Asteroid 3124, Kansas, was discovered November 3, 1981 by David J. Tholen at Kitt Peak Observatory near Sells, Arizona. It has a period of 4 years, 204 days.
Kansas was named for Tholen's home state, which derives its name from that of an Indian nation known as the Kansa ("south wind people") who came to the northeastern region of the state during the late 18th century, and for Tholen's alma mater, the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of observational astronomy there which started with the 1885 purchase of a 6-inch refractor telescope. The official motto of the state of Kansas is Ad astra per aspera, which is Latin for "To the stars through difficulties."
Kansas' nickname comes from its official flower, the sunflower.
The meaning of asteroid Kansas seems to be:having to do with the state of Kansas; rural, unprepossessing, unsophisticated, boring, prim, conservative, pastoral; wanting to leave a place.