List of demonyms for U.S. states

This is a list of official and notable unofficial terms used to designate the citizens of specific states and territories of the United States.

List

State or District	Official (recommended by U.S. GPO)[1]	Official, unofficial, or informal alternates
Alabama	Alabamian	Alabaman[2]
Alaska	Alaskan
American Samoa		American Samoan
Arizona	Arizonan	Arizonian, Sand Cutter[3]
Arkansas	Arkansan	Arkansawyer,[4] Arkie [5]
California	Californian	Californio (archaic)
Colorado	Coloradan	Coloradoan (archaic)[6][7]
Connecticut	Connecticuter	Nutmegger, Connecticotian, Connecticutensian,[8] Connecticutian, Connetian[9]
Delaware	Delawarean	Blue Hen's Chicken, Muskrat[10]
District of Columbia		Washingtonian
Florida	Floridian	Florida cracker,[11] Floridan
Georgia	Georgian	Buzzard, Cracker, Goober-grabber,[12] Sand-hiller[13]
Guam		Guamanian
Hawaii	Hawaiian	Hawaiian (Hawaiian people), Malihini (newcomer), Kamaʻāina (native-born nonethnic Hawaiian),[14] Islander[14][15]
Idaho	Idahoan
Illinois	Illinoisan	Illinoisian, Illinoian, Flatlander,[16] Sucker, Sand-hiller, Egyptian[17]
Indiana	Indianian	Hoosier[18] (official state designation), Indianian (archaic)
Iowa	Iowan	Hawkeye[19]
Kansas	Kansan	Sunflower, Jayhawker, Grasshopper[20]
Kentucky	Kentuckian	Corncracker[21]
Louisiana	Louisianian
Maine	Mainer	Down Easter or Downeaster,[22] Mainiac,[23] Pine Tree, Fox
Maryland	Marylander
Massachusetts	Massachusettsan	Bay Stater (official term used by state government),[24] Massachusite (traditional),[25][26] Masshole (derogatory)[27]
Michigan	Michigander	Wolverine,[28][29] Michiganite, Michiganian,[30] Yooper/Troll (for residents of the Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula, respectively),[31] Michigoose (sometimes used specifically for female residents),[31]
Minnesota	Minnesotan
Mississippi	Mississippian
Missouri	Missourian
Montana	Montanan
Nebraska	Nebraskan
Nevada	Nevadan	Nevadian
New Hampshire	New Hampshirite	New Hampshireman or New Hampshirewoman[32]
New Jersey	New Jerseyan	New Jerseyite
New Mexico	New Mexican
New York	New Yorker	Knickerbocker[33][34]
North Carolina	North Carolinian	Tar Heel, Tar Boiler,[35]
North Dakota	North Dakotan
Northern Mariana Islands		Mariana Islander
Ohio	Ohioan	Buckeye[36]
Oklahoma	Oklahoman	Okie,[37] Sooner[38]
Oregon	Oregonian
Pennsylvania	Pennsylvanian	Pennamite[39]
Puerto Rico		Puerto Rican, Boricua[40]
Rhode Island	Rhode Islander	Rhodean, Swamp Yankee[41]
South Carolina	South Carolinian	Sandlapper[42]
South Dakota	South Dakotan
Tennessee	Tennessean	Volunteer, Big Bender, Butternut[43]
Texas	Texan	Texian (Anglo-Texan - historical),[44] Tejano (Hispano-Texan), Texican (archaic)
Utah	Utahn
Vermont	Vermonter
Virginia	Virginian
Virgin Islands		Virgin Islander
Washington	Washingtonian
West Virginia	West Virginian
Wisconsin	Wisconsinite	Badger,[45] Cheesehead[46][47]
Wyoming	Wyomingite

See also

• Demonym
  • List of adjectival and demonymic forms of place names
    • List of adjectivals and demonyms for astronomical bodies
    • List of adjectivals and demonyms for continental regions
      • List of adjectivals and demonyms for subcontinental regions
    • List of adjectival and demonymic forms for countries and nations
    • List of adjectivals and demonyms for cities

