A domain name registrar registers domain names. A domain name registrar is a company accredited by ICANN or by a national ccTLD authority or both to register Internet domain names.

ICANN or Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a nonprofit organization that is responsible for IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management and root server system management functions.

The late Jon Postel created ICANN in 1998 in response to a policy statement issued by the US Department of Commerce. ICANN has authority over gTLDs (Generic Top Level Domains) that include .com, .net and .org. The organization does not have authority over ccTLDs (Country Code Top-Level Domains), which include .ca (Canada), .uk (United Kingdom), .us (United States), .in (India), .de (Germany or Deutschland), .fr (France) etc.

The board of ICANN is comprised of nineteen Directors, and nine At-Large Directors. Directors serve for one-year terms and are succeeded by At-Large Directors. The At-Large Directors are elected by an at-large membership organization.

ICANN has taken various measures to oversee the domain-name registration system's transition from government hands to private hands and to coordinate its decentralization and the integration into a global community.

A company chosen by ICANN to register and manage domain names on its behalf is a designated registrar. There are several domain registrars offering domain registration services. Some of the top domain name registrars include Go Daddy, Network Solutions, eNom, Tucows, Melbourne IT, Schlund.de, Register.com, Wild West Domains (Part of Go Daddy), Moniker Online Services, and DomainDoorman.