State abbreviations were created to make addresses shorter. That’s it. The history behind state abbreviations isn’t as complex as the stories behind state names or capitals, but the abbreviations themselves have evolved and been shortened over time. Every time you write out your address, you write your state’s abbreviation, but what about the other 49? How many state abbreviations can you remember, and how fast can you type each one?

Testing how quickly you can pair each abbreviation with its state is a great way to refresh your geography knowledge and make it easier to remember abbreviations when mailing letters to friends in other states. The challenge is both memorizing the abbreviations and recalling them rapidly. So, can you match every state to its abbreviation without hesitation? In 3…2…1… 

How many abbreviations were you able to fly through before getting stuck? Did you name all 50, or did a few of them stump you? For some states, such as Maryland (MD) and Louisiana (LA), the abbreviations are straightforward, just the first and last letters. In contrast, states like Nebraska (NE) and Missouri (MO) had abbreviations that were possibly harder to remember. Share this Sporcle quiz with your friends to see who can match all 50 state abbreviations the fastest! 

ADDRESSES AND ABBREVIATIONS

Postal abbreviations date back to 1831, when only a few states had their names shortened. For example, Arkansas was “Ar. T.,” Massachusetts was “Ms.,” and California, Arizona, and Nevada were among those without abbreviations. The list was revised and updated in 1874 and once more in 1943, before the United States Postal Service implemented a standardized system.

In July 1963, 5-digit zip codes were introduced, meaning that state names had to be shortened to fit the 23-character limit imposed by addressing equipment. Initially, some state abbreviations were three or four letters long, but that still exceeded the allowable space. By October of that year, the USPS decided that each state abbreviation would be two characters, many of which looked quite different from the longer versions used in the previous century.

Although some abbreviations may appear random, there is actually a pattern behind them. Several states use the first and last letters of their names; others use the first two letters. A few combine the first letter with the first consonant (as in Arizona’s AZ), and most two-word states use the initial letter of each word.

THE LAST AMENDMENT

That brings us to 1969. 

The only change ever made to the USPS abbreviation system pertained to Nebraska. Originally, Nebraska’s abbreviation included a “B,” and in 1963, the USPS designated it as “NB.” However, a few years later, they realized this was too similar to the Canadian province of New Brunswick. As a result, in 1969, Nebraska’s abbreviation was changed to “NE,” aligning with the pattern of using the state’s first two letters. All other state abbreviations have remained unchanged.

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