Imagine having your name on your car’s license plate, only for the government to suddenly say it’s too controversial. That’s exactly what happened to 26-year-old Isis Wharton from a Sacramento suburb in California. She’s been driving around with her custom vanity plate “IAMISIS” on her white Kia since 2022, but now the California DMV wants her to change it.
The DMV reached out last week, worried that “IAMISIS” might be mistaken for the terrorist group ISIS, short for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. But Wharton isn’t backing down. She told ABC 10 that her name comes from the ancient Egyptian goddess of healing and motherhood—way before any terrorist group existed. “My name was a name thousands of years before the terrorist group,” she said. “It’s harmful to come after someone’s name like this, and they should think more carefully.”
Wharton first got approval for the personalized license plate in 2022. She’s renewed it every year without a single issue, even just a couple of months ago. The plate features bold yellow letters on a black background, framed with what looks like barbed wire. She insists it has zero connection to the ISIS terrorist organization, which the US designated as a foreign terrorist group in 2004—long after her name’s origins.
For context, ISIS evolved from an earlier group called al-Qaida in Iraq back in 2004, and rebranded in 2013, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Wharton’s story highlights how names and symbols can mean different things to different people.
She’s got until September 25 to appeal the DMV’s decision, or they’ll slap new standard plates on her car. “I was confused since I’ve had it for so long, and I was honestly super hurt,” Wharton shared with ABC Los Angeles. She thought everything was fine because there was no pushback when she first applied. “They have strict guidelines, so I was thrilled they approved it despite the controversy,” she added.
Interestingly, “ISIS” isn’t even on the California DMV’s official list of banned license plate configurations. Still, the agency can reject vanity plates if they seem offensive, misleading, or risk inciting violence—like anything tied to criminal gangs. In a statement to ABC 10, the DMV explained: “We understand that language and symbols can hold different meanings across cultures and communities. What may be a term of endearment in one context can be perceived differently in another.”
Wharton’s fight against this California DMV license plate controversy has sparked conversations about personal names, cultural sensitivity, and vanity plate rules. Will she keep her plates? Stay tuned as the deadline approaches.
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