One of my favorite trivia questions is about the US states and the alphabet:
What letter is not in any state name?
The letter Q is not in any state name. There is no U.S. state with the letter Q anywhere in its name. Every other letter in the English alphabet is found in one or more states in the United States of America. At least one U.S. state contains the letters J, X, Y, or Z.
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about, “What letter is not in any state name?”
What Letter Is Not In Any State Name? (Chart)
To show proof that Q is the only letter that is not in any state name, I made the following simple chart.
Here is a chart with what US states have each letter in the English alphabet:
| Question About US States & Letters | Answer |
|---|---|
| What state has a in it? | Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Indiana Iowa Kansas Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire North Carolina North Dakota Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia |
| What state has b in it? | Alabama Nebraska |
| What state has c in it? | California Colorado Connecticut Kentucky Massachusetts Michigan New York North Carolina Puerto Rico South Carolina |
| What state has d in it? | Colorado Delaware District of Columbia Florida Idaho Indiana Maryland Nevada North Dakota Rhode Island South Dakota |
| What state has e in it? | Connecticut Delaware Georgia Kentucky Maine Massachusetts Minnesota Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York Tennesee Texas Vermont West Virginia |
| What state has f in it? | California Florida |
| What state has g in it? | Georgia Michigan Oregan Virginia Washington Wyoming |
| What state has h in it? | Hawaii Idaho Massachusetts New Hampshire Oklahoma Rhode Island Washington |
| What state has I in it? | Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Louisiana Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming |
| What state has j in it? | New Jersey |
| What state has k in it? | Alaska Arkansas Kansas Kentucky Nebraska New York North Dakota Oklahoma South Dakota |
| What state has l in it? | Alabama Alaska California Colorado Delaware District of Columbia Florida Illinois Louisiana Maryland North Carolina Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina |
| What state has m in it? | Alabama District of Columbia Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana New Hampshire New Mexico Oklahoma Wyoming |
| What state has n in it? | Arizona Arkansas California Connecticut Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Michigan Minnesota Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin |
| What state has o in it? | Arizona California Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Iowa Louisiana Minnesota Missouri Montana New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Vermont Washington Wisconsin Wyoming |
| What state has p in it? | Mississippi New Hampshire Pennsylvania Puerto Rico |
| What state has q in it? | N/A (No States) |
| What state has r in it? | Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Maryland Missouri Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey North Carolina Oregon Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina Vermont Virginia West Virginia |
| What state has s in it? | Arkansas District of Columbia Illinois Kansas Louisiana Massachusetts Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Nebraska New Hampshire Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Washington Wisconsin |
| What state has t in it? | Connecticut District of Columbia Kentucky Massachusetts Minnesota North Dakota Puerto Rico South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia |
| What state has u in it? | Connecticut District of Columbia Louisiana Massachusetts Missouri Puerto Rico South Carolina South Dakota Utah |
| What state has v in it? | Nevada Vermont Virginia West Virginia |
| What state has w in it? | Hawaii Iowa New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming |
| What state has x in it? | New Mexico Texas |
| What state has y in it? | Kentucky Maryland New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Wyoming |
| What state has z in it? | Arizona |
What State Has Z In It?
The only US state with the letter Z in the name is Arizona.
Interestingly, Z shares this single state category with the letter J. All of the other letters in the English alphabet are found in at least two state names.
Which makes the name JZ particularly unique and special.
Something tells me JZ, the artist, was not thinking about the alphabet and state names when he decided on his musical persona.
What State Has J In It?
The state with the letter J in the name is none other than New Jersey.
New Jersey has seven unique letters:
- N
- E
- W
- J
- R
- S
- Y
What State Has X In It?
Surprisingly, there are two states with the letter X in their names.
Those two states are:
- Texas
- New Mexico
For such a hard Scrabble letter, now you have two words you can use to beat the word game.
What State Has the Letter Q In It?
The answer, as you now know, is that no states contain the letter Q.
It’s the only state in the US with this special distinction.
The next time this comes up at trivia night, you will be sure to impress all of your friends with the correct answer.
Here is a video where an interviewer asks what letter does not exist in any of the 50 United States:
Final Thoughts: What Letter Is Not In Any State Name?
In case you are a letter and word nerd just like me, here are a few other facts about states and letters.
Cool facts:
- Colorado is the only state with three O’s
- Tenessee is the only state with four E’s
- Mississippi is the only state with four S’s
- Mississippi is also the state with the most multiple letters (4 S’s, 4 I’s, and 2 P’s)
Other fun posts:
- What Does Rawr Mean in Dinosaur? (It Means I Love You)
- What Is the Most Played Jukebox Song of All Time?