References

1. United States Government Printing Office Style Manual. 2008. §5.23.
2. Safire, William (June 26, 1994). "On Language: Foam Fell on Alabama". The New York Times. Safire reports that after he used the word "Alabaman" in a column, he received a letter from Vic Gold that said in part, "The natives, I have learned to my sorrow, prefer Alabamian."
3. "The State of Arizona - An Introduction to the Grand Canyon State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
4. Arkansawyer definition - Dictionary - MSN Encarta. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31.
5. "Ar•kie". Dictionary.infoplease.com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
6. Writers Style Guide. Colorado State University. p. 62,. Retrieved January 2, 2009. The correct name for a person from Colorado is Coloradan (not Coloradoan).
7. Quillen, Ed (March 18, 2007). "Coloradan or Coloradoan?". The Denver Post.
8. "The State of Connecticut - An Introduction to the Constitution State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
9. "People of Connecticut, Choose Your Moniker; Martha Stewart’s House and My Company (4 Letters)". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
10. "The State of Delaware - An Introduction to the First State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
11. "‘Cracker’ Means Something Entirely Different In Florida: A Source Of ‘Pride’". Mediaite. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
12. "The Peach State is all about peanuts". American Food Roots. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
13. "The State of Georgia - An Introduction to the Peach State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
14. Christian, Darrel; Jacobsen, Sally A.; Minthorn, David, eds. (2013). The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law. New York, NY: Basic Books. p. 112. ISBN 9780465082995.
15. "The State of Hawaii - An Introduction to the Aloha State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
16. Jim Fitzgerald (1987-10-06). "A Friend Escapes To Illinois . . . And Now Is A Flatlander!". ChicagoTribune.com.
17. "The State of Illinois - An Introduction to the Prairie State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
18. The term Hoosier is the official state designation for a state resident, but not used by the US GPO. The term was once considered derogatory, but is now a point of pride for Hoosiers. See the Indiana Historical Bureau article entitled What is a Hoosier? for the origin of the term.
19. "The State of Iowa". Netstate.com.
20. "The State of Kansas - An Introduction to the Sunflower State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
21. Corncracker - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
22. The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2007. New York: World Almanac Books. 2006. ISBN 978-0-88687-995-2.
23. "Mainiac". Time. June 20, 1938. (term used in reference to Maine author Kenneth Roberts)
24. "Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 2, Section 35: Designation of citizens of commonwealth". The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2008-02-29.: "Bay Staters shall be the official designation of citizens of the commonwealth."
25. Collections. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society. 1877. p. 435.
26. Jones, Thomas (1879). DeLancey, Edward Floyd, ed. History of New York During the Revolutionary War. New York: New York Historical Society. p. 465.
27. Nagy, Naomi; Irwin, Patricia (July 2010). "Boston (r): Neighbo(r)s nea(r) and fa(r)". Language Variation and Change 22 (2): 270.
28. Marckwardt, Albert H. (1952). "Wolverine and Michigander". Michigan Alumnus Quarterly Review. LVIII: 203–8.
29. Sperber, Hans (February 1954). "Words and Phrases in American Politics: Michigander". American Speech 29 (1): 21–7. doi:10.2307/453592.
30. "The State of Michigan - An Introduction to the Great Lakes State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
31. "MDE - Michigan Glossary". Michigan.gov. 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
32. "The State of New Hampshire - An Introduction to the Granite State from". Netstate.Com. 2009-04-13. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
33. Merriam-Webster Dictionary
34. New York Knicks, What's a Knickerbocker?
35. Powell, William S. (March 1982). "What's in a Name?: Why We're All Called Tar Heels". Tar Heel (Tar Heel Magazine, Inc.). OCLC 005457348. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
36. "The State of Ohio - An Introduction to the Buckeye State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
37. Stewart, Roy P. (December 20, 1968). "Postal Card Proves Sooners Were 'Okies' Way Back In 1907". The Daily Oklahoman. p. 9, col. 2. Now comes Mrs. Agness Hooks of Thomas with a postal card mailed at Newcastle, Ind. in 1907, address to a Miss Agness Kirkbridge, with the salutation: 'Hello Okie — Will see you next Monday night.' Signed: Myrtle M. Pence. Mrs. Hooks says Agness Kirkbridge was an aunt of hers. The Kirkbridge family came to Oklahoma Territory in 1904 and settled south of Custer City.
38. "The State of Oklahoma - An Introduction to the Sooner State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
39. "History of". Luzerne County. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
40. "Commonwealth of Puerto Rico". Retrieved 2015-09-02.
41. "The Providence Journal | Rhode Island breaking news, sports, politics, business, entertainment, weather and traffic - providencejournal.com - Providence Journal". Projo.com. 2012-07-17. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
42. http://www.sciway.net/hist/sandlapper.html
43. "The State of Tennessee - An Introduction to the Volunteer State from". Netstate.Com. Retrieved 2012-07-22.
44. de la Teja, Jesus F. (1997). "The Colonization and Independence of Texas: A Tejano Perspective". In Rodriguez O., Jaime E.; Vincent, Kathryn. Myths, Misdeeds, and Misunderstandings: The Roots of Conflict in U.S.–Mexican Relations. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources Inc. p. 79. ISBN 0-8420-2662-2.
45. "Do You Want to Be a Badger?". Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
46. Kapler, Joseph, Jr. (Spring 2002). On Wisconsin Icons: When You Say 'Wisconsin', What Do You Say?. Wisconsin Historical Society. pp. 18–31. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
47. Foamation: About Us. Foamation. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-29.

External links