Choosing a .gov.uk Suffix

The rules for Town, Parish and Community Councils are very strict (and are shown below) but they still give options that can choosen. This page uses data that has been collected from councils registering their .gov.uk domain name with HCI Data Ltd to aid in choosing which suffix to use. In all cases, the abbreviation -tc, -pc or -wcc makes typing the web address or email address less prone to error than using the full suffix of TownCouncil, ParishCouncil or CommunityCouncil but the full suffix is more human friendly.

Individual Town Councils

Unless the full title 'towncouncil' is used the following suffix is required with the hyphen '-tc' For example:

• www.anyrivertowncouncil.gov.uk
• www.anyriver-tc.gov.uk

-tc.gov.uk or TownCouncil.gov.uk

More than twice (2.5) as many town councils chose the suffix TownCouncil.gov.uk rather than -tc.gov.uk.

The average length of a town council name that chooses the TownCouncil.gov.uk suffix is 9 characters resulting in an average domain name length of 27 characters. The shortest town council name is 3 characters and the longest 19 characters.

The average length of a town council name that chooses the -tc.gov.uk suffix is 12 characters resulting in an average domain name length of 22 characters. The shortest town council name is 7 characters and the longest 20 characters.

Register a .gov.uk domain

Individual Parish Councils

Unless the full title 'parishcouncil' is used the following suffix is required with the hyphen '-pc' For example:

• www.anyriverparishcouncil.gov.uk
• www.anyriver-pc.gov.uk

-pc.gov.uk or ParishCouncil.gov.uk

30% more parish councils chose the suffix ParishCouncil.gov.uk rather than -pc.gov.uk.

The average length of a parish council name that chooses the ParishCouncil.gov.uk suffix is 9 characters resulting in an average domain name length of 29 characters. The shortest parish council name is 4 characters and the longest 24 characters.

The average length of a parish council name that chooses the -pc.gov.uk suffix is 14 characters resulting in an average domain name length of 24 characters. The shortest parish council name is 7 characters and the longest 32 characters.

Register a .gov.uk domain

Cyngor Cymuned (Welsh Community Council)

Unless the full title 'CommunityCouncil' is used the following suffix is required with the hyphen '-wcc' For example:

• www.anyrivercommunitycouncil.gov.uk
• www.anyrivercyngorcymuned.gov.uk
• www.anyriver-wcc.gov.uk

-wcc.gov.uk or CommunityCouncil.gov.uk or CyngorCymuned.gov.uk

Three times as many community councils chose the suffix CommunityCouncil.gov.uk rather than -wwc.gov.uk. As of November 2013 no community council has registered a CyngorCymuned.gov.uk through HCI Data Ltd.

The average length of a community council name that chooses the CommunityCouncil.gov.uk suffix is 7 characters resulting in an average domain name length of 30 characters. The shortest community council name is 4 characters and the longest 11 characters.

The average length of a community council name that chooses the -wcc.gov.uk suffix is 13 characters resulting in an average domain name length of 24 characters. The shortest community council name is 10 characters and the longest 17 characters.

Register a .gov.uk domain