Your name, on a plate.

Type a name, word or short phrase. You'll get every DVLA‑legal registration that reads like it, closest match first.

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How plates read

Every plate is checked against DVLA's format rules first. Then it's scored on how much it bends the word: the fewer and more natural the swaps, the higher the match. Only plates scoring 70% or more are listed.

Numbers that look like letters

Numbers that sound like words

GR8, K8, B4, 2DAY.

Letters that stand in for others

Respellings like Y for I or K for CK, and look-alikes like V for U.

Shortening and padding

Dropped letters. Vowels, the second of a double letter and a silent H can go, as in SR11 LNK for SRI LANKA. The first letter of each word always stays.
Pieces of the word. Long names are also tried as shorter parts, like ROB and BERT from ROBERT, or each word of a phrase.
Padding. A filler 1 (SAM 1), OO in front of a current-style plate (OO51 MON), or the last letter repeated at the end (BO55 SSS).

Why isn't the plate I expected listed?

It may score under 70%. Plates that bend the word too far aren't listed, so try a shorter spelling or a nickname.
Current style (AB12 CDE) can't use I, Q or Z in its first two letters.
The two numbers on a current-style plate must be an age identifier DVLA has released.
I and Q never appear in the last three letters of a current-style plate.
Prefix and suffix year letters can't be I, O, Q, U or Z, and their three-letter groups can't use I, Q or Z.
Dateless plates can only use I or Z as part of a Northern Ireland code (like IL or AZ), and only Northern Ireland marks pair three letters with four numbers.
Q is reserved for vehicles of unknown age, so it never appears on a personalised plate.