DialectGuessr

US dialect atlas

Crawfish, Crawdad or Crayfish?

A three-way split that lines up with settlement history rather than geography: crawfish across the Gulf South, crawdad through the interior west and the Ozarks, crayfish along the northern tier.

Alaska: crawfish 44.4%, crayfish 17.8%, crawdad 17.8%AKMaine: crayfish 50.5%, crawfish 32.7%, crawdad 3%MEVermont: crayfish 55.3%, crawfish 34.2%, crawdad 5.3%VTNew Hampshire: crayfish 52.2%, crawfish 38.1%, crawdad 1.8%NHWashington: crawfish 36.1%, crawdad 32.6%, crayfish 20.1%WAIdaho: crawdad 42.3%, crawfish 36.2%, crayfish 13.1%IDMontana: crawfish 38%, crawdad 29%, crayfish 23.6%MTNorth Dakota: crayfish 50%, crawfish 28.1%, crawdad 7%NDMinnesota: crayfish 61.1%, crawfish 25.7%, crawdad 5.7%MNIllinois: crawfish 44.8%, crayfish 26.5%, crawdad 19.2%ILWisconsin: crayfish 56.3%, crawfish 28.2%, crawdad 5.6%WIMichigan: crayfish 49.7%, crawfish 34.2%, crawdad 8.8%MINew York: crayfish 45%, crawfish 39.6%, crawdad 3.6%NYRhode Island: crayfish 46.9%, crawfish 39.6%, crawdad 3.1%RIMassachusetts: crayfish 50.1%, crawfish 38.5%, crawdad 2.4%MAOregon: crawdad 55.4%, crawfish 27%, crayfish 10%ORNevada: crawdad 51.6%, crawfish 26.6%, crayfish 17.2%NVWyoming: crawdad 39.7%, crawfish 33.8%, crayfish 16.2%WYSouth Dakota: crawdad 39.3%, crawfish 31.1%, crayfish 19.4%SDIowa: crawdad 43.3%, crawfish 33.6%, crayfish 13%IAIndiana: crawdad 46.9%, crawfish 34.8%, crayfish 10.4%INOhio: crawfish 33.4%, crayfish 30.8%, crawdad 28.6%OHPennsylvania: crayfish 58.4%, crawfish 29.7%, crawdad 4%PANew Jersey: crayfish 43.6%, crawfish 43.3%, crawdad 2.4%NJConnecticut: crayfish 46%, crawfish 39.4%, crawdad 4.7%CTCalifornia: crawfish 36.1%, crawdad 30.8%, crayfish 21.4%CAUtah: crawfish 41.1%, crawdad 27.6%, crayfish 16%UTColorado: crawdad 44.1%, crawfish 32.5%, crayfish 14.5%CONebraska: crawdad 52.9%, crawfish 27.9%, crayfish 12.8%NEMissouri: crawdad 58%, crawfish 29.9%, crayfish 4.8%MOKentucky: crawdad 59.1%, crawfish 32.4%, crayfish 4.1%KYWest Virginia: crawdad 53.3%, crawfish 28.3%, crayfish 10.8%WVVirginia: crawfish 52.4%, crayfish 26.7%, crawdad 13.3%VAMaryland: crawfish 45.3%, crayfish 39.6%, crawdad 6.3%MDDelaware: crawfish 43.2%, crayfish 38.6%, crawdad 13.6%DEArizona: crawdad 40%, crawfish 30.6%, crayfish 16.1%AZNew Mexico: crawdad 36%, crawfish 35.1%, crayfish 19.3%NMKansas: crawdad 61.2%, crawfish 27.5%, crayfish 5.5%KSArkansas: crawdad 63.6%, crawfish 25.8%, crayfish 2.3%ARTennessee: crawfish 49.2%, crawdad 40.9%, crayfish 5.9%TNNorth Carolina: crawfish 48.1%, crawdad 25.7%, crayfish 16.2%NCSouth Carolina: crawfish 59.1%, crawdad 25.6%, crayfish 9.5%SCWashington, D.C.: crawfish 44.4%, crayfish 40.7%, crawdad 6.2%DCOklahoma: crawdad 61.8%, crawfish 27%, crayfish 5.2%OKLouisiana: crawfish 95.3%, crawdad 1.6%, crayfish 1.3%LAMississippi: crawfish 68.4%, crawdad 25.4%, crayfish 3.5%MSAlabama: crawfish 54.6%, crawdad 35.4%, crayfish 1.3%ALGeorgia: crawfish 59.9%, crawdad 24%, crayfish 8.8%GAHawaii: crayfish 63.2%, crawfish 24.6%, crawdad 3.5%HITexas: crawfish 58.5%, crawdad 32.1%, crayfish 2.7%TXFlorida: crawfish 63.7%, crayfish 15.8%, crawdad 13.7%FL
Each square is one state, placed roughly where it sits on the map and coloured by the answer that leads there. Survey question: “What do you call the miniature lobster that one finds in lakes and streams for example (a crustacean of the family Astacidae)?”

