Abbreviating States' Names

[Chuck Banks <chuck -at- ASL -dot- DL -dot- NEC -dot- COM>]

No, Margaret, there is no rule.

First, the two-letter codes are postal codes and not
abbreviations of states' names.  The usual abbreviations
of states' names are the first three or four letters of
the name followed by a period.  This is not general,
however, as N.Y. has been the abbreviation for New York
forever and ever, Amen.

Alabama -- Ala.
Alaska -- none
Arkansas -- Ark.
Arizona -- Ariz.
California -- Calif.
Colorado -- Colo.
Connecticut -- Conn.
Delaware -- Del.
Florida -- Fla.
Georgia -- Ga.
Hawaii -- Ha.
Idaho -- none
Indiana -- Ind.
Iowa -- none
Kansas -- Kans.
Louisianna -- La.
Maine -- none
Maryland -- Md.
Michigan -- Mich.
Minnesota -- Minn.
Mississippi -- Miss.
Montana -- Mont.
Nebraska -- Neb.
Nevada -- Nev.
New Hampshire -- N.H.
New Jersey -- N.J.
New Mexico -- N.M.
North Carolina -- N.C.
North Dakota -- N.D.
Ohio -- none
Oklahoma -- Okla.
Oregon -- Ore.
Pennsylvania -- Pa.
South Carolina -- S.C.
South Dakota -- S.D.
Tennessee -- Tenn.
Texas -- Tex.
Utah -- none
New York -- N.Y.
Rhode Island -- R.I.
Vermont -- Vt.
Washington -- Wash.
Wisconsin -- Wis.
Wyoming -- Wy.

There are more, but you get the idea.  There's no universal
pattern.  Check the geographical section of your dictionary
for the rest.

Chuck Banks
--
__        ________     ______
|\\   |  ||          //              Chuck Banks
| \\  |  ||_______  ||               Senior Technical Writer
|  \\ |  ||         ||               NEC America, Inc.
|   \\|   \\______   \\______        E-Mail:      chuck -at- asl -dot- dl -dot- nec -dot- com
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