Michigan’s Banned Plate List Just Hit 30,000+ Requests

If you've ever daydreamed about a personalized Michigan plate that's a tiny billboard for your personality, here's the reality check: the state has a "nope" list, and it just got a little bigger.

Michigan’s Banned Plate List Just Keeps Growing

A banned-plate list obtained by Bridge Michigan through FOIA request shows Michigan is now blocking more than 30,000 plate combos. And it's still growing. Bridge's review found roughly 2,000 more plate request got added in 2025 alone, after they used AI to compare the newest list to an older version.

The Sneaky Spellings Michigan Is Catching

The newest rejects are exactly what you may think. People trying to sneak profanity past the system with creative spelling and numbers.

The list includes things like:

• O3FCKS
• 0F0KS
• 0FUX4U
• 0GB0SS
• 0HCR4P
• B4DAZZ
• FEDS
• HA1LYA
• ILEGAL
• MAFIA
• REW1NE

Denial is a river in Egypt, and the vulgar language, bathroom humor, sex references, drugs, alcohol, criminal activity and slurs are also rejected.

What Michigan Automatically Rejects

• 2DAMH0T
• WEEDMAN
• 0HDAMM
• M0DELO
• H3LLYEA

The Three-Step Review Process and How Appeals Work

What is the most surprising is how structured the process is. The stays more than two dozen volunteers review requests in three stages: initial screening, a vote to approve/deny, and then notification when it is complete. And yes, you can appeal if you think they may have gotten something wrong.

When a Logo Turns Your Plate Into Something Else

Logos can also get you rejected, which is a strange curveball. A plate like "0GCRAP" can't be paired with the Detroit Tigers logo because that "D" can accidently turn into something worse.

Same idea with "3L0T" on a University of Michigan plate. Bridge says that more than 600 plates were banned just because of logo combinations.

If you want to avoid the headache, the Secretary of State's site let's you check availability and preview your design first.