registrant: definition

The registrant is the person or organization that holds a domain name. Holding a name gives the right to use it for a set period; it is not ownership. Knowing who the registrant is avoids several common ways of losing a name.

What a registrant is

ICANN’s contracts call the registrant the “Registered Name Holder”. For generic top-level domains (gTLDs), every registration rests on a registration agreement between the registrant and a registrar accredited by ICANN. The RAA Registrar Accreditation Agreement The contract between ICANN and each accredited registrar. Full definition of RAA (RAA) obliges registrars to make every registrant sign one, with a minimum set of clauses.

The registrant can be a person or an organization. As of October 2026, under the Registration Data Policy ICANN's policy on collecting, publishing and disclosing gTLD registration data. Full definition of Registration Data Policy, if the Registrant Organization field The optional field naming the organization that holds a domain, published when the registrant agrees. Full definition of Registrant Organization field is filled in, that organization is considered the registrant, and the person named is its point of contact.

What you own and what you only rent

ICANN is direct about this: a registrant does not “own” a domain name. Registering one is “more like leasing” it from the registry operator The organization that holds the contract or mandate for a TLD and sets its rules. Full definition of registry operator, for a period that depends on the registry operator. A name cannot be bought forever, but it can be renewed before each period ends.

What the registrant holds is the right to use, renew, restore Bringing a deleted domain back during the redemption grace period. Full definition of restore and transfer the name. Someone who “buys” an existing name acquires the right to have it registered in their own name and to keep managing and renewing it. ICANN’s authority is only contractual, so it cannot return a lost name to anyone.

Country-code domains follow national rules. For .es, the 2005 text of Spain’s Orden ITC/1542/2005 takes the same approach: assigning a name gives the right to use it, and that right can be transferred voluntarily if the new holder meets the plan’s conditions.

Your duties: accurate data, renewals and lawful use

Accurate data

Give the registrar accurate and reliable contact details, and update them within seven days of any change.
Answer the registrar’s questions within 15 days, and keep account details current, including payment details if the name renews automatically.
Expect the registrar to verify your email address or phone number within 15 days of a registration, a transfer to a new registrar or a change of registrant A change of a domain's owner details, with confirmation steps. Full definition of change of registrant. Without a reply, it checks the details by hand or suspends the name until they are verified.

Wilfully giving false details, wilfully not updating them within seven days, or not answering accuracy questions for more than 15 days is a material breach of the agreement, and grounds for suspension or cancellation.

Renewals

Registrars must remind the registrant at least twice before a gTLD name expires: about a month before and about a week before. If the name is neither renewed nor deleted, one more notice follows within five days after expiry. Without consent to renew, the name is cancelled by the end of the auto-renew grace period A period after expiry when an auto-renewed domain can still be renewed or canceled. Full definition of auto-renew grace period, or earlier if the registrar chooses.

A name deleted eight or more days after expiry stops resolving for at least its last eight days. After deletion Removing a domain registration from the registry, which starts the path to its release. Full definition of deletion, all gTLD registry The central database and system of a top-level domain, or loosely the organization that runs it. Full definition of registry except sponsored ones must offer a 30-day Redemption Grace Period (RGP Redemption Grace Period A last chance to recover a deleted domain, usually for an extra fee. Full definition of RGP), during which the registrar that deleted the name can restore it at the request of the registrant at expiration The date a domain registration ends unless it is renewed. Full definition of expiration.

Lawful use

The registrant states that, to their knowledge, the name and its use do not infringe anyone else’s rights and that it is not registered for an unlawful purpose. The registrant takes sole responsibility for the registration and use of the name, covers the registry operator against claims arising from it, and remains the registrant even when someone else uses the name.

Your rights: transfers, notices and dispute processes

Information and privacy. The registrant can download the registration agreement at any time, and is entitled to clear information about the registrar, prices, support, why data are collected and how to correct them. Deceptive notices and hidden fees are not allowed. The registrant can consent to have more of their contact data published.
Changing registrar. If the registrant cannot generate the auth code authorization code A secret code needed to approve moving a domain to another registrar. Full definition of auth code themselves, the registrar must provide it and remove the transfer lock A restriction that blocks a domain from moving to another registrar. Full definition of transfer lock within five calendar days of the request. A registrar may charge a transfer fee, but cannot refuse a transfer only because that fee is unpaid.
Changing registrant. Registrants must be free to pass the name to someone else. The registrar asks for confirmation, usually by email, within a deadline it sets of no more than 60 days.
Disputes. The registrar must describe how it handles complaints. Under the UDRP Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy ICANN's out-of-court process for trademark disputes over domain names. Full definition of UDRP, the registrant must take part in a mandatory administrative proceeding when a complaint falls within that policy.

Adopted but not yet in force

On 7 June 2026 the ICANN Board ICANN's board of directors, which adopts policies and approves key decisions. Full definition of ICANN Board adopted 47 recommendations to change the Transfer Policy ICANN's rules for moving gTLD domains between registrars and changing registrants. Full definition of Transfer Policy, including mandatory locks and a separate Change of Registrant Data (CORD) Policy. As of October 2026 they are not yet in force, and the current Transfer Policy still applies.

Registrant, account holder and contacts: who is who

Registrant: the holder of the rights.
Account holder: whoever pays for or manages the name, when that is not the registrant.
Contacts: as of October 2026, registrars no longer need administrative or billing contacts, a rule in force since 21 August 2025. A technical contact is optional, and can be the registrant or a contact that is not personal data.

A change to the registrant’s name, organization or email address is a change of registrant; correcting a typing error is not. As of October 2026, it starts a 60-day lock A 60-day period after certain domain events when a registrar transfer can be refused or blocked. Full definition of 60-day lock on transfers to another registrar, unless the registrant opted out before the request.

Common mistakes, such as registering in an employee’s name

The agency registers the name in its own details. ICANN warns that a developer may be the registrant of record even when the client paid. Proof of payment may be needed to show the registrar who should hold the name.
The name is in an employee’s personal name. By the same logic, the employee is the registrant, not the company. Filling in the Organization field makes the organization the registrant.
A verification email is ignored. The name can be suspended.
The contact email is out of date. renewal Paying to extend a domain registration for more time. Full definition of renewal reminders never arrive.

A worked example

Example Ltd asks a web agency to register example.com. The agency enters its own name and email, and Example Ltd pays. The agency is the registrant of record; Example Ltd is at most the account holder. To fix this, Example Ltd asks for a change of registrant, which both confirm. In a real dispute, the registrar or a lawyer can say how the rules apply.

registrant