The Commonwealth statesHarrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. Shutterstock/Jon BilousThere are four US states whose legal names include the term Commonwealth: Kentucky, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. However, this term does not affect laws or life in these states today, nor did it when they were first created either. According to the Massachusetts State Government, the term "Commonwealth" was incorporated into their constitution in 1780 and was used to express the ideal that "the people [of Massachusetts] ... form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state." The states of Pennsylvania and Virginia included similar language in their state constitutions in 1776, as did Kentucky in 1850.

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