From spoken language to the permanent web, naming has always shaped what we make of our world.

Before there was the internet, and even before writing, there were names. In the Bible's Genesis story, God literally created the universe by naming things into being.

Names help us remember. They give form to abstract ideas. They let us navigate everything from maps to memories to metadata. Whether you're calling a tree a “tree,” labeling a folder, or assigning an address to your digital wallet, you’re using a name to bring meaning to information.

Naming has always mattered. And as the web evolves, it matters more than ever.

Naming Is the Interface Between People and Complexity

Think about it: you could describe a person by listing their height, weight, coordinates, social connections, and biometric identifiers… Or you could just say “Adam.”

That’s the power of names. They collapse complexity into something usable. A linguistic rollup of sorts.

It’s no different in technology. In the early internet, users had to type raw IP addresses like 132.250.64.142. It worked for machines, not for humans.

Then came DNS, the Domain Name System, turning those numbers into names like google.com.

It didn’t just improve UX, it fundamentally expanded who the internet was for.

Soon, everyone had a name online. A domain. A subdomain. A handle. Naming became synonymous with identity - for people, businesses, websites, and data.

Web3 Has a Naming Problem

Fast forward to today. We all probably have a zillion emails, accounts and (if you are like me) domain names. Getting your first email address or TikTok username is basically a rite of passage.

And yet, as web3 reinvents how we store data and transfer value, naming has fallen behind.

Your wallet address might look like this: 0x4cbe58c50480b3e31c89b3f01bc7af77df02caaa

That's not an identity, it’s a hash, and would make for a name too wild even for one of Elon's kids.

ENS (Ethereum Name Service) made meaningful progress. It brought readability to Ethereum, made crypto feel more personal, and gave us names like vitalik.eth. It improved UX. It changed how people see their wallets.

But it stops short of what naming should be in the next web:

• It uses a single special use TLD

• It requires centralized providers for resolution

• It depends on ongoing renewals

• It only supports one chain, one identity

• And ironically, you can’t even host a site directly at vilenarios.eth

I think we can go further.

ArNS: Smarter Names for a Better Web

ArNS (The Arweave Name System) is a decentralized naming system designed to move past the limits of traditional and web3 domains.

Each name is owned by a smart contract, works across chains like Arweave and Ethereum (with more coming soon), and points to permanent data, apps, files, websites, or metadata stored on Arweave.

ArNS names resolve through hundreds of domains like yourname.arweave.net, yourname.g8way.io, or ar://yourname.

We call it:

• Dot Nothing: names work without DNS or TLDs using the ar:// protocol

• Dot Everything: the same name works across many domains and gateways

Your name, and the content behind it, isn't locked into any one provider, chain, or location. It stays online. Everywhere.

Why This Matters Now

We’re entering an era where most of our lives, whether it be social, financial or creative live online. But the systems we use to name, access, and preserve that digital life aren't exactly built with longevity in mind.

In web2, DNS was never built for permanence or transparency. Links break. Domains expire. Content disappears. We’ve normalized 404s. But they’re a symptom of a deeper problem: the internet forgets.

In web3, we’ve started to rethink ownership, but not naming. Most systems still rely on centralized resolvers, fragile domain registrars, or single-chain name services. Without resilient, user-owned naming systems, we risk building the future on more broken links, censored identities and revoked domains.

Because names aren’t just convenience features! They’re how we remember. They’re how we build trust. They’re how we know who and where we are.

Even when we’re all just AIs with perfect hash recall 🤖, we’ll still prefer a name like “sam” over 0xb79f...e132🤣

If you’re building something worth preserving, like God was way back when, it starts with a name!

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