampf, meinkampf, mercenaire, mercenaires, milice, milices, mussolini, nazi, nazis, nazisme, nazismes, neonazisme, neonazismes, pogrom, pogroms, profanation, profanations, profaner, purification, purifications, rebellion, rebellions, revisionnisme, revisionnismes, revolver, revolvers, sabotage, sabotages, saboteur, saboteurs, securite, securites, shoah, shoahs, svatiska, terreur, terreurs, terrorisme, terrorismes, terroriste, terroristes, trahison, trahisons, traitre, traitres, waffen-ss, waffenss, xenophobe, xenophobes, xenophobie

Freedoms

abbe, abbes, allah, association, associations, bible, bouddha, bouddhisme, bouddhismes, brahmanisme, brahmanismes, catholicisme, catholicismes, catholique, catholiques, charia, chretien, chretiens, christianisme, christianismes, confucianisme, confucianismes, coran, culte, cultes, culture, cultures, cure, cures, diable, diables, diacre, diacres, dieu, dieux, droit, droit-de-l-homme, droit-de-la-defense, droit-de-lhomme, droit-del-homme, droitde-l-homme, droitde-lhomme, droitdeladefense, droitdelhomme, droits, eglise, eglises, emploi, emplois, envoutement, envoutements, envouter, eveque, eveques, expression, expressions, greve, greves, hindouisme, hindouismes, hindouiste, hindouistes, imam, imams, islam, islamisme, islamismes, islamiste, islamistes, islams, jainisme, jainismes, judaisme, judaismes, juif, juifs, laicite, laicites, liberte, manicheisme, manicheismes, manifestation, manifestations, mazdeisme, mazdeismes, mosquee, mosquees, musulman, musulmans, oratoire, oratoires, pasteur, pasteurs, propriete, proprietes, protestant, protestantisme, protestantismes, protestants, rabbin, rabbins, religion, religions, sanctuaire, sanctuaires, sante, santes, satan, satanique, sataniques, satanisme, satans, secte, sectes, shintoisme, shintoismes, social, sociaux, solidarite, solidarites, sorcellerie, sorcelleries, sorcier, sorciers, surete, synagogue, synagogues, syndicalisme, syndicalismes, syndicat, syndicats, tantrisme, tantrismes, taoisme, taoismes, temple, temples, testament, testaments, travail, vaudou, vedisme, vedismes, youde

Health

absinthe, absinthes, acid, acide, acides, acids, alcool, alcoolisme, alcoolismes, alcools, amphetamine, amphetamines, anabolisant, anabolisants, avortement, avortements, barrette, barrettes, came, canabis, cannabis, cellule, clone, cobaye, cobayes, cocaine, cocaines, coke, cokes, corps, crack, cracks, dealer, dealers, defonce, defoncer, defonces, dopage, dopages, dope, dopes, drogue, drogues, ecstasy, embryon, embryons, fecondation, fiv, fix, foetus, fumette, fumettes, gammette, gammettes, genetique, genetiques, genome, genomes, greffe, greffes, hachisch, hachischs, herbe, herbes, heroine, heroines, insemination, inseminations, ivg, ivresse, ivresses, joint, joints, junkie, junkies, lsd, marijuana, marijuanas, medicament, medicaments, mere-porteuse, mere-porteuses, mereporteuse, mereporteuses, meres-porteuse, meres-porteuses, meresporteuse, meresporteuses, morphine, morphines, narcotique, narcotiques, narcotrafiquant, narcotrafiquants, opium, organe, organes, overdose, overdoses, pharmacie, pharmacies, poppers, poudre, poudres, sang, schnouf, schnoufs, shit, shoot, shoots, stup, stupefiant, stupefiants, stups, tabac, tabacs, tabagisme, tabagismes, toxicomanie, toxicomanies, transplantation, transplantations

International Organisations

asean, bird, bit, casque-bleu, casque-bleus, casquebleu, casquebleus, casques-bleu, casques-bleus, casquesbleu, casquesbleus, ceca, cee, cij, cjce, cnuced, euratom, fao, gatt, gmi, kafor, kfor, nato, ocde, ofce, omi, omm, ompi, oms, ong, onu, opep, otan, oua, pnud, tpi, uit, uncitral, unidir, unrwa, wipo, xxunesco

Internet Organisations

apnic, arin, centr, iab, iana, icann, iesg, ietf, internic, nic, registrar, registrars, registries, registry, ripe, w3, w3c

Internet Protocols

acap, afs, anycast, arpanet, arpanets, chap, courriel, courriels, courrier-electronique, courrierelectronique, courriers-electroniques, courrierselectroniques, darpa, data, dav, dhcp, dns, e-164, e-mail, e164, email, enum, epp, extranet, extranets, file, finger, ftp, gopher, html, http, icmp, ident, igmp, imap, in-addr, internet, internets, intranet, intranets, ip, ipng, ipsec, ipv4, ipv6, ldap, mail, mailserver, mailservers, mailto, mime, multicast, nfs, nntp, osi, pop, pop3, postmaster, postmasters, prospero, rfc, rtfm, rtsp, smtp, tcp, tcp-ip, tcpip, telnet, tftp, tip, tn3270, unicast, uri, url, vemmi, wais, webmaster, webmasters, whois, wml, www, x400, x42d, x500, xhtml, xml

