Illinois' rejected vanity license plates in 2022
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The state rejected 383 vanity plate requests last year for violating "good taste," according to the Illinois Secretary of State's Office.
Why it matters: The rejected requests offer a glimpse into local "decency" standards, not to mention the minds of your fellow drivers.
Zoom in: We dug into the 2022 rejected list and found some trends, including applicants' desire to:
- Use variations on the F-word
- Criticize the governor
- Label oneself as the B-word
- Promote the letter Q
- Describe sex acts or body parts
- Call oneself an A-hole o Bad A--
- Praise Satan
Yes but: Other rejected requests seemed less controversial like BAPTSD, TOFU, DOGBARF, WACKJOB, FARTLEK, THE GOV, FUNKE and DR FUNK.
- State officials tell us applicants can contest rejections, especially if the request reflects their own name. And that happens a few times a year.
- So Dr. Funk, now's your chance.
By the numbers: Less than 1% of last year's roughly 54,200 custom plates requests were rejected.
- This year's list of 383 names joins 7,387 on the banned list.
- The state rejected 572 in 2021 and 499 in 2020. Maybe the pandemic gave us a little too much free time.
What they're saying: "We love the creativity and pride Illinoisans take in choosing their personalized license plates," Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias tells Axios, noting that only a tiny fraction are rejected.
Bonus: Many of the rejected names are NSFW or even for this newsletter, but we've posted a few pages of them on our Instagram for informational purposes.
- Warning: You may start looking at the folks in the DMV line differently after reading.