We have always said that we believe we can find a number plate for everyone. That's not just a marketing slogan; we really do believe that the right registration is waiting for each customer who comes to us.
It's just a matter of matching the right person to the right plate and finding that link that connects the two.
The range of choice is dependent on a few factors, notably budget, imagination and the age of the vehicle concerned. In some cases a customer will set out on their quest with a clear preference, be it a plate displaying their name or a dateless registration to conceal the age of their car. Other customers will have got no further than deciding that they would like a personal registration.
Names
In the case of names, budget and availability will probably be the factors that most affect the success of the quest. Name plates are very popular and, depending on the quality and clarity of the name's depiction, they can also be amongst the more expensive categories - but don't panic. Premium examples such as SUS 4N, J4 MES, JUL 1E and MEG 4N, when available, will not come cheaply.
One way to make names more affordable is to forgo these near-perfect representations and find character combinations that do a good job of getting the message across but which use a few more magical illusions to do so. At Regtransfers, we call this magic Platespeak and we have a page that explains many of its tricks.
The human mind is a pretty weird thing: it has a remarkable talent for spotting patterns and meaning, and for spotting things that resemble meaning.
We've all seen those social media shares where someone has removed all the vowels from a passage of text but the passage remains readable. That's the weird human mind applying the same principles we employ when finding names and words on number plates.
So, what other ways can we find to spell 'James' on a number plate?
JAM 3S is pretty good. It's easy enough to get our minds to accept 3 as a substitute for E. JA14 MES has a couple of additional characters but, at a glance, our minds are mostly happy to ignore the 1 and the 4; we still recognise that it resembles 'James'. The fact that the 4 looks like an A helps with that.
Another way to approach the quest for one's name on a plate is to accept shortened versions and nicknames, and to accept the presence of other numbers or letters. Let's suppose that a lady named Susan is searching for a personal number plate. She's fine with accepting a diminutive version of her name, or a few extra characters just so long as the plate clearly refers to her and personalises her car. A search on Regtransfers would return a range of possibilities including plenty of SUE and SU51 plates. Additional letters and numbers might be chosen to stand for a surname or maybe to represent a date of birth.
When looking for words on number plates, the exact same principles apply as with names.
It's quite possible to find plates with more than one word: JU57 HOT ('Just hot') or JU57 BAD ('Just bad') are real attention-grabbers.
If you want a real challenge, try finding a plate that contains both a word and a name! How about JU57 NAZ for 'Just Naz' or JU57 JNE for 'Just Jane' or 'Just June'?
Some groups of registrations, such as the JU57 plates we've used in the examples above, really do provide some terrific combinations with a lot of potential.
Initials
Initials are incredibly popular. Amongst the advantages of this category is the fact that there are more than just one or two plates for any desired set of initials, which means that there can be a wider choice, relatively high availability and, very often, an affordable price tag.
Initials don't usually require the use of numbers to make up any of the letters but they will contain numbers anyway, so that's an aspect that may need to be considered. Some people are happy to accept whatever incidental numbers may occur so long as their initials appear; others will choose digits that represent a birthdate (their own or that of a child, parent or partner), an anniversary, a car model (Many Porsche owners look for 911 plates) or other meaningful number.
In some lucky instances, the numbers may resemble just the right letters to allow the owner to have their initials combined with a word. MR55 BTC, for example, could be 'Mrs BTC, and LJC 805S could be 'LJC boss', which would suit your humble scribe's wife, whose initials just happen to be LJC!
Outside the box
So there are a few tips about using Platespeak to find plates in a few of the most popular categories but there are other approaches to the personalisation issue beyond names, words and initials. If your aim is to tell the world something about yourself then the niches described above should suit but if you have other priorities then things open up further.
If your aim is to make the age of your car less obvious then dateless plates may be the way to go. Many customers are happy simply to display a registration that contains no obvious year code, while others will also want additional features such as relevant initials.
Other people, as we touched on above, seek plates that show pride in the brand or model of car that they drive, hence the popularity of 911 plates amongst Porsche fans and the high demand for BMW plates. Should the obvious choices for your own beloved vehicle be unavailable or too expensive then remember that cars have nicknames as well as people. If you've christened your car then maybe go with that or, alternatively, a recognised nickname for the brand or model, such as 'Beemer' for BMW, 'Mog' for Morgan and 'Moggy' or 'Moggie' for the Morris Minor. B33 MER would serve for the first, there are countless MOG plates for the second and MOG 61E would be just one possible rendering of the Morris nickname.
Then there are those numbers that are chosen simply for visual impact. This group would, of course, include the obvious options such as the single-letter, single-number plates - A 1, 1 A, X 1, 1 X etc. Then there are the genuinely abstract examples that rely on factors such as symmetry or repetition of one of more characters to achieve eye-catching effects that may, or may not, have meaning beyond the strong visual impact. Examples may include OO10 OOD and OO10 WOW.
Inspiration
The best sources of inspiration when on your quest for the perfect plate are probably the numbers you see around you and those you come across when searching on our website. What catches your eye on the road? What makes you look twice?
Try experimenting; as well as searching for your name and initials, try entering whatever strange combination may occur to you. Try repeating or alternating characters. Remember that you can give the impression of repetition by using similar looking numbers and letters. Go crazy. Have fun!
