There are 50 USA states, including Alaska near the arctic and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. Originally there were 13 states located on the East Coast, which were ruled by England until 1776. Today, each state establishes laws, but they are ruled by the Federal Government. Most curriculums will require students to learn how to spell each state correctly as well as know its abbreviation.
United States Worksheets
Our elementary school introduces the fifty states in fifth grade. Each student must be able to identify the location of each state. We created the two worksheets above to offer assistance. After a child knows the location of each state, they are then expected to be able to spell each state correctly. Our fifth grade spelling program divided the 50 states into 3 sections. We created the following worksheets to help your child learn how to spell the fifty states correctly.
USA States and Capitals
We listed the 50 USA states and capitals below as well as an abbreviation, meaning of the state name and date of entry into the union.
State | Abbr | Capital | Date of Entry | Meaning of State Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | AL | Montgomery | 1819 | Choctaw - thicket clearers |
Alaska | AK | Juneau | 1959 | Inuit - great land |
Arizona | AZ | Phoenix | 1912 | Papago - place of small spring |
Arkansas | AR | Little Rock | 1836 | Quapaw - south wind |
California | CA | Sacramento | 1850 | Spanish - earthly paradise |
Colorado | CO | Denver | 1876 | Spanish - red (color of the earth) |
Connecticut | CT | Hartford | 1788 | Mohican - at the long tidal river |
Delaware | DE | Dover | 1787 | Named for Lord De La Warr, an English governor |
Florida | FL | Tallahassee | 1845 | Spanish - feast of flowers |
Georgia | GA | Atlanta | 1788 | Named for George II of England |
Hawaii | HI | Honolulu | 1959 | Hawaiian - homeland |
Idaho | ID | Boise | 1890 | Shoshone - light on the mountain |
Illinois | IL | Springfield | 1818 | Algonquin - warriors |
Indiana | IN | Indianapolis | 1816 | English - land of the Indians |
Iowa | IA | Des Moines | 1846 | Dakota - the sleepy one |
Kansas | KS | Topeka | 1861 | Sioux - land of the south wind people |
Kentucky | KY | Frankfort | 1792 | Iroquois - meadow land |
Louisiana | LA | Baton Rouge | 1812 | Named for Louis XIV of France |
Maine | ME | Augusta | 1820 | Named after a French province |
Maryland | MD | Annapolis | 1788 | Named for Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I of England |
Massachusetts | MA | Boston | 1788 | Algonquin - place of the big hill |
Michigan | MI | Lansing | 1837 | Chippewa - big water |
Minnesota | MN | St. Paul | 1858 | Dakota Sioux - sky-colored water |
Mississippi | MS | Jackson | 1817 | Chippewa - big river |
Missouri | MO | Jefferson City | 1821 | Algonquin - river of the big canoes |
Montana | MT | Helena | 1889 | Spanish - mountains |
Nebraska | NE | Lincoln | 1867 | Omaha - river in the flatness |
Nevada | NV | Carson City | 1864 | Spanish - snowy |
New Hampshire | NH | Concord | 1788 | Named after an English county |
New Jersey | NJ | Trenton | 1787 | Named after Isle of Jersey in England |
New Mexico | NM | Santa Fe | 1912 | Named after Mexico (Aztec war god, Mextli) |
New York | NY | Albany | 1788 | Named for the Duke of York and Albany |
North Carolina | NC | Raleigh | 1789 | Named for Charles I and Charles II of England |
North Dakota | ND | Bismarck | 1889 | Sioux - friend |
Ohio | OH | Columbus | 1803 | Iroquois - fine or good river |
Oklahoma | OK | Oklahoma City | 1907 | Choctaw - red people |
Oregon | OR | Salem | 1859 | Spanish - land of wild sage |
Pennsylvania | PA | Harrisburg | 1787 | Named for William Penn and Latin woodland |
Rhode Island | RI | Providence | 1790 | Dutch - red clay |
South Carolina | SC | Columbia | 1788 | Named for Charles I and Charles II of England |
South Dakota | SD | Pierre | 1889 | Sioux - friend |
Tennessee | TN | Nashville | 1796 | Cherokee settlement name, Tanasi |
Texas | TX | Austin | 1845 | Spanish - allies |
Utah | UT | Salt Lake City | 1896 | Ute - people of the mountains |
Vermont | VT | Montpelier | 1791 | French - green mountain |
Virginia | VA | Richmond | 1788 | Named for Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen Of England |
Washington | WA | Olympia | 1889 | Named for George Washington |
West Virginia | WV | Charlestown | 1863 | Resulted from Virginia's western counties refusing to seceded from US in 1863 |
Wisconsin | WI | Madison | 1848 | Chippewa - grassy place |
Wyoming | WY | Cheyenne | 1890 | Algonquin - place of the big flats |
Source: Fry, E.B., Ph.D. & Kress, J.E., Ed.D. (2006). The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists 5th Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
Merriam-Webster Children’s Dictionary (2008)
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