Almost every act of Congress is given a "popular name" by which it should be cited, i.e. No Child Left Behind Act, the Patriot Act, etc. Popular names tables or indexes link the popular name of a statute to its citation(s) in the United States Code. Often times, these tools also link the popular name with its Public Law number and/or Statute at Large citation. For example, if looking at the entry for the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, one would see its Public Law number is PL 107-110; its Statute at Large citation is 115 Stat 1425; and its location in sections 20 USCA 6301, 20 USCA 6052, 20 USCA 6053e, 20 USCA 6054b, etc. of the United States Code. These finding tools are found both online and in print.
Print Sources
The "Table of Popular Names" appears at the end of the volume set of the United States Code, the United States Code Annotated, and the United States Code Service. All of these sets can be found on the second floor of the library.
Online Sources
Click the links below to access Westlaw's or Lexis' Popular Name Tables for the United States Code.
Print Sources
The "Table of Popular Names" appears in the last volume of the general index, following the letter "Z", in both McKinney's and the Consolidated Law Service. The general index to both of these sets can be found on the second floor of the library.
Online Sources
Only Westlaw provides online versions of the Table of Popular Names for state codes. To access the Table of Popular Names for New York, click on the link below and enter the New York Statutes Annotated database on Westlaw. Then click on the highlighted text "New York Statutes Popular Name Table" in the Tools and Resources box on the right side of the screen.