Did you know that there are 29 holidays between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day? With all of these holidays, you may be sending (or receiving!) holiday cards. One of the most important aspects of sending cards is making sure you are spelling the name correctly. Do you know how to make a surname plural?

In this week’s blog, we are talking all things names: plural, possessive, and plural possessive. 

Here are the basic rules when writing names:

Never add an apostrophe to make a name plural.

⊗ Season Greetings from the Smith’s

√ Season Greetings from the Smiths

If the last name ends with “s, x, z, ch, sh”, then add an “es” at the end of the name. 

√ Season Greetings from Joneses

For example, if you were to say, “The Hayneses recently moved to Georgia,” you’re indicating that the collective Haynes family moved to Georgia. Names that end in “s” or are pronounced with a soft “z” sound may look weird when “es” is added, but the usage is correct. As another example, if you were inviting the Jones family over for dinner, then you’d say, “I’m inviting the Joneses over for dinner.

√  The Joneses invited you to hold ladders while they hang lights.

√  The Foxes decorated four Christmas trees.

√  The Alvarezes went to visit their grandmother.

√  The Churches sang in the top-hat choir.

√  The Ashes got stuck at the train station.

The same rules apply to first names. If you have two cousins named Alex, they are the Alexes.

If the last name ends with any other letter, just add an “s”.  

√ Season Greetings from Kranes

For names that do not end in –s, –z, –ch, –sh, or –x, just add “s” to the end of the name to make it plural. For example, to congratulate a couple on tying the knot, you’d say,

√ Congratulations to the Hunters on their recent marriage.”

Or, if you were inviting the Lee family over for dinner, then you’d say:

√ I’m inviting the Lees over for dinner.”

What about names ending in Y?  

Just add an “s”, not “ies”.  

√ Season Greetings from the Hensleys

For last names ending in –y, simply add –s. Do not drop the –y and add –ies as with other nouns, verbs, and adjectives. For example, “Merry Christmas from the Murphys.”

What if the end of the last name normally functions as an irregular noun? 

 It is not irregular when it is part of a last name. Do not treat the noun as irregular. There is no need to change it. 

⊗ Happy holidays from the Hoffmans.

√  Happy holidays from the Hoffmans.

⊗ Warm wishes from the Wolfs. 

√  Warm wishes from the Wolfs. 

Now, you may have some questions about adding an apostrophe to a name since it is something that does occur. 

Q: What I ever add an apostrophe to a last name? 
A: Only if you want to make it possessive.

Q: What would adding an apostrophe do? 
A: It would make your last name possessive.

Q: Is there ever a reason to add an apostrophe?

A: Only if you want to make your last name possessive.

Q: Why do people add apostrophes?

A: Because they have not been to the Graduate Writing Center for a consultation!  

The Definitive Guide to Pluralizing Your Last Name

Last letter(s) of name What should you add to make it plural? Does it need an apostrophe?
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h (see exceptions below), i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, t, u, v, w, y -s NO
s, x, z, ch, sh -es NO

“In-Laws”

Now that we have the basics of making names plural, we can move on to trickier plurals: the in-laws. One thing that makes it tricky is that we call a group of them collectively “the in-laws,” but that’s not how you make them plural when you’re talking about a smaller group.

For example, if sister-in-law #1 and sister-in-law #2 are in the kitchen, you can safely gossip about those two sisters-in-law while you’re in the living room. They’ll never hear you over the music.

You make “in-law compounds” plural by making the noun part plural since the women are primarily your sisters and the “-in-law” part just further describes what kind of sisters they are. The same holds true for other in-laws. They are your

  • Brothers-in-law
  • Fathers-in-law
  • Mothers-in-law

The fact that we refer to them all as “in-laws” is just shorthand. Dictionaries call it a back formation (1).

 

References

1. “in-laws.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/in-laws

2. “I have heard it said that it took.” Dictionary.com. Columbia World of Quotations. Columbia University Press, 1996. http://quotes.dictionary.com/I_have_heard_it_said_that_it_took 

3. Brannen, Kate.” How to Make Your Last Name Plural This Christmas Season” Slate. NOV. 25 2014. http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/11/25/how_to_make_your_last_name_plural_on_holiday_cards_and_avoid_apostrophe.html

4. Fogarty, Mignon. “How to Make Family Names Plural.” Grammar Girl. December 23, 2010. https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/how-to-make-family-names-plural

5. “Names—pluralizing.”Editorial Style Guide. http://web.mit.edu/comdor/editguide/style-matters/names.html

Do you still need help pluralizing names? Make an appointment with the Graduate Writing Center! 

CONTACT US:
Location: 43 Administration Building (inside the Graduate Center) 
Phone: 806.742.2476, ext. 1