FAQ: commonly used place name abbreviations

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
surnames-admin@rootsweb.com.