Introduction to the Codes
The Chapman County Code was used in 1987 by the British Standards Institution as the basis for the preparation of British Standard 6879 (revised in 1999), and by the International Standards Organisation in Geneva when publishing ISO 3166-2.
The code has become the standard for identifying geographical areas in relation to historical records.
You will need to use these codes to submit any surnames you are researching to the member’s surnames of interest database.
“Wherever possible I utilised the systems formerly proposed and used by the English Place Name Society and the Society of Genealogists as the basis for the present system; where necessary I extended the abbreviations from those systems to three letters in such a way that when these are truncated, the former system is regained”. Source: Dr Colin Chapman June 1979
Read Dr Chapman’s article on the Lochin Publishing website.
| Channel Islands | CHI |
|---|---|
| Alderney | ALD |
| Guernsey | GSY |
| Jersey | JSY |
| Sark | SRK |
| Isle of Man | IOM |
| Isle of Wight | IOW |
| England | ENG |
|---|---|
| All Counties | ALL |
| Bedfordshire | BDF |
| Berkshire | BRK |
| Buckinghamshire | BKM |
| Cambridgeshire | CAM |
| Cheshire | CHS |
| Cornwall | CON |
| Cumberland | CUL |
| Derbyshire | DBY |
| Devonshire | DEV |
| Dorsetshire | DOR |
| Durham | DUR |
| Essex | ESS |
| Gloucestershire | GLS |
| Hampshire | HAM |
| Herefordshire | HEF |
| Hertfordshire | HRT |
| Huntingdonshire | HUN |
| Kent | KEN |
| Lancashire | LAN |
| Leicestershire | LEI |
| Lincolnshire | LIN |
| London(City) | LND |
| Middlesex | MDX |
| Norfolk | NFK |
| Northamptonshire | NTH |
| Northumberland | NBL |
| Nottinghamshire | NTT |
| Oxfordshire | OXF |
| Rutland | RUT |
| Shropshire | SAL |
| Somerset | SOM |
| Staffordshire | STS |
| Suffolk | SFK |
| Surrey | SRY |
| Sussex | SSX |
| Warwickshire | WAR |
| Westmoreland | WES |
| Wiltshire | WIL |
| Worcestershire | WOR |
| Yorkshire | YKS |
| Yorkshire East Riding | ERY |
| Yorkshire North Riding | NRY |
| Yorkshire West Riding | WRY |
| Ireland (Eire) | IRL |
|---|---|
| Antrim | ANT |
| Armagh | ARM |
| Carlow | CAR |
| Cavan | CAV |
| Clare | CLA |
| Cork | COR |
| Donegal | DON |
| Down | DOW |
| Dublin | DUB |
| Fermanagh | FER |
| Galway | GAL |
| Kerry | KER |
| Kildare | KID |
| Kilkenny | KIK |
| Leitrim | LET |
| Leix (Queens) | LEX |
| Limerick | LIM |
| Londonderry | LDY |
| Longford | LOG |
| Louth | LOU |
| Mayo | MAY |
| Meath | MEA |
| Monaghan | MOG |
| Offaly (Kings) | OFF |
| Ross Common | ROS |
| Sligo | SLI |
| Tipperary | TIP |
| Tyrone | TYR |
| Waterford | WAT |
| Westmeath | WEM |
| Wexford | WEX |
| Wicklow | WIC |
| Scotland | SCT |
|---|---|
| Aberdeenshire | ABD |
| Angus | ANS |
| Argylshire | ARL |
| Ayrshire | AYR |
| Banffshire | BAN |
| Berwickshire | BEW |
| Bute | BUT |
| Caithness-shire | CAI |
| Clackmannanshire | CLK |
| Dumfriesshire | DFS |
| Dunbartonshire | DNB |
| East Lothian | ELN |
| Fifeshire | FIF |
| Forfarshire | ANS |
| Inverness-shire | INV |
| Kincardineshire | KCD |
| Kinross-shire | KRS |
| Kirkcudbrightshire | KKD |
| Lanarkshire | LKS |
| Midlothian | MLN |
| Moray | MOR |
| Nairnshire | NAI |
| Orkney Isles | OKI |
| Peebleshire | PEE |
| Perthshire | PER |
| Renfrewshire | RFW |
| Ross and Cromarty | ROC |
| Roxburghshire | ROX |
| Selkirkshire | SEL |
| Shetland Isles | SHI |
| Stirlingshire | STI |
| Sutherland | SUT |
| West Lothian | WLN |
| Wigtownshire | WIG |
| Wales | WLS |
|---|---|
| Anglesey | AGY |
| Brecknockshire | BRE |
| Caernarvonshire | CAE |
| Cardiganshire | CGN |
| Carmarthenshire | CMN |
| Denbighshire | DEN |
| Flintshire | FLN |
| Glamorgan | GLA |
| Merionethshire | MER |
| Monmouthshire | MON |
| Montgomeryshire | MGY |
| Pembrokeshire | PEM |
| Radnorshire | RAD |