The Owner of Etch.com Surprised Me

I was doing some domain name acquisition research yesterday evening when something caught me off guard. When I visited the high value Etch.com domain name to see how/if it was being used, I was surprised about where the domain name took me.

Instead of being owned by a startup or established business with the “Etch” branding, I was forwarded to DollyChildrens.org, the website of Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.

Sadly, legendary singer Dolly Parton passed away yesterday, as noted on her X account:

Global icon and humanitarian, Dolly Parton, known to the world as a beloved singer, songwriter, philanthropist, actress, playwright, and author died peacefully today in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80 years old.

Dolly is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 59 years… pic.twitter.com/sBdu2Ssof9

— Dolly Parton (@DollyParton) August 25, 2026

Using DomainTools and its Whois History tool, I can see why DPCH uses Etch.com. The Whois record for Etch.com shows the domain name has been long registered to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. In fact, the earliest historic Whois record for Etch.com is from 2001, and the domain name was registered to the hospital at that time. Etch.com was created in 1994.

ETCH announced the rebrand to Dolly Parton Childrens Hospital earlier this year, which is why this exceptional domain name is being used as a forwarder. Etch.com is a valuable domain name, but I don’t know if the hospital would ever consider selling the asset.

RIP Dolly Parton.