Can You Guess the U.S. State from Its Abbreviation?
Updated: Jul. 28, 2021
You probably know the abbreviation for the state you live in—but what about the other 49? Of course, some state abbreviations are pretty obvious: "NJ" is New Jersey; "HI" is Hawaii. But some are far less intuitive. Can you figure out which states these 11 abbreviations belong to?
#1. Is “AL” the abbreviation for…
A. Alaska
or
B. Alabama?
B. Alabama
The first two states in the alphabet start with “AL,” but it’s the very first one that gets that abbreviation. See how well you know the 50 states by seeing if you can correctly identify these state capitals.
#2. Is “AK” the abbreviation for…
A. Alaska
or
B. Arkansas?
A. Alaska
Alabama might be the first U.S. state name alphabetically, but Alaska’s abbreviation, “AK,” puts it first in the list of abbreviations.
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#3. Is “AR” the abbreviation for…
A. Arkansas
or
B. Arizona?
A. Arkansas
Arizona’s abbreviation is “AZ,” and it’s actually the only state name in the United States that has the letter Z in it! Can you guess which letter doesn’t appear in any U.S. state name at all?
#4. Is “CO” the abbreviation for…
A. Connecticut
or
B. Colorado?
B. Colorado
Connecticut and Colorado both start with “CO,” but their abbreviations use their first and last letter, so Colorado’s is still “CO.” Connecticut’s abbreviation is “CT.”
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#5. Is “IA” the abbreviation for…
A. Indiana
or
B. Iowa?
B. Iowa
Iowa, the only U.S. state that starts with two consecutive vowels, actually doesn’t use those two vowels as its abbreviation! Instead, it uses “IA,” its first and last letter. There are four U.S. states that begin with I, but there’s actually no “IO.” For an even tricker state trivia quiz, see if you can identify the U.S. state from just its flag!
#6. Is “MI” the abbreviation for…
A. Michigan
or
B. Mississippi?
A. Michigan
There are more states that begin with M than any other letter—a full eight!—so their abbreviations can be tricky to keep straight. Luckily, Michigan’s abbreviation, just its first two letters, is pretty straightforward…even though there are two other states that begin with “MI.”
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#7. Is “MS” the abbreviation for…
A. Mississippi
or
B. Missouri?
A. Mississippi
Since “Mississippi” has the letter S in it four times, it makes sense that “MS” would be its abbreviation. (Although Massachusetts does too!) You probably know Mississippi from its unique, hard-but-fun-to-spell name, but we bet you didn’t know the strangest fact about every U.S. state.
#8. Is “MO” the abbreviation for…
A. Montana
B. Minnesota
or
C. Missouri?
B. Missouri
With “MI” and “MS” already taken, that makes things a little tricky for Missouri, which uses its fifth letter for the second letter in its abbreviation.
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#9. Is “MN” the abbreviation for…
A. Montana
or
B. Minnesota?
B. Minnesota
The North Star State uses “MN” as its abbreviation, leaving “MT” for Montana (which, by the way, is nicknamed the Treasure State). See if you can guess 20 U.S. states by their nicknames.
#10. Is “NE” the abbreviation for…
A. Nebraska
or
B. Nevada?
A. Nebraska
Both U.S. states that begin with N also have E as their second letter! Nevada uses its second consonant instead: “NV.”
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#11. Is “MA” the abbreviation for…
A. Massachusetts
B. Maine
or
C. Maryland?
A. Massachusetts
While Massachusetts gets its first two letters as its abbreviation, Maine (“ME”) and Maryland (“MD”) use their first and last.
Now that you know the most confusing U.S. state abbreviations, see how you fare with these other 24 U.S. state facts everyone gets wrong.
Originally Published: June 19, 2020
