70 Fun Facts About State Nicknames

Which state's official nickname is the Yellowhammer State?

A company of cavalry from Huntsville wore uniforms with yellow trim on the sleeves, collar and coattails, and the name spread to all of the state's Confederate troops. The yellowhammer, a woodpecker, is also the state bird.

'The Last Frontier' appears on the license plates of which state?

An older, less flattering nickname is 'Seward's Folly', mocking Secretary of State William H. Seward for buying the territory from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million.

Which state is officially the Grand Canyon State?

It is one of the most literal nicknames in the country: the canyon runs for hundreds of miles across the state's north.

Before adopting 'The Natural State', Arkansas's official nickname was what?

'Land of Opportunity' used to appear on the state's license plates before the outdoor-tourism rebrand took over.

Which state has been called the 'El Dorado State' as well as by its better-known official nickname?

Both nicknames nod to gold: El Dorado was the legendary city of gold, and the official nickname is the Golden State.

Colorado is the Centennial State because it joined the Union in which year?

Statehood came one hundred years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, hence the name.

The 'Constitution State' nickname refers to the Fundamental Orders, adopted by a colony in which year?

The Fundamental Orders are considered by some historians to be the first written constitution in Western history, well over a century before the US Constitution.

Which state calls itself 'The First State'?

It ratified the US Constitution on December 7, 1787, before any other state. Thomas Jefferson supposedly compared it to a diamond, small in size but great in value, giving it the 'Diamond State' nickname too.

Which state's license plates read 'Sunshine State'?

A darker unofficial variant, 'Gunshine State', refers to the state's large number of concealed-carry permit holders.

The Peach State's unofficial nickname 'the Goober State' refers to which crop?

Goober is an old Southern word for the peanut, which is the state's official crop even though the peach gets top billing.

Which state's official nickname is the Aloha State?

It has also been called the 'Youngest State', a nod to its 1959 admission as the 50th state.

Which state's official nickname is the Gem State?

Its license plates say 'Famous Potatoes' instead, and the state grows around a third of the national potato crop.

'Land of Lincoln' is on Illinois's license plates, but its official nickname is what?

Most of the state was tallgrass prairie before the plough arrived, which is also why its soil is among the richest in the country.

John Finley's 1833 poem 'The Hoosier's Nest' popularised the nickname of which state's residents?

'Hoosier' was in general use by the 1840s and is now the official demonym; the state university's teams are the Hoosiers and their mascot is a bison called Hoosier.

Iowa's 'Hawkeye State' nickname was inspired by a character in which novel?

Territorial governor Robert Lucas made the name official in 1838, and a local editor renamed his paper The Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot to push it along.

Which state's residents are nicknamed 'Jayhawks', after free-state militants of the 1850s?

The official nickname is the Sunflower State, and 'Wheat State' has been on its plates. The University of Kansas fielded its first football team as the Jayhawkers in 1890.

Kentucky's 'Bluegrass State' nickname refers to a grass that has long supported which industry?

Kentucky bluegrass is not native; European settlers introduced it, and the horse farms around Lexington are the reason it stuck as a symbol.

The Pelican State is the only US state whose county-level divisions are called what?

The state bird is the brown pelican, and other nicknames include the Bayou State, the Creole State and 'The Boot'.

Which nickname appears on Maine's license plates, co-official with 'Pine Tree State'?

Maine is one of the few states with two official nicknames, and the tourism one is the one drivers see.

Maryland's 'Free State' nickname was coined in 1923 after the state declined to pass what kind of law?

Baltimore Sun editor Hamilton Owens coined it after an out-of-state congressman attacked the state, and H. L. Mencken popularised it in a run of editorials.

Which Maryland nickname comes from the Continental Army's commander praising its regiments?

The Maryland Line was among the Continental Army's most reliable units, and the general's admiring name for it is still one of the state's two official nicknames.

Which state is officially 'The Bay State'?

Its license plates carry a different slogan, 'The Spirit of America'.

A 2004 sighting near Ubly was Michigan's first confirmed wolverine in roughly how long?

