GEN-NEWBIE-L Archives
Archiver > GEN-NEWBIE > 1997-07 > 0867955249
From: <>
Subject: Hints for Newbies re:Abbreviations
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 14:40:49 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 97-07-03 05:23:27 EDT,
(Surnames moderators) writes:
You might want to save this. It is important in any of the genealogical
lists.
<< FAQ: commonly used place name abbreviations
version 1.2b (revised March 2, 1997)
Changes with this version:
Additional web site for the complete list
Articles in soc.genealogy.surnames and its associated mailing list
GENNAM-L 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. The same abbreviations
are used with the Roots Surname List.
The complete list of abbreviations is available by e-mail. 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: German surname queries.
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/roots-l/cabbrev1.html
or
http://http.bsd.uchicago.edu/~t-pierce/surname.abbrev.cgi
Or to retreive the list by mail, send e-mail to
, or to with a
subject line of "archive", containing only the line:
get family.abbrev
The command must be lower case; any additional text, such as a
signature line will confuse the server. The message should look like:
X-To:
Subject: archive
get family.abbrev
The computer will e-mail you the file. If you want an abbreviation
and cannot retrieve files through the listserv, ask the
soc.genealogy.surnames moderator on duty at
(we'll also e-mail you the entire
list on request).
>>
---------------------
Forwarded message:
From: (Surnames moderators)
Sender: (Genealogy Computing Discussion List)
Reply-to: (Genealogy Computing Discussion List)
To:
Date: 97-07-03 05:23:27 EDT
FAQ: commonly used place name abbreviations
version 1.2b (revised March 2, 1997)
Changes with this version:
Additional web site for the complete list
Articles in soc.genealogy.surnames and its associated mailing list
GENNAM-L 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. The same abbreviations
are used with the Roots Surname List.
The complete list of abbreviations is available by e-mail. 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: German surname queries.
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/roots-l/cabbrev1.html
or
http://http.bsd.uchicago.edu/~t-pierce/surname.abbrev.cgi
Or to retreive the list by mail, send e-mail to
, or to with a
subject line of "archive", containing only the line:
get family.abbrev
The command must be lower case; any additional text, such as a
signature line will confuse the server. The message should look like:
X-To:
Subject: archive
get family.abbrev
The computer will e-mail you the file. If you want an abbreviation
and cannot retrieve files through the listserv, ask the
soc.genealogy.surnames moderator on duty at
(we'll also e-mail you the entire
list on request).
This thread: