Useless Information: Letters and State Names

Last night Resha Kate, either because of the inclement weather or because she likes to be difficult, wouldn't go to sleep and insisted that I "snuggle" her. Snuggling usually means hanging out Resha Kate until I'm certain that she won't be waking up for several hours. During these snuggle sessions, as I lie in the darkness and silence waiting for my two-year-old to drift into slumber, I pass the time by coming up with word, letter, and number games. (See, for instance, this game that I played with myself while getting Meyer to bed back in 2005.)

Last night, I began by asking the question, "Do all 26 letters of the alphabet appear in at least one of the names of the 50 states?" The answer: "No. 25 if the 26 letters do, but no state name contains a Q. After answering my first question, I posed a second: "Which letter appears in the most state names?" (Note that this question is different than, "Which letter appears the most in state names?") I identified three letters that appear in the names of more than half of the 50 states. By my count:

• The names of 36 of the 50 states contain an A.


• The names of 33 of the 50 states contain an N.


• The names of 28 of the 50 states contain an I.

Let me know if I missed anything.

Update: While I was in the shower this morning, I counted 26 state names that contain an O.