Offences

abus-d-autorite, abus-dautorite, abus-de-confiance, abus-de-faiblesse, abus-deconfiance, abus-defaiblesse, abusd-autorite, abusdautorite, abusde-confiance, abusde-faiblesse, abusdeconfiance, abusdefaiblesse, agression, agressions, arnaque, arnaquer, arnaques, assassin, assassinat, assassinats, assassiner, assassins, attentat, attentats, banditisme, banditismes, bigamie, bigamies, bizutage, bizutages, blanchiment, blanchiments, blessure, blessures, boycott, boycottage, boycottages, boycotts, braconnage, braconnages, braconner, braquage, braquages, calomnie, calomnies, cambriolage, cambriolages, chantage, chantages, chouraver, clandestin, clandestins, complot, comploter, complots, concussion, concussions, conspiration, conspirations, contravention, contraventions, contrebande, contrebandes, contrefacon, contrefacons, corruption, corruptions, coup, coups, crime, crimes, criminel, criminels, debauche, debauches, delit, delits, destruction, destructions, detournement, detournements, diffamation, diffamations, effraction, effractions, emeute, emeutes, empoisonnement, empoisonnements, empoisonner, enlevement, enlevements, escroquerie, escroqueries, excision, excisions, execution, executions, exhibitionnisme, exhibitionnismes, extorquer, extorsion, extorsions, falsification, falsifications, faussaire, faussaires, fratricide, fratricides, fraude, frauder, fraudes, gangster, gansters, harcelement, harcelements, harceler, hold-up, holdup, homicide, homicides, incendiaire, incendiaires, incendie, incendies, inceste, incestes, infanticide, infanticides, infraction, infractions, injure, injures, intrusion, intrusions, kidnappeur, kidnappeurs, kidnapping, kidnappings, kill, killer, killers, killeur, killeurs, malfaiteur, malfaiteurs, malveillance, malveillances, malversation, malversations, manoeuvre, manoeuvres, matricide, matricides, meurtre, meurtres, meurtrier, meurtriers, offense, offenses, otage, otages, outrage, outrages, parricide, parricides, pedophile, pedophiles, pedophilie, pedophilies, pervers, pervertion, pervertions, pillage, pillages, piller, pilleur, pilleurs, piratage, piratages, pirate, pirater, piraterie, pirateries, pirates, poison, polygame, polygames, polygamie, polygamies, prostitution, prostitutions, provocation, provocations, proxenete, proxenetes, proxenetisme, proxenetismes, pyromane, pyromanes, racket, racketer, rackets, racoler, racoleur, racoleurs, rancon, ranconner, rancons, rapt, rapts, recel, receleur, receleurs, recels, recidive, recidives, regicide, regicides, scelerat, scelerats, sequestration, sequestrations, sequestrer, spoliation, spoliations, subornation, subornations, suicide, suicides, tentative, tentatives, trafic, trafic-d-influence, trafic-dinfluence, traficd-influence, traficdinfluence, trafics, trafiquant, trafiquants, tromperie, tromperies, tuer, tuerie, tueries, tueur, tueurs, usurpation, usurpations, viol, violation, violations, violence, violer, violeur, violeurs, viols, vol, voler, voleur, voleurs, vols, zoophilie

Regulated Businesses

aeroport, aeroports, aoc, architecte, architectes, artisan, artisans, assedic, assedics, asso, assos, avocat, avocats, avoue, avoues, barreau, barreaux, chirurgien, chirurgien-dentiste, chirurgien-dentistes, chirurgiendentiste, chirurgiendentistes, chirurgiens, chirurgiens-dentiste, chirurgiens-dentistes, chirurgiensdentiste, chirurgiensdentistes, dentiste, dentistes, docteur, docteurs, expert-comptable, expert-comptables, expertcomptable, expertcomptables, experts-comptable, experts-comptables, expertscomptable, expertscomptables, generaliste, generalistes, geometre, geometre-expert, geometre-experts, geometreexpert, geometreexperts, geometres, geometres-expert, geometres-experts, geometresexpert, geometresexperts, huissier, huissier-de-justice, huissier-de-justices, huissier-justice, huissier-justices, huissierdejustice, huissierdejustices, huissierjustice, huissierjustices, huissiers, huissiers-de-justice, huissiers-de-justices, huissiers-justice, huissiers-justices, huissiersdejustice, huissiersdejustices, huissiersjustice, huissiersjustices, kinesitherapeute, kinesitherapeutes, kinesitherapie, kinesitherapies, maitre-artisan, maitreartisan, maitres-artisan, maitresartisans, masseur, masseur-kinesitherapeute, masseur-kinesitherapeutes, masseurs, masseurs-kinesitherapeute, masseurs-kinesitherapeutes, masseurskinesitherapeutes, medecin, medecins, noms, notaire, notaires, pedicure, pedicures, pharmacien, pharmaciens, podologue, podologues, port, ports, prd, presse, presses, sage-femme, sage-femmes, sagefemme, sagefemmes, sages-femme, sages-femmes, sagesfemme, sagesfemmes, veterinaire, veterinaires

