Daily AncestorWis.
In a census birthplace column, Wis. is the abbreviation for Wisconsin.
Wis. is an older abbreviation of Wisconsin, 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.
Wisc. is another form. Many Wisconsin households of the 1870s show parents born in Germany, Norway or New York with children born in Wis.
As seen in a recordBirthplace column of the 1880 census
Ole Hanson, 3, Wis.
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Wis.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/wis. Last checked 2026-10-01.