The Illinois Secretary of State’s office has unveiled its annual list of rejected vanity and personalized license plate requests for 2025, showing that while drivers remain inventive, not every idea makes it past state standards. This year, the office received 55,690 requests for custom plates. More than 550 were denied for being inflammatory, profane, offensive, or too difficult to read—each a valid reason for rejection under Illinois law.
Notable examples from the rejection list include: BBL, BDASMOM, BLUBALN, BRICKED, IBPOOPN, ICUP, PRIUSSY, SNDNUDZ, SYBAU, and TYPESHT. Some plates, such as MWMWMWM or OOQQOO, were rejected solely for being visually confusing and potentially difficult for law enforcement to read.
“Illinoisans consistently show off their creativity on customized license plates, but anything that hits the road has to meet the standards of good taste and decency,” said Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias. “Our team is fluent in lewd lingo and sneaky swearing – and they catch it all. When a plate crosses the line, it goes straight onto our permanent rejection list.”
The state’s vehicle code gives the Secretary of State’s office the authority to deny plates containing references to profanity, hate speech, sexual content, drugs, violence, or anything else deemed offensive or unsafe. The office now maintains a rejection list of more than 8,558 plate combinations. Despite the annual denials, demand for customized plates remains high: 799,245 vehicles in Illinois currently sport vanity or personalized plates, with 291,327 as vanity plates (letters only) and 507,918 as personalized plates (letters and numbers). Fees are $94 for a new vanity plate and $47 for a new personalized plate. Most applicants start the process online using the Pick-a-Plate tool (apps.ilsos.gov/pickaplate), which allows users to check plate availability before submitting their requests.