The nickname may come from an 18th-century wolverine fur trade at Sault Ste. Marie, or from an insult comparing early settlers to the animal.

Minnesota's '10,000 Lakes' nickname undersells it. How many lakes over 10 acres does it have?

The state's motto, L'Etoile du Nord, gives it another nickname: the North Star State.

Which state's official nickname is the Magnolia State?

'The Birthplace of America's Music' has also appeared on its plates, a claim staked on the Delta blues.

The 'Show-Me State' nickname is traced to an 1899 speech by Congressman Willard Vandiver of which state?

Vandiver said frothy eloquence neither convinced nor satisfied him and 'you have got to show me', though the phrase was already circulating before his speech.

Which state's official nickname is the Treasure State, though most remember 'Big Sky Country'?

'Big Sky Country' was the slogan on its license plates for years; the official name honours the gold, silver and copper that built the state.

Which earlier nickname did Nebraska's 'Cornhuskers' replace in 1899?

'Bugeaters' recalled an 1870s drought when farmers reportedly ate insects to survive; the state itself became the Cornhusker State decades later.

Nevada's 'Battle Born State' nickname refers to its admission to the Union during which conflict?

Statehood came on October 31, 1864. The official nickname is the Silver State, for the Comstock Lode that drew the first rush of settlers.

Which state's official nickname is the Granite State?

Its plates carry the state motto instead: 'Live Free or Die'.

Attorney and farm owner Abraham Browning coined 'Garden State' by comparing New Jersey to what?

Two-thirds of the state was farmland then, and Browning's point was that its neighbours on either side gobbled up the produce.

Which state is the 'Land of Enchantment'?

An earlier nickname, 'Land of Sunshine', highlighted how much of the year the state spends under clear skies.

Which state's official nickname is the Empire State?

The state motto 'Excelsior' has been on its plates and gives it a second nickname, the Excelsior State.

North Carolina's 'Tar Heel' nickname comes from its trade in tar, pitch and which other pine-forest product?

Confederate soldiers from the state embraced the name in the 1860s, and the University of North Carolina's teams still carry it.

The Wright brothers built their Flyer in Dayton, so which state claims 'Birthplace of Aviation'?

Its official nickname is the Buckeye State, after the buckeye tree, adopted as the state tree in 1953.

North Dakota's 'Peace Garden State' nickname refers to a park on its border with which Canadian province?

The International Peace Garden opened on July 14, 1932; the slogan went on license plates in 1956 and became the official nickname a year later.

'Sooner State' refers to settlers who sneaked into the Unassigned Lands before which year's land run?

Anyone who entered before the official opening was supposed to forfeit their claim. Oklahoma adopted the nickname in the 1920s, well after its university's football team did in 1908.

Which state's official nickname is the Beaver State?

'Pacific Wonderland' has appeared on its plates and is still available as an extra-cost design.

Which state is the Keystone State?

It is also the Quaker State, after founder William Penn's faith, and its neighbour to the east jokingly calls itself the Cornerstone State in reply.

Which state, the smallest by area, is officially the Ocean State?

It packs about 400 miles of coastline into 1,545 square miles, and bays and inlets make up around 14 percent of its area. Locals call it Little Rhody.

South Carolina's palmetto emblem honours a 1776 fort whose palmetto logs absorbed British cannon fire. Where was it?

Sergeant William Jasper became a legend that day for retrieving the fort's flag after it was shot down.

In 1980 South Dakota officially retired which older nickname in favour of one honouring Mount Rushmore?

The coyote is still the state animal, but the carved presidents were judged the better tourism pitch.

Which state's 'Volunteer State' nickname dates to 3,500 men enlisting in the War of 1812?

The reputation grew in the 1840s when President Polk asked the state for 2,800 soldiers and more than 30,000 volunteered.

The single star behind the 'Lone Star State' nickname symbolises Texas's former status as what?

The Republic of Texas existed from 1836 until annexation in 1845, and the flag kept its one star.

