Illinois Secretary Of State’s Rejected License Plates Of 2025

Every year, Illinois drivers shoot their shot with personalized license plates, and every year, the Secretary of State’s office gently (and sometimes not-so-gently) says, “Yeah…no.”

This week, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias unveiled Illinois’ official list of rejected vanity license plates for 2025, and once again, it’s a reminder that some people really love to try to sneak one past the goalie.

In total, Illinois received more than 55,000 vanity plate requests this year. Out of those, over 550 were denied for being profane, offensive, suggestive, or just plain questionable once you sound them out. And yes, if you think reading them out loud helps, that’s usually how they get caught.

I Appreciate The Secretary Of State Not Being A Jerk About The Rejected List

Alexi Giannoulias even had some fun with the list, poking gentle fun at a few of the submissions and reminding drivers that while creativity is encouraged, basic decency still applies. The state has rules against anything that could be interpreted as vulgar, insulting, or confusing for law enforcement. That last part matters, because if a police officer has to squint and mentally decode your plate, it’s probably not getting approved.

Some of the rejected plates from the 2025 list include things like ICUP, IBPOOPN, BDASMOM, PRIUSSY, and TYPESHT, which all sound innocent… until they very much don’t. Others were denied simply because they could be read multiple ways, and the wrong way was enough to earn them a permanent spot on Illinois’ “do not issue” list.

That’s another important point: once a plate idea is rejected, it doesn’t just disappear. It gets added to a growing statewide list of combinations that can never be approved in the future. Somewhere out there is a database full of dreams that went a little too far.

Here's Illinois Secretary Of State Alexi Giannoulias laying down the rejection law: