select name form test where name = [first letter is a]
for example if name is :
Calgary, AB
Opelika, AL
Miami, FL
then it should show
Opelika, AL and Calgary, AB as both start with A
They don't start with A. They start with O and C.
The problem is that you've stuffed two values in the same column (city and state). Assuming that you're lucky and there are not city names with a comma in there name you could select WHERE name LIKE '%, A%'.