Saint vs St vs St.

[Monica Simpson]

Having a discussion with my colleagues about the word 'saint' in an address. We have a restaurant located on St. Charles Rd in Google. My coworker insists that it doesn't matter how Saint is written out (Saint, St. or St) but I think it does. Can anyone help us settle this bet? Thank you so much!

 

[Rich Owings]

I would go with however Google presents it. A couple of spot checks in different states shows them using St Charles Rd

 

[DClark]

Most companies performing address resolution services will be able to understand the nuance between St., Saint, St in the context of the street address or city name. However a few things to be aware of...

1) "St" also is the USPS abbreviation for "Street", so this can be misunderstood on occasion.
2) If ever in doubt I would suggest relying on the USPS standard version of the address to guide you.
* Here is the address standardization web tool - ZIP Code™ Lookup | USPS

* Here is the tool that gives your recommended vs recognized city names for a given zip code - ZIP Code™ Lookup | USPS

The USPS is sophisticated enough to get the difference and so is Google, others may not be. I always recommend address consistency whenever possible as it helps eliminate the chance that a publisher (who has not invested as heavily in address resolution) will interpret your address incorrectly.

 

[Cherie Dickey]

I think it matters less than it used to. But I'd be worried about confusion as well since St is also the abbreviation for Street. Great suggestion about using the postal service. I would also take a look at what street name is shown directly on the Map... what does Google say it is? Also, what's the citation count for each version of the NAP? There's not really a black and white answer here, I don't think.

 

[Monica Simpson]

Its 2110 for Saint (yes, this is a rural area haha) and 597 for St. We had changed from Saint to St on Google and FB but those are easy switchbacks. Thank you, thank you thank you so much for your help!