US state names in Chinese

I am posting the names of U.S. states in Simplified (Mainland) Chinese characters and their Pinyin equivalents. I found some are really creative in their “sinicizations” (e.g. Connecticut and New York). Others are very abbreviated (e.g. California). When a language pronounces foreign place names differently or uses a completely different name, e.g. in English, Bangkok; in Thai, Krung Thep, the former name is an exonym.

Chinese, more often than not, abbreviates place names to their first two syllables, making some places like South Carolina and New Hampshire almost far removed from their original names, especially since the first words are literally translated or calqued.

I looked up most of the names in the dictionary by primezero.com, a Chinese language specialty site. Each character will take you to that character’s definition in the dictionary if you’re curious about what each one means. By the way, if you don’t read about Pinyin first, chances are you will be pronouncing it wrong if you try reading it like in English.

Alabama 阿拉巴马 ā lā bā mă

Alaska 阿拉斯加 ā lā sī jiā

Arizona 亚利桑那 yà lì sāng nà

• Note: the last two characters also mean “sauna”, which implies the climate of this state

Arkansas 阿肯色 ā kĕn sè

California 加州 jiā zhōu

Connecticut 康涅狄格 kāng niè dí gé

Colorado 科罗拉多 kē luó lā duō

Delaware 特拉华 tè lā huá

Florida 佛罗里达 fú luó lĭ dá

Georgia 佐治亚 zuŏ zhì yà

• Note: the former Soviet republic that is now an independent nation state is 格鲁吉亚 gé lŭ jí yà

Hawaii 夏威夷 xià wēi yí

Idaho 爱达荷 ài dá hé

Illinois 伊利诺斯 yī lì nuò sī

Indiana 印第安纳 yìn dì ān nà

Iowa 艾奥瓦 ài ào wă

Kansas 堪萨斯 kān sà sī

Kentucky 肯塔基 kĕn tă jī

• Note: Kentucky Fried Chicken is “肯德基炸鸡” kĕn dé jī zhá jī
• Mmm…chicken

Louisiana 路易斯安那 lù yì sī ān nă

Maine 缅因 miăn yīn

Maryland 马里兰 mă lĭ lán

Massachusetts 马萨诸塞 mă sà zhū sài (!)

Michigan 密歇根 mì xiē gēn

Minnesota 明尼苏达 míng ní sū dá

Mississippi 密西西比 mì xī xī bĭ

Missouri 密苏里 mì sū lĭ

Montana 蒙大拿 méng dà ná

Nebraska 内布拉斯加 nèi bù lā sī jiā

Nevada 内华达 nèi huá dá

New Hampshire 新罕布什尔 xīn hăn bù shén ĕr

New Jersey 新泽西 xīn zé xī

New Mexico 新墨西哥 xīn mò xī gē

New York 纽约 niŭ yuē

North Carolina 北卡罗来纳 bĕi kă luó lái nà

North Dakota 北达科他 bĕi dá kē tā

Ohio 俄亥俄 é hài é

Oklahoma 奧克拉荷马 ào kè lā hé mă

Oregon 俄勒冈 é lè gāng

Pennsylvania 宾夕法尼亚 bīn xī fă ní yà

Rhode Island 罗得岛 luó dé dăo

South Carolina 南卡罗来纳 nán kă luó lái nà zhōu

South Dakota 南达科他 nán dá kē tā

Tennessee 田纳西 tián nà xī

Texas 德克萨斯 dé kè sà sī (or) 德州 dé zhōu

Utah 犹他 yóu tā

Vermont 佛蒙特 fó méng tè (!)

Virginia 弗吉尼亚 fú jí ní yà

Washington 华盛顿州 huá shèng dùn zhōu

West Virginia 西弗吉尼亚 xī fú jí ní yà

Wisconsin 威斯康星 wēi sī kāng xīng

Wyoming 怀俄明 huái é míng