STATE NAMES
Follow these Guidelines from the AP Stylebook:
STANDING ALONE: Spell out the names of the 50 U.S. states
when they stand alone in textual material. Use the two-letter Postal Service
abbreviations only with full addresses, which include
a ZIP code.
EIGHT NOT ABBREVIATED: The names of eight states are never
abbreviated in datelines or text: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio,
Texas and Utah. (Memory Aid: Spell out the names of the two states that are
not part of the contiguous United States and of the continental states that
are five letters or fewer.)
ABBREVIATIONS REQUIRED: Use the state abbreviations listed
in this section:
- In conjunction with the name of a city, town, village or military base in
most datelines. (See the datelines section of the Stylebook for examples
and exceptions for large cities.)
- In conjunction with the name of a city, county, town, villlage or military
base in text. (See examples in punctuation section below. See datelines
for guidelines on when a city name may stand alone in the body of a story.)
- In short-form listings of party affiliation: D-Ala., R-Mont. (See party
affiliation entry for details.)
| Following are the state abbreviations: |
In datelines, city names are written in all caps. The following U.S. cities stand alone without being followed by the state: |
| Ala. |
Md. |
N.D. |
| Ariz. |
Mass. |
Okla. |
| Ark. |
Mich. |
Ore. |
| Calif. |
Minn. |
Pa. |
| Colo. |
Miss. |
RI. |
| Conn. |
Mo. |
S.C. |
| Del. |
Mont. |
S.D. |
| Fla. |
Neb. |
Tenn. |
| Ga. |
Nev. |
Vt. |
| Ill. |
N.H. |
Va. |
| Ind. |
N.J. |
Wash. |
| Kan. |
N.M. |
W.Va. |
| Ky. |
N.Y. |
Wis. |
| La. |
N.C. |
Wyo. |
|
|
ATLANTA
BALTIMORE
BOSTON
CHICAGO
CINCINNATI
CLEVELAND
DALLAS
DENVER
DETROIT
HONOLULU
HOUSTON
INDIANAPOLIS
LAS VEGAS
LOS ANGELES
(or HOLLYWOOD in stories
about films or the film industry)
|
MIAMI
MILWAUKEE
MINNEAPOLIS
NEW ORLEANS
NEW YORK
OKLAHOMA CITY
PHILADELPHIA
PHOENIX
PITTSBURGH
ST. LOUIS
SALT LAKE CITY
SAN ANTONIO
SAN DIEGO
SAN FRANCISCO
SEATTLE
WASHINGTON
|
PUNCTUATION: Place one comma between the city and the state
name, and another comma after the state name, unless ending a sentence or indicating
a dateline. Examples:
- He was traveling from Nashville, Tenn., to Austin, Texas, en route to his
home in Albuuquerque, N.M.
- She said Cook County, Ill., was Mayor Daley's stronghold.
MISCELLANEOUS: Use New York state when necessary to distinguish
the state from New York City.
Use state of Washington or Washington state when necessary to distinguish the
state from the District of Columbia.
(Washington State is the name of a university in the state of Washington.)