Choosing the right domain is simple in theory, but difficult in practice. You want a short, memorable, easy to say domain. When you think of one that meets those requirements, 9 times out of 10 it’s already taken. When you find one that’s available, you’re not sure it adequately conveys the essence of your web site idea, which is likely to change over time. All that aside, you have to pick a domain to put up a web site, so here are some links to help you in your search.

Keyword Search / Random / Generated / Expiring

123 finder – Search by keyword and length
Bust a name – Test all possible combinations of words
Domain Finder – Comes up with those del.icio.us domains that are hard to type but still availab.le
Domain Pigeon – Pre-generated set of available domains
Domai.nr – International domains, but available tests are poor
Domains are free – Find similar domains or random ones (Note: They’re only free if you host your site with them)
Domainsbot – Domain, phrase, expiring and expired domains
Domain Tools – Search for old domains (9 years old) that are expiring
Domain Tools – Suggestions based on keywords
Domain Typer – Instant results, adds international options
Domize – Easy search features
Dotomator – Combine words and test for availability
Dotster – Over 10 million expired domains (search or browse)
Geek.name – Unregistered domains sorted by rating
Instant domain search – Instant results via AJAX as you type for com, net and org
Just dropped – Expired and expiring domains
Makewords – Search by length, prefix, keyword themes, common suffixes and prefixes
Name boy – Combine words, sounds-like, rhymes
Namecheap – Has bulk lookup but requires free registration
OpenDomain.org Free domains as long as you adhere to their terms of use
PCNames tools – Instant search, word search, 3 and 4-character domains, bulk lookup
Randomainer – Search by dictionary word or get random available domains
Snap it now – Search by keyword (make sure check the hide taken domains box)
StuckDomains – Fully expired domains, lots of search criteria
Suggest.name – Keyword combinations
Whois.net – Search by keywords, deleted domains
Xona domain search – Breaks up the word you search for to see if any international TLDs would work.
Zone Edit – Search by keyword

Other ways to come up with domains

Edinburgh Associative Thesaurus
Morewords – Search for words by length, containing certain letters
Noemata.net – Random name generator
Plambeck – Company name generator
RhymingZone – Rhyming dictionary for words that rhyme
Thesaurus to find synonyms for more ideas
VisuWords – Word associations
Wordlab – Name generator
WordNet – Word associations
A few more ideas to come up with a name is to generate anagrams of a word or phrase, spell words backwards, look through maps (street names or cities) and phonebooks (business names, last names). You probably won’t want to copy a business name exactly but it should at least get the creative juices flowing.

Domain marketplaces

Adactio – Random company name generator (with tagline)
Pickydomains A group of people come up with domain names based on your requirements. You pay ($50) if you choose one of the domains
Sedo
SitePoint
TDNam
UltimateDomains

Other links

Entrepeneur.com on finding a good domain name
MakeUseOf – Domains tag
Mike Industries – How to snatch an expiring domain name
Sitepoint – Domain name generators reviewed