When you search for a name on app.ens.domains, the ENS App tags each result with a status. The status tells you what kind of name it is — and whether you can register it. Statuses fall into four shapes: register-ready, already taken, not a name you can register, and subnames and DNS-in-ENS (where the rules are a bit different).

The .eth name is free to register at the standard price. Click through and follow the registration flow — see How do I register a .eth name?

Someone else already owns the .eth name. Example: 184.eth. You can open the name to see its profile and current Owner, but you can't register it yourself. If the current owner doesn't extend before expiry, the name moves through Grace Period and Temporary Premium before becoming Available again — see ENS Pricing for the full lifecycle.

The .eth name expired recently. A .eth name stays in Grace Period for 90 days after expiry. During that window the original owner can still extend it at the standard renewal price — nobody else can register it. The name keeps working in apps but shows as expired in the ENS App.

If you're the original owner, extend from the name's page. If you're hoping to register the name, you'll need to wait until Grace Period ends and the name enters Temporary Premium.

Grace Period has ended and the name is now available to anyone — but with a 21-day decaying premium fee on top of the standard registration fee. The premium starts very high and falls to $0 over 21 days. A name in Temporary Premium has to be registered as new — not extended.

If you want the name and can wait, the premium drops every hour. If you don't want to pay any premium, wait the full 21 days. See ENS Pricing for the lifecycle and pricing detail.

What you typed is a wallet or contract address, like 0x4976fb...BaBa41 — not a name. The ENS App takes you to the address's profile page, where you can see its Primary Name (if it has one) and its records.

The result is a DNS name (like gregskril.com) that's already been brought into ENS. Imported DNS names behave like .eth names inside ENS — they can hold records, point at a wallet, and be set as your Primary Name. See What names does ENS support?

The result is a valid DNS TLD or second-level name (like a .com or .org) that hasn't been brought into ENS yet. If you own the DNS domain, you can import it — see Import Your DNS Domain.

No — Owned doesn't mean you own the name. It means a subname (like pay.alice.eth) or imported DNS name exists and is controlled by its parent: the parent .eth name for a subname, or the DNS owner for an imported DNS name.

To check whether you control a name, open it in the ENS App and look at the Owner row on the Profile tab.

A subname that hasn't been created yet. Example: thissubnamedoesnotexist.184.eth shows Not Owned because nobody has set it up under 184.eth. The parent name's Manager can create it.

The .eth name has fewer than 3 characters and can't be registered. Example: 18.eth. Three characters is the minimum length for .eth registration.

What you typed isn't a name ENS recognises — usually because there's no TLD. Example: 184 on its own (no .eth, no .com).

The string looks name-shaped but uses characters or ordering ENS doesn't allow. See ENS terms explained for what counts as a valid name.