Maryland · driver license numbers
Maryland driver license number format checker.
Enter a Maryland driver license number to see whether it fits the pattern the Maryland MVA states: a letter followed by 12 numbers.
Your number
Result
The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration states the rule in its Interactive Driver and Vehicle Record Inquiry user guide: "the driver's license number must start with a letter followed by 12 numbers". That is 13 characters in all. This checker applies that rule and tells you what is wrong when an entry does not fit.
Where the rule comes from
The sentence appears twice in the MVA user guide, once under Driver Record Search by Customer ID and again under Vehicle Record Search by Customer ID. In the first, the Customer ID field accepts either an MD ID or a license number. The guide is for an inquiry system in which the user must supply a "DPPA Reason", the reason for access under the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act, so it is a record service for people with permissible access, not a public tool for looking someone up. The guide shows no date. Read 2026-11-01.
Do not confuse it with the other numbers in the same guide
The same guide gives separate rules for other identifiers, which is a common source of mix-ups:
| Identifier | Rule in the guide |
|---|---|
| Driver license number | Starts with a letter followed by 12 numbers |
| Vehicle title number | 8 digits, or a letter followed by 7 digits |
| VIN field | 1 to 19 letters and numbers, no punctuation or spaces |
| Tag number | Up to 7 characters, with a vehicle class |
| FEIN (businesses) | 9 digits |
A title number written as a letter and 7 digits is only eight characters, so it will fail this checker, as it should.
What the checker tests
It removes spaces and hyphens and capitalizes letters, then checks that the first character is a letter, that there are exactly 12 characters after it, and that those 12 are all digits. If the first character is a zero or a one it suggests the letter O, I or L, which are easy to mistake for digits.
| You type | Result | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A123456789012 | Fits | One letter, 12 digits. |
| A-123-456-789-012 | Fits | Hyphens are ignored. |
| A12345678901 | Does not fit | Only 11 digits after the letter. |
| 1123456789012 | Does not fit | Starts with a digit, not a letter. |
| A12345678901O | Does not fit | The last character is the letter O. |
Limits
A match means the entry has the shape the MVA describes. It does not show that the number was issued or that a license is valid, and this page never contacts the MVA. The guide states the rule for its lookup form and says nothing about older cards, so this page does not either. Other searches in the guide use a name and date of birth instead; the name search returns the public 36-month driver record. The sibling checkers cover Texas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Illinois, and driver license validity by state covers how long licenses last.
FAQ
What is the format of a Maryland driver license number?
A letter followed by 12 numbers, 13 characters in all. The MVA user guide says "the driver's license number must start with a letter followed by 12 numbers".
Is a Maryland vehicle title number the same format?
No. The same guide says a title number is 8 digits, or a letter followed by 7 digits.
Why does the MVA lookup ask for a DPPA reason?
The guide requires a DPPA Reason for its record searches, a reference to the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act. It is a record inquiry system, not an open public lookup.
Can I search a Maryland driver record without the number?
The guide describes a Driver Record Search by Name and Date of Birth that uses first name, last name and date of birth and returns a 36-month driver record, the public portion of the record.
Does a number that fits mean the license is valid?
No. This page checks only the letter-plus-12-digits shape and never contacts the MVA.
Do I enter hyphens?
The MVA rule describes a letter and 12 numbers with no punctuation. This checker ignores spaces and hyphens so a number copied from a document still reads correctly.
Sources
Retrieved 2026-11-01. Each source was opened and read against the claim next to it.
- Maryland MVA, Interactive Driver and Vehicle Record Inquiry, User Guide: the letter-plus-12-numbers rule (stated under both Customer ID searches), DPPA Reason requirement, the name and date of birth search, and the title, VIN, tag and FEIN formats.
General information only
This page is general information, not legal, compliance or financial advice. Rules, formats and registries change, and your facts may differ. Confirm anything that matters with the issuing agency or a qualified professional. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Common mix-ups
-
Often assumedA Maryland driver license number is just digits, like Texas or Pennsylvania.
What the source saysThe MVA user guide says the driver license number must start with a letter followed by 12 numbers, so it has 13 characters and begins with a letter. [1]
-
Often assumedThe MVA record inquiry is an open public lookup anyone can use with a license number.
What the source saysThe guide requires a DPPA Reason, a statement of permissible access, for its record searches, and the name-based search it describes returns only the public 36-month record. [1]
Checked against these sources on .