NH Division of Motor Vehicles
NH Division of Motor Vehicles - an official New Hampshire Government Website
Smaller text size Reset text size Larger text size
skip navigation

Registration > Initial "Vanity" Plates

How to Request an Initial Plate

The process to obtain Initial "Vanity" Plates must begin at the town or city level like most other registration transactions. To apply for a new Initial Plate, you must fill out the Application for Initial Plates Adobe Acrobat Reader Symbol.

Fees

The cost is your town/city and state registration fees, plus $40 (each year) for the Initial Plate fee, plus the $8 plate fee (one time fee). Please note: There is an additional $30 cost for Conservation (Moose) Plates, and an additional $85 charge for the State Park Plate.

All Initial Plate requests shall meet the following restrictions:

  1. Letters only (at least two, and "O" cannot be one of the two).
  2. A combination of at least two letters and numbers.
  3. A combination of at least two letters and symbols.
  4. A combination of at least two letters, symbols, and numbers.
  5. There can be no spaces.
  6. The only symbols available are: Dash (-), Ampersand (&), and Plus (+).
  7. No two symbols can appear consecutively.
Initial Plate Type Maximum Letters/Numbers
Passenger Seven characters
Apportioned, Conservation, Commercial, Trailer, Veteran, and Parks Plate Six characters
Parks Conservation Plate Four characters
Antique Six characters (four with Old Man Replica)
Walking Disability, Purple Heart, and Street Rod Four characters
Motorcycle Five characters (ampersand (&) not available)
Veteran Motorcycle Four characters (Ampersand not available)
Purple Heart Motorcycle Three characters (two must be letters, Ampersand not available)

Please note, pursuant to Administrative Rule 514.61:

  • Initial Plates shall not have the identical or similar combination of characters as any other classification of plate.
  • Initial Plates shall not be capable of an obscene interpretation.
  • Initial Plates shall not be ethnically, racially, or which a reasonable person would find offensive to good taste.
  • The Division of Motor Vehicles reserves the right to recall Initial Plates if they are determined to be unacceptable or a complaint is received from the public.

All vanity plates are centered by the graphic on the plate (Old Man, Flag, etc.), and not by the center of the plate.

You may check on the availability of an Initial Plate by visiting our Initial Plate Search. Please note that although this Initial Plate Search feature may indicate that your plate choice is available, it cannot save the plate for you and as a result, the plate may not be available when you visit our office. Please note that the graphic showing how your plate will look in this search is not an accurate representation of the actual manufactured plate.

Adobe Acrobat Reader Symbol Adobe Acrobat Reader format. You can download a free reader from Adobe.


New Hampshire Division of Motor Vehicles | 23 Hazen Drive | Concord, NH 03305
TDD Access: Relay NH (800) 735-2964