2300+ Personalized License Plates Rejected By State Of Texas

Some make you laugh.
Some make you think.
Yet they all have personal meaning.

I'm talking about personalized license plates.

While you're driving along I-20 in Dallas or along I-10 through San Antonio or I-35W in Ft. Worth, Texas or along any Texas roadway for that fact you will definitely notice a car or a truck with a personalized license plate.

Personalized license plates are a fun way to show off a little bit of your personality or give other drivers a glimpse of what it is you do for a living.

Now, many Texans, including myself, have played the game of spotting, decoding, and figuring out the meaning behind some of those plates while on road trips across Texas.

If you see something like '2THMAN' - you'd assume he's a dentist because his plate actually reads 'TOOTH MAN'!

While the State Of Texas receives thousands of requests for personalized license plates each year, they're not all approved and printed. Yep, some are denied.

In 2024, more than 2300 personalized license plate requests were denied by the Texas DMV. (FOX4) While that may seem like a lot, that number is down from more than 3000 in 2023.

Denied plates from this past year include: 'L8R LSER', 'SHEDVL', 'R3DNCK' and 'M3NAC3'. Personalized license plate requests must meet Texas DMV standards.

So why does Texas reject some Texas personalized license plate requests?

According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TXDMV):

• The plate conflicts with a current or proposed plate pattern issued by the state
• Indecent, which includes references to a sexual act, sexual body part, excretory or bodily fluids or functions, or a "69", unless it refers to a model year and then the full year must be included '1969'
• Vulgar, meaning containing swear or curse words
• Derogatory, including words that belittle, demean, or disparage any person, group, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, or associated with an organization that advocates such expressions
• Refer to race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation, even if the reference is not derogatory
• Refer to illegal activity like gangs, violence, or implied threats of harm. It also cannot describe, advertise, advocate, promote, encourage, glorify, or condone violence, crime or unlawful conduct
• Refer to a controlled substance or illegal drug or the physiological state produced by the substance
• Uses a representation of, or reference to, law enforcement, military branches, or other governmental entities and their titles, including acronyms. References to publicly or privately funded colleges or universities are allowed
• Has a pattern that has been set aside exclusively for use on military or other restricted-use license plates such as "DV" for disabled veterans

For a full explanation of accepted and rejected plates, check out the DMV guidelines list.

Check the availability of personalized license plates

If you're thinking about picking up a set of personalized plates, you can check the availability on the MyPlates site and see what it would look like a variety of available plates in Texas. They'll cost you between $65 and $500.

Hopefully, you can come up with a clever way of saying hi or telling us what it is you do for a living for your personalize plates and we can try to decode it while following you around Loop 281 in Longview!