How are state abbreviations decided?
Take the first two letters of the state name to form the abbreviation (such as IN for Indiana) Take the first and last letter of the state name to form the abbreviation (such as GA for Georgia) Take the first and last letter of the old state’s abbreviation (for example, Alaska used to be abbreviated to ALSK, hence AK.
How did the states get their 2 letter abbreviations?
To make room for the ZIP Code, state names needed to be abbreviated. The Department provided an initial list of abbreviations in June 1963, but many had three or four letters, which was still too long. In October 1963, the Department settled on the current two-letter abbreviations.
Why is Pennsylvania PA and not PE?
Pennsylvania is abbreviated PA because of the creation of zipcodes and the U.S. Postal Service. When there wasn’the already any attempts at a standardized abbreviation system to help with zipcodes, they created their own. Thus, the old system of abbreviations held on. This is why Pennsylvania is called PA.
How are abbreviations created?
Abbreviations are shortened forms of words; acronyms are abbreviations formed by using the first letter of each word to form a pronounceable word. Contractions are also abbreviations formed by using an apostrophe to show omitted letters or numbers.
