Picking a .si name for an AI/SI startup: a checklist

Pick a .si name your audience can read, spell and say once, that nobody else has a trademark on, and that you can afford to renew; then register it before you announce it. The ten checks below take about half an hour. The examples come from our own list and were unregistered at our 2 October 2026 check.

About the examples: a DNS spot check at 00:16 UTC on 3 October 2026 found no .si delegation for any name used as an example here. That is consistent with the names being free but does not prove it, because a name can be registered without name servers. The registrar's search is the final word.

1. Decide whether the "SI" reading matters to your audience

Since 29 September 2026, US federal agencies have been told to say "Super Intelligence" and "SI" instead of "AI" (White House fact sheet). Officially, .si is still Slovenia's country code. If your buyers follow US policy news or the AI field, "yourname.si" may read as "yourname SI". If they do not, the extension is just short. Decide which audience you are naming for before you shortlist anything. Background: what the rename means.

2. Read the name aloud with the extension

Say the full address, for example "revealing dot S I", to someone who has not seen it, and ask them to type it. Words spelled the way they sound pass easily: revealing.si, optically.si, crisply.si. Words with silent letters or several common spellings fail more often.

3. Keep it short

Short names are easier to type and to fit in a logo. On 2 October 2026, 121 names on our list had six characters or fewer, including quire.si, outgo.si, eyrie.si, joust.si, gloat.si and leapt.si. Browse them in short .si names.

4. Prefer a real word or a plain phrase

Of the 477 names on our list at the 2 October check, 371 were single dictionary words. Real words are easier to spell from hearing than invented ones. For an AI or SI product, words about quality or skill are one place to start: perfected.si, usefully.si, expertly.si, sleeker.si. Our AI and SI startup names collection groups the 349 names that met our SI-fit threshold, a model score for how naturally a word reads as an AI or SI product name.

5. Avoid accented letters unless you mean it

.si accepts accented Latin letters such as č, š and ž (allowed characters). Such names are stored in an ASCII form that starts with "xn--"; the registry's own example is roža.si, which becomes xn--roa-d3a.si (general terms 2.4). Some email clients and tools show that form instead of the accented one. For an international product, plain a to z is simpler.

6. Run a trademark search, including in Slovenia

Under the .si dispute procedure, a complainant can win a name by proving three things: the name is identical or confusingly similar to a right recognized in Slovenia, such as a trademark valid there; you have no legitimate interest in it; and you registered or used it in bad faith (ARDS rules 17.3). The decision can transfer or delete the name, and there is no appeal. Search trademark registers that cover Slovenia, not only your home country, and avoid names that copy a brand. Details: .si rules.

7. Check who owns the .com and the .ai

Owning the .si does not give you the .com. Some names on our list have a recorded historical sale of the .com, for example:

Source: DNJournal annual top-100 charts, as recorded in our data. Each figure is the historical sale of the .com, a different domain; it is not a price or value for the .si. If the .com belongs to an active business, expect some of your visitors and email to go there by mistake. More: names with a $100k+ historical .com sale.

8. Budget for renewal, not the first year

On 3 October 2026 a .si cost $11.99 to $25.00 for the first year and $13.50 to $25.00 a year to renew at the registrars we checked. Three years came to $36.11 at Dynadot (one 3-year registration), $45.97 at Hostinger and $75.00 at NameSilo (Dynadot, Hostinger, NameSilo). Compare with .ai in the three-year cost guide. Turn on auto-renew; an unrenewed .si is deleted after a 30-day quarantine (general terms 5.4).

9. Plan what will be public

If you register as a company, the registry shows the company, the technical contact and the registrar. If you register as a private individual, it shows only your contact email (general terms 13.3). Registrars must tell individuals that they may use a separate email address made just for this record (general terms 13.4). A dedicated address such as domains@yourcompany keeps your personal inbox out of it.

10. Register before you announce

.si registrations ran at 11,331 on 30 September and 12,728 on 1 October 2026 (Register.si). Names on our list are being registered daily: skates.si and scant.si were unregistered at our 2 October check and in the .si zone by our 3 October spot check. Search the exact name at a registrar, register it, then share it. Step by step: how to buy a .si.

What this checklist does not do

It does not tell you the value of a name or whether anyone would buy it from you later. We make no such estimates. Register a .si because you plan to use it.

Disclosure: NameSilo links carry our affiliate ID; Hostinger links earn us nothing.