---
title: "IDN domain (characters õ, ä, ö, ü and Cyrillic alphabet)"
canonical_url: "https://www.zone.eu/support/kb/idn-domain-characters-o-a-o-u-and-cyrillic-alphabet/"
post_type: "ht_kb"
published: "2013-09-27T06:48:42+00:00"
modified: "2024-10-10T08:50:19+00:00"
language: "en"
author: "Gustav"
taxonomies:
  ht_kb_category:
    - name: "Domains FAQ"
      url: "https://www.zone.eu/support/kb-categories/domains-faq-en/"
  ht_kb_tag:
    - name: "Domains"
      url: "https://www.zone.eu/support/kb-tags/domains-en/"
    - name: "IDN"
      url: "https://www.zone.eu/support/kb-tags/idn-en/"
    - name: "IDN domain"
      url: "https://www.zone.eu/support/kb-tags/idn-domain/"
---

# IDN domain (characters õ, ä, ö, ü and Cyrillic alphabet)

*IDN* stands for *Internationalized Domain Name*. IDNs are domain names that contain characters from *non-ASCII* *(American Standard Code for Information Interchange)* character sets. For example the characters ä, å, ö and ü used in Finnish language are *non-ASCII* characters. Same applies to Swedish å, Romanian ș, Greek and Cyrillic alphabet.

 At the moment EU, FI, SE, COM and NET *IDN* domain names can be ordered through Zone. You can place an order [**HERE**](https://www.zone.eu/domain-registration/).

##### IDN domain name length

The maximum length of a *IDN* cannot be more than 63 characters. This limit applies after the name has been converted into an *ACE string* for use by the *DNS (Domain Name System)*. For example, **abcdef.fi** is 6 characters long, **xyz.fi** is 3 characters long, **JÄÄTELÖ.FI**, however, is considered **15 characters long**, because after conversion it’s *ACE string* is **XN–JTEL-LOAA3K.FI**. Although, after the conversion e.g. the length of the domain **Ä.FI** would be 7 characters in *ACE string*, it cannot be registered, as [FI domain name](https://www.zone.eu/support/kb/fi-domain-registration/) should be at least 2 characters long.

 A great tool that will help you find out *ACE string* of an *IDN* domain can be found [HERE](https://www.punycoder.com/).

##### [![](https://www.zone.eu/static/sites/5/idn-domain-1024x654.jpg)](https://www.zone.eu/support/kb/idn-domain-in-estonian-languages-used-characters-o-a-o-u-and-cyrillic-alphabet/idn-domain/)

##### IDN domain and different alphabets

Different alphabets cannot be used in single *IDN* domain. Mainly to prevent the use of *homoglyphs* in domain names. *Homoglyphs* are characters from different alphabetic systems that look identical to the eye, but have a different *UNICODE* number. For example, cyrillic character “a” and latin character “a” identical by looking, but have a different *UNICODE* numbers accordingly 0430 and 0061. Therefore, in order to avoid confusion and legal disputes, different alphabets cannot be used in single *IDN* domain name.

##### IDN domain in web browsers and email clients

Most modern web browsers can still understand IDN names. NOTE: However, it is worth noting that if you have registered a domain containing characters and want to use email, the email associated with the IDN domain must be introduced to other users via the ACE string. For example, for **INFO@JÄÄTELÖ.FI**, the address would therefore be **INFO@XN–JTEL-LOAA3K.FI**. Therefore, we recommend that you only use a domain with Latin characters for email and use a domain with dot characters as an alias.

Alias domains can be ordered via **`My Zone`**. Under the **`Webhosting`** menu choose **`Webserver`** and then click on **`Order alias`.** Redirection gives the possibility to use both names simultaneously.