Statistics of registered domain names

The number of possible domain names is 3.17 x 10 to the 34rd power.  That's a really big number, so we're not going to run out of domain names anytime soon.
Why the rush?  Really good marketing names are going more quickly.  In June 1999, 43% of all 4-letter *.com domains were registered.  Based on an Open Veld survey of October 1998, only 14% of these same 4-letter *.com domains had been purchased.  Knowing that short domain names are in short supply probably further increases their demand.   Pressure is also extreme on domain names that can be found in an English dictionary.
For example, among the 456,976 possible combinations of four letters, less than 25,000 have any meaning.  Probably no short (7 or fewer letters) English names are unregistered.  The statistics do not matter if you can find the appropriate domain name for your business.  But predictions are that there will be 100 million domains registered within 24 months.  Do you expect that yourcompany.com will be still available?

Distribution of *.com domain names All names Meaningful (e.g., words) Name length Total Not registered Total Not registered   3 letters     18,000   < 200   1,000   0 ?   4 letters   460,000   400,000 25,000   0 ?   5 letters 12 million   10+ million   ?      ? Statistical estimates based on a random sampling by Open Veld (Oct 1998)

One of the best ways of capturing a good name for your business is to take two short words, which may or may not have any particular meaning, but which are distinctive.
Do not be too daunted by statistics.  Your domain name must be something that you and your customers are happy with.  So be methodical, but determined.  If it helps, get a good dictionary, thesaurus, or multilingual dictionary.  You might find a beautiful name in Latin which suits your business on the web.