The Spinoff has delved into 10 years of NZTA data to bring you the rudest, creepiest and most B4TSHT rejected plate requests.
New Zealand’s love for personalised number plates goes way back. Even before we could hoon around the streets of Henderson or Hamilton or Hoon Hay in our custom-plate-carrying Corollas, we were influencing the world. According to the Press in 1975, it was the NZ-1 plates of the New Zealand high commissioner in London – obtained in the 1950s from a northern Irish motorist to whom they’d been randomly assigned – that launched the personalised plate craze in the UK.
As of 2025, there were 334,789 registered vehicles carrying personalised plates in New Zealand – just under 7% of the total 4.9 million or so – according to NZTA data. The Spinoff has crunched the numbers to determine that the personalised number plate capital of Aotearoa is the West Coast, where 9.3% of registered vehicles carry them. Our love for wacky plates is only growing stronger, too: the number of personalised plates on registered vehicles has risen at a far greater rate than the size of the vehicle fleet, with 64% more snazzy plates since 2016, compared to a 20% rise in registered vehicles.
But more have been rejected, too. Just nine plates were disallowed in 2016, compared to 46 in 2026 – an 80% increase in 10 years. The official provider of personalised plates in Aotearoa is KiwiPlates, which follows guidelines to determine whether a requested plate is offensive, unsociable or confusing (the latter is usually sequences of similar letters or numbers). Often, applications for “message plates”, those with extra words on the plate surround, trigger a rejection even if the main combo is not offensive by itself. A cancellation fee of $100 is charged if your plate application is rejected (the plates themselves cost anywhere between $599 to $2,499). Applicants can appeal, and sometimes KiwiPlates escalates the matter to NZTA to decide.
So are drivers getting naughtier or are the authorities getting tougher? It could be the latter. The Spinoff made an Official Information Act request to NZTA for a decade of declined plates data, and alongside some of the nixed alphanumeric combos were explanatory notes. One of those, beside SHT2DO, rejected in 2019, reads “no longer allowing things that reference swear words”.
That’s not to say it was a free-for-all before that, with FXXK rejected way back in 2016, and FATRSE, FBOMB, A22HOL and V8MILF rebuffed in 2018. That same year, C11NTY met its demise following a complaint – a note helpfully explains that the motorist who had it was not allowed to replace it with POMMYC, and ended up with BR1STL (a city replete with POMMY C11NTS, perhaps?). CUCK, meanwhile, was declined in 2019.
From 2020, according to another note, plates including “ho” or “hoe” (bad news for gardening fans) were no longer allowed, which was the end of the road for HOEKAB, HOBAIT, GETNHO and LZGOHO. SHTBOX, SHTCR8, PSOSHT, OHHSHIT, R4TSHT and B4TSHT were all declined in 2020 or in the years that followed, as were 1BIGMF, MERKN, F YES, FNGOOD, IDFC and even F4NNIE. BLOODY was deemed too rude, as the bottom caption was going to be HELL. BOOBYS, sadly, was revoked in 2021, and FLPTHE with the bottom caption “BIRD” was declined in 2024.
It’s not just English profanities that can be deemed too offensive for the road. Swear words and insults in an array of non-English languages have been recalled in recent years, often after complaints from members of the public who understand Samoan (KEFE), Russian (VIIEBU), Italian (CAZZO and FNCULO), German (FOTZE) and Chinese languages (DIULEI, ON9U, CNMB). PRODDY, meanwhile, which is usually derogatory Irish slang for Protestant, was rejected last year, even though the caption above was going to be “Proud to be a”.
Plates considered too political are often rejected, with a handful of Gaza-related applications declined in 2023 including PLSTNE, with “Love Gaza” above and “Lives Matter” below; and BDS0, with “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” above and “Free Palestine” below. In 2020, BIDEN with the caption “For President” below was rejected. It was a weird year, 2020, and the motorist who was not allowed the plate ILUVM, with the top caption “Dr. Ashley Bloomfield”, may now feel quite relieved about that. In 2024, FLUXON was deemed a no-go, which is pretty rough if the applicant was a physicist who had no beef with the prime minister.
Intended meaning counts for little in the world of personalised plates, however. PLZB18 was declined in 2021, despite the applicant’s innocent explanation that it referred to their Honda’s B18 motor. WKNBKE, with the caption “Gotta love a” above it, was also not a goer, even though the requester claimed it was a wholesome tribute to “a friend who gets up every morning at 3:30 to bake for their hungry friends”. Last year RQQTER was declined, despite the person who wanted it supplying an explanation that was “practical”. Sadly, said explanation is not provided.
On the topic of sexual connotations, plenty of plates have been rejected for that reason, including HORNI, JIZZUM, CUMRAG, ISQURT, W3TPSY, SPERMY, ST1FFY, JKUL8, INSMN8, O6GASM, OR6ASM, 0RGSM, OUGASM and 4GASM. An array of 69-referencing plates have been declined (694HER, WANA69, 69UBJ, 69PUSS, TAXI69), as were ILOVBJ and FLATIO. The bottom caption “BEN & JERRY’S DUH” did nothing to help the case for LUVBJ last year. If you think those are icky, may I present to you SEXTRL, with the top caption “Hide” and the bottom caption “Your Mum”. AROUSL, with the puzzling bottom caption “Thank you WINZ”, was also declined.
Speaking of government departments, IRD5UX was declined in 2020. It’s also not OK for your car to proclaim to H8WOFS, as an applicant found last year.
Plates with threatening or criminal connotations are requested – and rejected – regularly: the likes of THUGNZ, M0B5TR, GANGZ, H1TMN, RE0FND, BASHED, MURD3D, RUNOVA, H8PIGS, and DRPNUT (with “Bet you will” above and “When you see this” below). Drug references are not viewed favourably (see WKNBKE above), such as NE BUD, CNABIZ, SHRO0M, KOKAIN and PCOOK, and nor is declaring that you’re 2DRUNK (revoked in 2021).
To end on some good news, NUTSAX is officially A-OK, but apparently only if it’s intended to raise awareness of testicular cancer. Perhaps if BOOBYS had been accessorised with a pink ribbon, it could’ve lived to see another day.
