18 Of The Best Personalised Number Plate Ideas Ever!

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New private number plate ideas are hard to come by. If you’ve searched for your name or initials and not found anything you like, you may be tempted to give up looking…

…we know, we’ve been there in the past!

This post is guaranteed to give you the inspiration you need and at least a couple of new ideas for your next personalised reg plate, so read on!

Before we jump in though and give you our 18 best ideas for private number plates, we want to clear up an issue we’ve encountered many times over the years with people who aren’t clear on how the UK vehicle registration system works.

Vehicle registrations in the UK have to follow one of the formats shown in the image below.

numberplatestyles

As you can see, all types of number plate include at least one number (we’re not as fortunate as our American friends who can just have words on their registrations).

Because all registrations have to include a number, you will often see numbers being used in place of letters; however, you cannot just swap them wherever and whenever you like e.g. R383CC4 or ST3V3N, you have to stick to one of the formats above, with the spacing as shown above too.

Autonumerology – the art of exchanging numbers for letters on plates

Okay, so we've established that numbers can be used to represent letters, but which numbers look like letters? The below image should help give you some ideas.

Cool, cheap private number plate ideas

We could go on forever with those and the list isn't exhaustive (some other numbers can be used as well as the ones above e.g. J6 COB still clearly says JACOB despite using a 6 rather than a 4 in the place of an A), but the numbers and letters in the above list are generally the better substitutes.  

The 18 best personalised number plate ideas.

Okay, now we've covered the different styles of plate, and auto numerology, let’s move onto the good bit and give you some of the coolest and best ideas for your next private number plate.

1. Your name

Probably the most common form of personalised number plate, and often the most desirable, having your name on your plate can really make a statement.

Some of the best we’ve seen include P3 TER, K4 REN, D4 VID, S7 EVE, R4 LPH (which was actually for sale on our website some years ago) and many more. Unfortunately, many of the best ‘name’ plates have been snapped up and many of the owners aren’t keen to sell them either, however, you will sometimes find some on the ‘second hand’ market, being advertised by dealers, or on classifieds sites like ours (try typing your name into the search box at the top of the page to see if your name is available!).

2. Your initials

Many people don’t want to display their full name on their plate, but still want to hide the age of their vehicle and add a touch of class to it; ‘initial’ plates are the perfect way to do both.

You can pick up a prefix plate (e.g. A1 ABC) from just £250 from the DVLA, however, if you want a dateless version (e.g. 1 KDM) then you’ll need to look on the second-hand market, and be prepared to pay a lot more for it.

3. Your job or business

Whether you’re proud of your profession or are looking to promote your own business, a personalised plate can be a great way to stand out on the road and get people talking.

They tend to get photographed and shared on social media a lot, making them a great advertising tool. Pimlico Plumbers is a great example of this, having people talking about them all the time due to their quality registration plates. 

We’ve seen some great examples of these over the years, such as plates ending in GYM for a gym owner, RUG for a carpet fitter, LOO for a plumber, LOX for a locksmith, PUB for a landlord and much more.

Some business plates can even spell out a businesses name, for example, we sold the plate ET11 HAD via our website, which almost perfectly spells the name of a popular airline.

4. Your hobbies

If you’re passionate about something, then a personalised number plate can be a great way to tell the world. In the same way that people get tattoos of their beloved football clubs emblems, people are now buying private plates to show their support as well.

There are lots of adoring fans with KOP plates in Liverpool, or Bolton Wanderers fans with *8 WFC plates. You can really be imaginative here, but to give you some ideas, we’ve seen plates like 2 PAR or T33 OFF for a golf enthusiast, D4 RTS, MUS 1C, BOX 111G etc.

5. Your personality

Whether you’re 80 SSY, S3 XXY, or even a G1 PPO, there are tons of registrations that can express your personality.

5. Your car make/model

Use your imagination here as there are literally thousands of combinations available, including plates like L4 MBO as well as ones featuring R8, M3, M5, M6, S3, S4, S60, BMW, CLK, BNZ, JAG, VAG, AUD, VW, XKR, XJF and many more. We wouldn't suggest spending too much on this type of plate, as it can become obsolete when you change vehicle. 

6. Your age/date of birth

Maybe you were born in 1960, or maybe you’re getting a plate as a gift for an 18th/21st/40th birthday? Either way, why not look for one of these numbers on your plate rather than some meaningless digits?

7. V6, V8, V12

Not much explaining needed here, if you’re a bit of a petrolhead and have a car with a V6, V8 or V12 engine, then you can pick up a nice cheap prefix plate such as V6 *** (the stars possibly being your initials), which will add a touch of class to your car and hide the age of it!

8. MR (M12)

M12 prefix plates can easily be read as MR and can be picked up cheaply (from as little as £250), so why not have a look if M12 followed by your name or initials is available?

9. MISS (M155)

M155 plates quite clearly read Miss, so if you’ve still not found the one yet, or you’ve not made it official, then why not have a look at M155 followed by your name or initials?

10. MS (M5)

It’s quite rare to see women using this title nowadays, but in the past, Ms. was a title used by ladies who preferred to keep their marital status private. Why not see if M5 followed by your name or initials is available?

11. HI (H1)

Want to say Hi to random passers by and other drivers? Why not do it on your number plate, with H1 followed by your initials.

12. F1 

Are you an F1 Fan? Or maybe you just have a fast car? Why not get F1 at the start of your plate? The F registrations were only released in 2008 so there may still be a chance of picking one of these beauties up from the DVLA.

13. FAST (FA57)

Guaranteed to get boy racers revving next to you at the lights, a FA57 plate certainly gets attention and on the right car, looks great!

14. JUST (JU57)

We’ve seen some great just plates over the years, such as JU57 WED on a wedding car, JU57 LUK (which was for sale on our website recently), JU57 JOE, JU57 VXR, JU57 MAX etc. etc. Get creative and see what you can come up with.

15. BIG (B19 or B16)

Often found on cars driven by large blokes, B19/B16 plates can be picked up relatively cheaply and are guaranteed to ensure that people won’t cut you up in traffic!

16. HIS (H15)

This speaks for itself, H15 can be used at the start of a plate, followed by 3 letters, e.g. H15 BMW, H15 JAG etc.

17. VIP (V1 P**)

We’ve seen several V1P plates knocking around, and whilst they do make you stand out (some might argue for the wrong reasons), they also require illegal spacing so don’t be surprised if you are pulled over and/or fined for displaying one of these plates.

18. Phonetics

Phonetics are often underused but can be a great way to get your name on your plate if you are otherwise struggling. The way to do this is to spell the name on the plate as it sounds. A good example of this is the name Hugo, which as a 4 letter name can be hard to accommodate on a number plate, however, using phonetics we could have the plate H3 WGO.

That’s it…

Phew! We’re all out of ideas (for now at least)

However, we will be updating this page regularly as and when new ideas spring to mind!

If your mind is now racing with ideas and you want to know where to look, then you need to read our article about the cheapest place to buy number plates or, feel free to search for your perfect plate on our website and get in direct contact with the seller. We're a marketplace so all the plates you see on our site are being advertised directly by their owners.

Thanks for reading and happy searching!

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