FAQ: commonly used place name abbreviations
Surnames moderators
version 1.4 (May 12, 2000)
Articles in the soc.genealogy.surnames.* newsgroups and the associated
SURNAMES-* mailing lists use standard abbreviations in the subject
line. The use of standard abbreviations allows for consistent and
thorough searches based on place when searching the message
archives. Abbreviations also help to keep subject lines short, for
those whose mail or news software sets limits on subject line
length. Most of the same abbreviations are used with the Rootsweb
Surname List.
The complete list of abbreviations is available on the web at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~surnames/abbrev-list.html
or by e-mail (see below). A brief description of the list:
These abbreviations are a collection of United States and Canadian
postal codes, Chapman codes, three letter ISO codes for nations,
Norwegian standard county codes, Swiss canton postal abbreviations,
plus many abbreviations we invented for historic German and Austrian
states and other areas. The list is a joint effort with contributions
by Kurt Baudendistel, John D. von Bergen, Christian Carey, Jim
Eggert, Reinhold Herrmann, Karen Isaacson, Gordon McDaniel, Bill
Mills, Franz Quint, Siegried Rambaum, Michael Stamm, and Herbert
Stoyan.
Canada
Use the standard two-letter postal abbreviations for provinces, and
add ",CAN". Note that "CA" is normally assumed to mean California,
USA, and there are many place names common to both Canada and
California. (Ontario, CA can be confused with the city east of Los
Angeles, for example.) Examples:
Quebec QC,CAN Nova Scotia NS,CAN
USA
Use the standard two-letter postal abbreviations for states, and add
",USA". This helps clarify the meaning for readers outside of North
America, and avoids certain ambiguous cases (AK,USA is Alaska, AK,NOR
is Akershus). Examples:
North Carolina NC,USA Hawaii HI,USA
British Isles
Use Chapman 3-letter codes for counties, with country codes:
England ENG Ireland IRL
Northern Ireland NIR Scotland SCT
Wales WLS
Examples:
Limerick LIM,IRL Monmouthshire MON,WLS
There are also abbreviations for Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and
other nearby islands.
Continental Europe
Codes are provided for many cantons, counties, old German states, etc.
Some of the national codes include:
Austria AUT Belgium BEL
Bulgaria BGR Czech Republic CZE
Denmark DNK Finland FIN
France FRA Germany DEU
Greece GRC Hungary HUN
Italy ITA Netherlands NLD
Norway NOR Poland POL
Portugal PRT Romania ROM
Russia RUS Spain ESP
Sweden SWE Switzerland CHE
For a cross-reference to the changing states and borders of Germany
and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries, see
"FAQ: soc.genealogy.surnames.german place codes since 1815" at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~surnames/german-codes-1815
For an explanation of place names and a list of codes for Germany and
Austria before 1806, see "FAQ: soc.genealogy.surnames.german Holy Roman
Empire Place Codes" at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~surnames/hrcodes
Many other countries of the world are included in the complete
list, which is available on the world wide web at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~surnames/abbrev-list.html
For help with abbreviations, or if you'd like to have the complete
list e-mailed to you, ask the soc.genealogy.surnames moderators at
surname...@rootsweb.com.