"Q" is the only letter that doesn't appear in a U.S. state name.
Canada has Québec, and Mexico has Querétaro and Quintana Roo, but the U.S. lacks a state name that showcases our 17th letter. “Q” is generally said to be the rarest letter in the English alphabet, appearing in only 0.196% of the main entries of the Concise Oxford Dictionary’s 2004 edition, for example. Like “j,” it is absent from the periodic table, and it too is one of the letters that Benjamin Franklin wanted to nix from the alphabet (along with “c,” “w,” “x,” and “y”). Among the 50 states, “j” and “z” are also underutilized, appearing just once apiece, in New Jersey and Arizona.
The letter “a” is the one that arises most often when reciting the list of states — it’s featured 61 times in 36 names. Meanwhile, eight states apiece begin with “m” or “n.” One of them, Massachusetts, has the longest state name, at least in its official form, "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” Despite its lack of representation when it comes to state toponyms, “q” has fared better in American pop culture exports, which include the likes of Quentin Tarantino, the 1994 film Quiz Show, the musical Avenue Q, and the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Famed musician and producer Quincy Jones’ resume includes 28 Grammy Awards, tying a record for the most received by any living person.
George M. Willing wanted his name to go down in history, and in a roundabout way, he succeeded. When the Pike’s Peak gold rush began, the Philadelphia-born doctor was one of the many who tried his luck digging for gold in the territory eventually named Colorado. The details are hazy, but around 1860, Willing suggested that the territory should be called “Idaho,” declaring (falsely) that it was an Indigenous word from the Shoshone tribe meaning “gem of the mountains.” The name was nearly ratified, until Congress learned that its origin story was fake, and an earlier suggestion, “Colorado” (from the Spanish for “colored red,” originally because of the area’s red sandstone soil), was used instead. Nevertheless, in 1863, the name “Idaho” was assigned to another territory, and eventual state, with officials apparently not knowing — or caring — that the name was only recently made up. However, Idaho Springs, Colorado, endures.
