Daily AncestorN.C.
In a census birthplace column, N.C. is the abbreviation for North Carolina.
N.C. is an older abbreviation of North Carolina, used long before the two letter postal codes. Census takers were allowed to abbreviate state names in the place of birth column, so abbreviated state names are common in the birthplace column of nineteenth century census pages.
N. Car. is an older variant. Tennessee was carved from lands claimed by North Carolina, so early Tennessee settlers often list N.C. as their birthplace.
As seen in a recordBirthplace column of the 1850 census
Wm. Parker, 52, Farmer, N.C.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "N.C.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/nc. Last checked 2026-10-01.