map of The United States
Mayukh Saha
Mayukh Saha
March 19, 2024 ·  2 min read

There’s One Letter Missing From All U.S. State Names

Brain teasers are usually fun. But some of them also double as surprising trivia. To start off, what is the first letter that comes to your mind when you read the title?

You may have thought about ‘Z’. However, there’s the state of Arizona! So it’s not Z. Then which one is it? It’s tougher than it seems, isn’t it? Ok, before your brain starts hurting, let us get to the bottom of this tricky question.

For those readers who have a keen knowledge of trivia, you may have a hint of what the answer might be. Well, some of us thought that too! But the final answer was as surprising as ever. For example, let’s think of what other characters can pop up.

What Can The Letter Be?

How about ‘Y’? Well, there are many, but New York will suffice. Surely, ‘U’ must be the one in question? Well no, there’s the state of Kentucky. So, wrong again, unfortunately. What about ‘J’ then? Uh-uh, did you forget about New Jersey? So what can it possibly be?

The 50 States of the US.
Image Credits: Wikimedia Commons



And the answer is…

Yes, you can go through all the US States and you won’t find even a single one that has ‘Q’ in it! Surprising, isn’t it? In fact, all other letters of the alphabet feature not once, but at least twice. And Q does not feature even once.

However, this trivia does not end there. To begin with, did you know that the letter ‘B’ only features twice – Alabama and Nebraska. Another very common letter, ‘F’ features only twice – Florida and California.

There is one other letter that features less than 5 times. This might be even more shocking than the ‘Q’ revelation. It’s ‘P’! P features 4 times but the 4 mentions are because of 3 states of Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire.

So what do you think of this piece of trivia? Let us know in the comments below! Also, test out your friends and family and see if they have an idea about what the special letter can be! 

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