.esq Domain Registrationfrom £38.54/yr
Why Choose a .esq Domain?
The .esq extension was launched by Google Registry in 2021 as a restricted namespace aimed at licensed legal professionals. The string itself is the abbreviation for "Esquire", a courtesy title used in many common-law jurisdictions to denote a practising lawyer. Unlike generic legal TLDs, .esq is positioned as a personal credential domain — the digital equivalent of the post-nominal letters on a business card — so it suits individual practitioners more than large firms.
Ideal for:
- Solo practitioners and barristers building a personal brand
- Attorneys in the US, Canada, Australia and other Esquire-using jurisdictions
- Legal consultants and of-counsel lawyers
- Mediators, arbitrators and legal coaches
- Small boutique law practices named after the founding partner
Things to know:
- The registry is Charleston Road Registry, a Google subsidiary that also operates .dev, .app and .law.
- .esq is sold as an unrestricted TLD at the registrar level — there is no formal bar-membership verification at registration, though using the title falsely could breach professional conduct rules in your jurisdiction.
- Some names are held back as registry premiums and carry higher renewal fees that persist year after year.
- DNSSEC is supported and the zone is HSTS-preloaded, meaning all .esq sites are served over HTTPS by default.
Creative .esq Domain Ideas
- JaneDoe.esq — a personal site for a solo attorney
- Patel.esq — surname-only branding for a family law practice
- Mediation.esq — a service-led page for an ADR specialist
- Counsel.esq — a fractional general counsel offering
- AskAn.esq — a paid Q&A platform for the public
- BarPrep.esq — a tutoring service for bar exam candidates
Frequently asked questions about .esq
Registration is open to anyone at the registrar level — there is no bar-association verification step. However, the title "Esquire" is regulated by professional conduct rules in many jurisdictions, so non-lawyers using it commercially could face complaints. In practice, .esq is best suited to qualified legal professionals who want a credential-style web address.
You can register a .esq for one to ten years in single-year increments, and you can renew at any time before expiry to extend the registration up to the ten-year maximum. Many practitioners choose multi-year terms to lock in their personal-name domain and reduce admin around renewal dates.
Yes. Inbound transfers are straightforward: unlock the domain at your current registrar, request the EPP authorisation code, and start the transfer with us. The domain must be at least 60 days old and not within 60 days of a previous transfer. A successful transfer adds one year to the registration term.
Yes. The .esq zone fully supports DNSSEC, and Google Registry has the TLD on the HSTS preload list, so browsers will only connect to .esq sites over HTTPS. This is a strong fit for legal professionals handling client communications, as it raises the baseline security of any site you publish.
After expiry the domain enters a roughly 30-day grace period during which you can renew at the standard fee. It then moves into a redemption period of around 30 days where recovery is possible but carries a redemption fee set by the registry. After that the name is deleted and released for general registration.