Translating initials in one cell to full text in another cell

[DQT1]

How can I make a cell translate initials from another cell back into full
text? Example: if I type "AB" in one cell, how can I get another cell to
translate that into "Alberta". If you have the answer, I would really
appreciate the help. Thank you.

 

[Gary''s Student]

Consider VLOOKUP()

 

[Kevin B]

Use VLOOKUP to return the full-text based upon the initials

Example, where the table is in Columns AA and AB, rows 1 through 3

AA AB
TX Texas
LA Louisiana
NM New Mexico

=VLOOKUP(A2,$AA$1:$AB$3,2,FALSE)

Copy the formula down the column to fiinsh populating the cells in column B


If the initials are entered into cell A2, the lookup function in B2 would
look like this.