How NHPlates works

An independent reference built from the NH DMV's own published plate roster and a curated database of observed plate records — with honest labels about what we know and when we knew it.

1

You give us meaning

Up to five words that matter — names, hobbies, places — plus your favorite letters and numbers, and a style preference.

2

We generate & validate

A deterministic engine combines, shortens, and remixes your words, and folds in your favorite letters and numbers. Every candidate must pass a real plate type's documented length and character rules before you ever see it.

3

Pro checks the records

On Pro, each idea is cross-referenced against our observed plate records and labeled taken, likely open, or unknown — with the observation date.

Where the format rules come from

The plate type catalog — names, maximum lengths, character rules, and who may request each type — is sourced from the NH DMV's own Complete List of Plate Types and its Vanity Plates and Plate Types web pages, kept dated, and versioned whenever it changes. New Hampshire vanity plates print no fixed prefix and follow no letters-then-digits grammar the way some states' specialty plates do — they're free-form up to each type's documented maximum length, and we say so plainly rather than inventing a pattern the DMV never published.

What "taken", "likely open", and "unknown" mean

  • Taken — a current record shows the plate number attached to a registration (including suspended or revoked plates, which are still not requestable).
  • Likely open — the most recent reliable observation found the plate number unheld (cancelled, expired, or confirmed not found). We always show the observation date, and we always say: confirm with the DMV before counting on it.
  • Unknown — our records have no reliable answer. Our database is a curated collection of observations, nowhere near every plate New Hampshire has issued, so absence from our records is not evidence of availability.

We never claim a plate is guaranteed available to register. Only the DMV can tell you that, at the moment you apply.

Data freshness

Plate records carry the date they were last observed, and every availability label shows its date. If a date looks old, treat the answer as old.

What the Idea Finder will never suggest

Plate types with a real eligibility gate (veteran plates, Purple Heart plates, and similar) only appear when you explicitly select that category, with the DMV's own eligibility wording shown beside them. New Hampshire's low-number "reserved" plates aren't part of this catalog at all — see the Low Plate Board page for why.

Independence

NHPlates is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles. Plate imagery is stylized for preview purposes.

Try the Idea Finder