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State by state

Share of respondents in each state giving each answer. Percentages do not sum to 100: the survey offered answers this map does not name, and they are left out rather than folded into one of the three.

Crawfish, Crawdad or Crayfish? — Harvard Dialect Survey.
Statecrawfishcrawdadcrayfish
Alabama54.6% ◀35.4%1.3%
Alaska44.4% ◀17.8%17.8%
Arizona30.6%40% ◀16.1%
Arkansas25.8%63.6% ◀2.3%
California36.1% ◀30.8%21.4%
Colorado32.5%44.1% ◀14.5%
Connecticut39.4%4.7%46% ◀
Delaware43.2% ◀13.6%38.6%
Florida63.7% ◀13.7%15.8%
Georgia59.9% ◀24%8.8%
Hawaii24.6%3.5%63.2% ◀
Idaho36.2%42.3% ◀13.1%
Illinois44.8% ◀19.2%26.5%
Indiana34.8%46.9% ◀10.4%
Iowa33.6%43.3% ◀13%
Kansas27.5%61.2% ◀5.5%
Kentucky32.4%59.1% ◀4.1%
Louisiana95.3% ◀1.6%1.3%
Maine32.7%3%50.5% ◀
Maryland45.3% ◀6.3%39.6%
Massachusetts38.5%2.4%50.1% ◀
Michigan34.2%8.8%49.7% ◀
Minnesota25.7%5.7%61.1% ◀
Mississippi68.4% ◀25.4%3.5%
Missouri29.9%58% ◀4.8%
Montana38% ◀29%23.6%
Nebraska27.9%52.9% ◀12.8%
Nevada26.6%51.6% ◀17.2%
New Hampshire38.1%1.8%52.2% ◀
New Jersey43.3%2.4%43.6% ◀
New Mexico35.1%36% ◀19.3%
New York39.6%3.6%45% ◀
North Carolina48.1% ◀25.7%16.2%
North Dakota28.1%7%50% ◀
Ohio33.4% ◀28.6%30.8%
Oklahoma27%61.8% ◀5.2%
Oregon27%55.4% ◀10%
Pennsylvania29.7%4%58.4% ◀
Rhode Island39.6%3.1%46.9% ◀
South Carolina59.1% ◀25.6%9.5%
South Dakota31.1%39.3% ◀19.4%
Tennessee49.2% ◀40.9%5.9%
Texas58.5% ◀32.1%2.7%
Utah41.1% ◀27.6%16%
Vermont34.2%5.3%55.3% ◀
Virginia52.4% ◀13.3%26.7%
Washington36.1% ◀32.6%20.1%
Washington, D.C.44.4% ◀6.2%40.7%
West Virginia28.3%53.3% ◀10.8%
Wisconsin28.2%5.6%56.3% ◀
Wyoming33.8%39.7% ◀16.2%

Where this data comes from

The map above is drawn from the Harvard Dialect Survey, collected by Bert Vaux and Scott Golder in 2002–2003. It asked 122 questions and recorded, for each one, the share of respondents in every US state who gave each answer. It is a large self-selected sample rather than a census, and it is now two decades old — treat it as a well-supported picture of how people spoke then, not a measurement of today.

Data used under the CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 licence: attribution and share-alike, non-commercial. DialectGuessr’s own survey data is separate and is described on the about page.

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