PROPER NOUNSEXAMPLES
A common noun names any person, place, thing, or idea.
A proper noun names one particular person, place, thing, or idea.
All the important words in a proper noun start with a capital letter.
Common NounProper Noun
PersoncaptainCaptain Meriwether Lewis
PlacelandLouisiana Territory
ThingteamCorps of Discovery
IdeadestinyManifest Destiny
Proper nouns include:
• names of people and their titlesLaura Roberts
Captain Meriwether Lewis
But: Do not capitalize a title if it is used without a name:
The captain’s co-leader on the expedition was William Clark.
• abbreviations of titles

  • Mr. Ramos

  • Mrs. Ramos

  • Dr. Schuyler

  • Ms. Nguyen

Abbreviations of Titles
Capt.for the captain of a boat or in the armed forces
Pres.for the president of a country, a company, a club, or an organization
Sen.for a member of the U.S. Senate
Rep.for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• words like Mom and Dad when they are used as names“Mom, can you tell me more about the expedition?” said Laura.
But: Do not capitalize names if they follow a word like my.
I ask my mom a lot of questions.
• organizations
United NationsScience ClubWildlife SocietyLodi City Council
• names of languages, subject areas, and religions
SpanishMathematicsBuddhism
VietnameseSocial StudiesChristianity
• names of geographical places
Cities and StatesCountriesContinents
Dallas, TexasIranAsia
Miami, FloridaEcuadorSouth America
St. Louis, MissouriCambodiaAfrica
Streets and RoadsLandformsPublic Spaces
King BoulevardRocky MountainsHemisfair Plaza
Main AvenueSahara DesertCentral Park
First StreetGrand CanyonMuir Camp
Bodies of Water
Yellowstone River		Buildings, Ships, and MonumentsPlanets and Heavenly Bodies
Pacific OceanEmpire State BuildingEarth
Great Salt LakeTitanicJupiter
Gulf of MexicoStatue of LibertyMilky Way
• abbreviations of geographic places
Words Used in Addresses
AvenueAve.HighwayHwy.SouthS.
BoulevardBlvd.LaneLn.SquareSq.
CourtCt.NorthN.StreetSt.
DriveDr.PlacePl.WestW.
EastE.RoadRd.
Abbreviations for State Names in Mailing Addresses
AlabamaALHawaiiHIMassachusettsMANew MexicoNMSouth DakotaSD
AlaskaAKIdahoIDMichiganMINew YorkNYTennesseeTN
ArizonaAZIllinoisILMinnesotaMNNorth CarolinaNCTexasTX
ArkansasARIndianaINMississippiMSNorth DakotaNDUtahUT
CaliforniaCAIowaIAMissouriMOOhioOHVermontVT
ColoradoCOKansasKSMontanaMTOklahomaOKVirginiaVA
ConnecticutCTKentuckyKYNebraskaNEOregonORWashingtonWA
DelawareDELouisianaLANevadaNVPennsylvaniaPAWest VirginiaWV
FloridaFLMaineMENew HampshireNHRhode IslandRIWisconsinWI
GeorgiaGAMarylandMDNew JerseyNJSouth CarolinaSCWyomingWY
• months, days, special days and holidays
JanuaryJulySundayNew Year’s Day
FebruaryAugustMondayMother’s Day
MarchSeptemberTuesdayThanksgiving
AprilOctoberWednesdayHanukkah
MayNovemberThursdayKwanzaa
JuneDecemberFriday
Saturday