Also called hyphenated name
Hyphenated domain, explained
Hyphens are the only punctuation allowed in standard domain labels, with limits: a label cannot start or end with a hyphen, and two hyphens in the third and fourth positions are reserved for internationalized names, which use the xn-- prefix of Punycode. Many hyphenated versions of good names are still unregistered, because most investors and buyers avoid them.
In the aftermarket, a hyphenated .com typically sells for far less than its unhyphenated twin, when it sells at all. It fails the radio test, since speakers must say 'dash' or 'hyphen', and type-ins and misdirected email leak to the unhyphenated owner. A hyphen also does not make a trademark safe: dispute panels usually treat a hyphenated version of a mark as confusingly similar to it. Buy one only where an end user clearly needs it, such as a word break that would otherwise be misread.
Example. When a two-word .com is taken, a founder is usually better served by a different two-word .com than by the hyphenated version of the first.
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