Whether you’re working on an ‘F’ assignment (alphabetically-speaking, we hope, not grade-wise) or looking forward to that next intense game of Scattergories where an ‘F’ comes up on the die, if you need to know which states start with ‘F,’ we’ve got you covered.
Here are all the ‘F’ states in the U.S. and how they got their ‘F’ names.
Florida
Yup. This is it.
Just Florida.
It’s the only ‘F’ state in the country.
As for its name origin, the state of Florida was named by the Spanish, namely by Ponce de León, who was on an exploratory mission and reached Florida’s shores in April of 1513.
Florida Name Meaning
The word “florida” in Spanish translates roughly as “flowers” or “flowery.”
Presumably, the word came to de León’s mind due to the time of year in which he landed in the territory.
With Florida’s warm climate and it being spring, there were surely bountiful flowers in bloom.
Another reason the term might have sprung to de León’s mind is that it was close to Easter, a time of year that the Spanish referred to as “Pascua Florida” or “Festival of Flowers.”
Basically, flowers is the main takeaway here.
Florida was named for its flowers.
Onward From the ‘F’ State Names
So, there you have it, the singular U.S. state that starts with the letter ‘F.’
That’s not going to help you much in Scattergories.
So, if you’re looking for a few more unique state names that begin with an ‘F,’ here they are:
Independent States That Start With F
While there are countries that call their independent territories “states,” none of them have state names that begin with an “F.”
Weird, right?
There are, however, some countries that are considered independent, or sovereign, states.
The sovereign states that start with ‘F’ are:
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
Basically, any country that is not under the political or social control of another country is considered a sovereign state, including the United States.
States of Being That Start With F
Now, if you really want to push your luck with “state” (like during a Scattergories game), you can also go with a different definition of “state.”
Namely, this definition –
“the condition of a person or thing” (dictionary.com)
This opens up tons of possibilities.
So, what states can a person or thing be in?
- Faded
- Fanatical
- Fare
- Fervent
- Feverish
- Fickle
- Fiery
- Financial ruin
- Frenzied
- Frustrated
Whether or not you’ll get away with any of these really depends on how cool the group you’re playing with is or how cool your teacher is.
But, unless it’s explicitly stated that you must name a “place that is a state” or a “U.S. state,” it’s really open to interpretation.
Plus, you’re being super creative (good for you!), so you should really get bonus points!