Christmas Cards and Apostrophes in Your Last Name Don’t Belong Together. Here’s Why.
Apostrophes don’t belong in your last name on a Christmas card. Ever. (Unless, of course, you have apostrophe in the actual spelling of your name; more on that below.)
Why? Because apostrophes are a punctuation mark designed to show possession—as in, when something belongs to something else, like a reindeer’s carrot or an elf’s pointy shoe. Apostrophes are not used to make words plural (his “carrot’s” or her pointy “shoe’s” is oh, so wrong). On Christmas cards, the same principle applies: when we write, “Love, The Nelsons,” or “From the Smiths,” we are simply using a plural form of our last name. We’re just plural people—more than one person from a family with the same last name—wishing a merry Christmas. There’s no possession there. And there shouldn’t be an apostrophe, either. No exceptions.
No exceptions? Really?
That’s right. On Christmas cards (or any other greeting), it just doesn’t really ever make sense to write your last name with a possession (unless you write something off-the-wall, like “Merry Christmas from the Bakers’ family cat”—even then, though, the apostrophe goes after the ‘s,’ because it’s a plural possessive: Bakers’). In English, to make a word plural, we almost always just add an ‘s’ or an ‘es.’ We don’t ever (ever!) add apostrophes to make something plural. Let’s repeat the rule: APOSTROPHES ARE USED FOR POSSESSION, NOT TO MAKE SOMETHING PLURAL.
(To be fair, there actually is one super tiny little exception to this rule—when making a single letter plural, as in “there are four z’s in ‘razzmatazz'”—you have to use an apostrophe. But that’s a quirky little detour we can avoid thinking about for now.)
If I were to write, for example, “I just ate three cookies with my grandma,” there is no need to add an apostrophe on cookies. It’s just a plural form of cookie. The phrase, “I just ate three cookie’s,” not only looks weird, it doesn’t make any sense and it’s actually confusing. Plus…it’s just plain incorrect.
Adding an apostrophe to make something plural doesn’t make any sense. We already have the ‘s’—why add something else? This rule, hard as it may be to believe for some, applies to all nouns—even proper nouns like last names. If we have neighbors next door, and their last name is Jackson, then we live next door to the Jacksons—more than one person (plural) with the name of Jackson. Similar to living next door to a bunch of cats or trees. Just multiple plural nouns. There is nothing possessive about the sentence, “We live next door to the Jacksons.” And the same is true if the Jacksons wish us a merry Christmas.
It really doesn’t matter what your last name is—when you say “from” or “love” or “sincerely” and follow it by your last name, you’re just making it plural, with no apostrophe:
- Love, the Thompsons
- From the Westons
- Yours Truly, the Clarks
Granted…if you are writing something that is not a greeting card, there are, indeed, times when an apostrophe can go on with a last name, if you’re making it possessive (“that’s the Harrisons’ Ferrari” or “I can see Jane Hardy’s yellow shoes”); Christmas cards just pretty much never use last names that way.
And, of course, some last names that actually have apostrophes IN THE SPELLING OF THE LAST NAME ITSELF—like O’Neil or Ma’afala. Those apostrophes stay!! Just don’t add an extra apostrophe at the end 🙂
But…what if my last name ends with an ‘s’?
It doesn’t matter. Whether your name ends in an ‘s’ or not, the same rule applies—if you’re not making your last name possessive, then there is no apostrophe.
In English, when we make other words that end in ‘s’ plural, we usually add an ‘es’—like with the word “dress” (“I just bought seventeen dresses“). The same is true for words that end in ‘x,’ ‘ch,’ or ‘sh’: foxes, witches, and dishes. Adding an apostrophe to any of those words where there is no possession is just as wrong as with any other word. And the same applies to last names.
