An update to a previous story we recently aired, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias’ office has revealed that more than 300 vanity and personalized license plates were rejected in 2024.
In total, the office received 60,537 requests for these custom plates last year, with 335 denials due to their inflammatory or offensive content, or because they were difficult to read.
Among the rejected plate requests this year are: HOKTUAH, GYATT, MUNCH, BICHIN, JAGWEED, BADARSE, AXEHOLE, ILLCUTU, HOHOHOE, ABADMF, WEENIE, DUCKOFF, SHIDDED, UGEWANG, and THICCAF.
“Illinoisans consistently display a great deal of creativity when choosing their customized license plates, but the plates that hit the road must meet the standards of good taste and decency,” Giannoulias stated. “Our team is well-versed in lecherous language and sneaky swearing, all of which are rejected and added to our permanent prohibited list.”
The Secretary of State’s Office oversees the process for requesting vanity or personalized license plates in Illinois. According to state law, the office has the authority to reject any application that “creates a connotation that is offensive to good taste and decency,” as specified in the Illinois Vehicle Code.
The office flags combinations of letters and numbers that may be interpreted as lewd or offensive, including expletives, racial slurs, sexual references, drug allusions, and hints of violence. Some plates, such as MWMWMWM and OOQQOO, were also rejected this year for being difficult to read, potentially causing issues for law enforcement.
Currently, the Secretary of State’s office maintains an ever-growing rejection list, which now includes more than 8,015 license plate combinations.
In Illinois, vehicle owners pay an additional $94 for a new vanity plate that contains only letters, while an extra $47 is charged for a personalized plate that includes a mix of letters and numbers.
As of now, there are 811,351 vehicles registered in Illinois with vanity or personalized license plates, comprising 294,324 vanity plates and 531,035 personalized plates.
Many Illinoisans utilize the office’s popular Pick-a-Plate feature available at apps.ilsos.gov/pickaplate, allowing them to enter different combinations of letters or numbers to check availability for purchase.
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