Utah's beehive symbol comes from 'Deseret', which the Book of Mormon says is an ancient word for what?

Brigham Young wanted to name the whole territory Deseret; the beehive survives on the state flag, and the state motto is 'Industry'.

Which state's name is essentially its own nickname, 'Green Mountain State', translated into French?

The Green Mountains bisect the state, and the name 'Green Mountain' first appeared in 1772 with Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys.

'Mother of Presidents' is a nickname of the state where eight US presidents were born. Which state?

Its official nickname is the Old Dominion, dating from its status as the first permanent English colony in the New World.

Which state's license plates carry the nickname 'Evergreen State'?

The name comes from its dense conifer forests, which stay green year-round.

Which state is officially 'The Mountain State'?

Its best-known unofficial nickname is 'Almost Heaven'.

Wisconsin's 'Badger State' nickname refers to which 19th-century workers who sheltered in dug holes?

The state's plates say 'America's Dairyland' instead, a title earned when farmers switched from wheat to dairy.

Wyoming is the Equality State because in 1869 its territorial government was the first to do what?

It followed up in 1924 by electing the first female governor of any state, Nellie Tayloe Ross, and the state motto is 'Equal Rights'.

The District of Columbia's official 'nickname' is a protest slogan complaining about what?

'End Taxation Without Representation' appears on DC license plates because residents pay federal taxes but have no voting member of Congress.

Puerto Rico's nickname 'Isla del Encanto' translates as what?

It shares the idea with a mainland state whose official nickname is the Land of Enchantment.

Which state is nicknamed the Nutmeg State?

During the Revolutionary, Civil and World Wars it was also known as the 'Provisions State' for supplying the troops.

Utah's 'Crossroads of the West' nickname refers to the driving of the Golden Spike, which completed what?

The ceremony took place at Promontory Summit in 1869, joining the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines.

'Colorful Colorado' has greeted drivers on the state's welcome signs since which year?

The phrase also spent years on Colorado license plates before being retired from them.

Which state's official nickname is the Peach State?

The peach is on the license plates, though the official state crop is a different one entirely.

Which state is nicknamed the 'Valentine State' because it joined the Union on February 14?

It became a state on February 14, 1912, making it the newest contiguous state and earning it the 'Baby State' tag too.

'Walrussia' and 'Icebergia' were mocking congressional names for the purchase of which future state?

Opponents of the 1867 deal also called the territory Seward's Icebox and Johnson's Polar Bear Garden.

Thomas Jefferson supposedly likened which state to a diamond, small in size but great in value?

The state has also been called the Chemical Capital of the World for once hosting several chemical giants' headquarters.

'808 State' is a colloquial nickname for which state, after its telephone area code?

Its other nicknames include Paradise of the Pacific, the Rainbow State and the Youngest State.

Which state has been called 'Midway USA' and 'Breadbasket of the World'?

Both Midway USA and Wheat State have appeared on its license plates over the years.

Which state's license plates were once decorated with a codfish?

Its plates now read 'The Spirit of America', and locals grumble about 'Taxachusetts'.

Which state styles itself 'The State of Hockey'?

It is also the Gopher State, the North Star State and, in winter, 'Minne(snow)ta'.

Which state's former official nickname was the 'Tree Planters State'?

Arbor Day began there in 1872; the state's border signs now promise 'The Good Life'.

Tennessee's 'Butternut State' nickname refers to the tan colour of what?

The state's 'Big Bend State' nickname refers to the Tennessee River instead.

Which state once used 'Iodine Products State' on its license plates?

The Palmetto State promoted the iodine content of its produce in the 1930s; the slogan is no longer used.

The 'Flickertail State', named for a ground squirrel, is which state?

It is also the Rough Rider State, the Sioux State and, on its plates, the Peace Garden State.

Which earlier slogan did New Mexico use before adopting 'Enchantment' on its plates?

The older slogan highlighted the large share of sunny days the state enjoys.

Which state is known as the Mitten State because of its shape?

Its Lower Peninsula's outline lets residents point to their hometown on the palm of a hand.