State

academie, academies, administration, administrations, ambassade, ambassades, armee, armees, assemblee, assemblee-generale, assemblee-generales, assembleegenerale, assembleegenerales, assemblees, assemblees-generale, assemblees-generales, assembleesgenerale, assembleesgenerales, canton, cantonal, cantonale, cantonales, cantons, cent, centime, centimes, cents, citoyen, citoyenne, citoyennes, citoyennete, citoyennetes, citoyens, college, colleges, commune, communes, conseil-general, conseil-generaux, conseil-regional, conseil-regionaux, conseilgeneral, conseilgeneraux, conseilregional, conseilregionaux, conseils-general, conseils-generaux, conseils-regional, conseils-regionaux, conseilsgeneral, conseilsgeneraux, conseilsregional, conseilsregionaux, constitution, constitutions, cour-d-appel, cour-d-assise, courdappel, cstifrance, decret, decrets, democratie, democraties, departement, departements, depute, deputes, drapeau, drapeaux, ecole, ecoles, egalite, egalites, election, elections, elire, enfant, enfants, entente-cordiale, ententecordiale, ententes-cordiales, ententescordiales, etat, etats, euro, euros, fisc, fiscs, franc, france-allemagne, franceallemagne, francs, fraternite, fraternites, gendarme, gendarmerie, gendarmeries, gendarmes, gouvernance, gouvernances, gouvernement, gouvernements, hotel-de-ville, hotel-de-villes, hotel-deville, hotel-devilles, hotelde-ville, hotelde-villes, hoteldeville, hoteldevilles, hotels-de-ville, hotels-de-villes, hotels-deville, hotels-devilles, hotelsde-ville, hotelsde-villes, hotelsdeville, hotelsdevilles, impot, impots, juge, juges, jurisprudence, jurisprudences, justice, justices, loi, lois, lycee, lycees, magistrat, magistrats, maire, maires, mairie, mairies, marine-nationale, marinenationale, marseillaise, marseillaises, mineur, mineurs, ministere, ministeres, ministre, ministres, monnaie, monnaies, municipal, municipale, municipales, nation, nations, opinion-publique, opinion-publiques, opinionpublique, opinionpubliques, opinions-publique, opinions-publiques, opinionspublique, opinionspubliques, parlementaire, parlementaires, parlements, parti, partis, penal, police, polices, policier, policiers, politique, politiques, pompier, pompiers, prefecture, prefectures, prefet, prefets, premier-ministre, premier-ministres, premierministre, premierministres, premiers-ministre, premiers-ministres, premiersministre, premiersministres, president, president-de-la-republique, president-de-larepublique, president-dela-republiqe, president-dela-republique, president-delarepublique, presidentde-la-republique, presidentde-larepublique, presidentdela-republique, presidentdelarepublique, presidentiel, presidentielle, presidentielles, presidentiels, presidents, proces, putsch, putschs, region, regions, republique, republique-francaise, republiquefrancaise, republiques, sapeur-pompier, sapeur-pompiers, sapeurpompier, sapeurpompiers, sapeurs-pompier, sapeurs-pompiers, sapeurspompier, sapeurspompiers, senat, sous-prefecture, sous-prefectures, sousprefecture, sousprefectures, souverainete, tribunal, tribunaux, tva, universite, universites, vote, voter, votes

Structures

agence, agences, cabinet, cabinets, comite-entreprise, comiteentreprise, comites-entreprises, comitesentreprises, confederation, confederations, cooperative, cooperatives, corporation, corporations, entreprise, entreprises, epa, epic, epst, etablissement, etablissements, eurl, federation, federations, filiale, filiales, fondation, fondations, gie, gip, groupe, groupes, holding, holdings, institut, instituts, pme, rcs, reunions, sarl, sas, sca, scea, sci, scp, scs, sep, siren, sirene, siret, snc, societe, societes, srl, ssii, ssiis, statut, statuts, succursale, succursales, union, unions

Values

bordel, bordels, bourreau, bourreaux, cadavre, cadavres, colonisation, croix-celtique, croixceltique, croixceltiques, crouille, crouilles, discrimination, esclavage, esclavagisme, esclave, esclaves, macchabee, macchabees, maison-close, maison-closes, maisonclose, maisoncloses, maisons-close, maisons-closes, maisonsclose, maisonscloses, martyre, martyres, martyriser, mort, morts, mutilation, persecuter, persecution, persecutions, prisonnier, prisonniers, race, races, racisme, racismes, raciste, racistes, sadique, sadiques, sadisme, sadismes, sevice, sevices, supplice, supplices, tortionnaire, tortionnaires, torture, tortures, traite, traites, travesti, travestis

gTLD

aero, arpa, biz, cctld, cctlds, com, coop, edu, firm, gov, gtld, gtlds, info, int, mil, museum, name, net, nom, org, pro, rec, store, tmk, web