MA - Massachusetts
MD - Maryland
ME - Maine
MI - Michigan
MN - Minnesota
MO - Missouri
MT - Montana

@ielenia@ck.catwithaclari.net

Minnesota, Michigan (probably), and Missouri derive from either the native names for rivers or relate to lakes.

Maryland and (maybe) Maine refer to queens. That's also what Virginia refers to.

Massachusetts refers to a particular native group. Montana derives from fact that the Spanish saw the land and Understood that that only one thing would ever be really be notable there: Mountains. They're the outliers. So the answer is "Bodies of water and queens", I guess.