If your last name is Curtis, for example (which is my mother’s maiden name and my first given name, so I’m ultra familiar with this one!), you must add an ‘es’ to make the last name plural: “Merry Christmas from the Curtises.” Other ‘s’- or ‘ch’- or ‘sh’- or ‘x’-ending last names do the same:
- Love, the Joneses
- From the Hatches
- Yours Truly, the Walshes
- With Love, the Hendrixes
Now…if you don’t like how that looks (believe me, “Curtises” looks really strange to me), you can re-word your Christmas card. Just say something like, “Love, the Curtis Family.” Just don’t add that apostrophe!
What about those ‘y’ last names? Or…’ys’???
By now, I hope you’re realizing that I’m going to say, “it doesn’t matter; the same rule applies.” As always, if your last name isn’t being used to show possession, it should not use an apostrophe.
The rule with ‘y’-ending words in English often means changing the last three letters to ‘ies,’ as in “bunny” and “bunnies” or “company” and “companies.” But we don’t always change the ‘y’ to ‘ies’—like in “days” or “toys.” For proper nouns like last names, you will never change the spelling of your last name to an ‘ies.’ You just keep the ‘y’ and add an s.
So…if your last name is “May,” then it’s just “Mays.” But even if your last name is a common English word, like, say, “Penny,” you’ll just add an ‘s’ at the end: “Merry Christmas from the Pennys.” Don’t change the spelling of your last name and don’t add an apostrophe.
If your last name feels really confusing, ending with a ‘ys,’ like in “Mays” or “Humphreys,” don’t panic—the rule is always the same. For your last name, it ends in ‘s,’ so just add the ‘es’: “Merry Christmas from the Mayses” or “Merry Christmas from the Humphreyses.” (Again, if you don’t like how that looks or sounds, just say, “Merry Christmas from the Humphreys Family.”
Why does it matter?
Well, call me a Scrooge, but the Christmas season just seems a little brighter if there is correct punctuation hanging on my fridge. I’m sure all your neighbors and family feel the same. But even if you don’t have any friends or relatives that are English teachers or punctuation snobs, it’s gotta feel good just knowing that you did it correctly, right? And that alone should make your own Christmas season a little cheerier.
Dude, great article. But from one visual communicator to another, please fix the kerning on ap os trophies.
Haha! I love this comment. Yeah, the kerning was pre-designed into the font (BPtall) and I wasn’t in the mood to adjust it. Thanks for calling me out on it! 🙂
“wasn’t in the mood to adjust it”
…and that is why there are
ap os trop hes
in Christmas Cards.
Haha! But…kerning is a stylistic choice; it’s not incorrect to add uneven space. 🙂
You ate three cookies with your grandma? I would have chosen something to cut the greasy aftertaste. A nice Chianti, perhaps.
Do I have a typeface for you! https://hellveticafont.com/
If nothing else, select “optical” kerning. The result still isn’t perfect, but it’s just one click (lazy-friendly) and so much easier on the eyes.
Comment of the Season!
What about Martinez?
Is it the Martinezes? This has teounled me since marrying my husband almost 15 years ago and I always just change it to something like The Martinez Family. Nothing else seems to work!
Ideas?
What about names containing apostrophes? Or is this post banned in Ireland?
It’s the O’Donnells not the O’Donnell’s.
What about “These are Douglas’s books.” Ok then?
There’s a whole paragraph in RED addressing that very topic. It’s called reading to learn not for funzies!
Hi
Yes I’m a last name z ending too
It’s zes weird I know but right??
Nice! Thanks. Can you clear something else up? In your example, “if you’re making it possessive (“that’s the Harrisons’ Ferrari” or “I can see Jane Hardy’s yellow shoes”)” what’s the rule of the apostrophe before and after the s?
Sure! In both cases, the apostrophe is possessive. The Harrisons own a Ferrari; Jane Hardy owns yellow shoes. However, in the case of the Harrisons, it’s a plural possessive (more than one person owns the Ferrari together). So…the apostrophe goes AFTER the the s. With Ms. Hardy, though, it’s just her. So the apostrophe goes before the s.
“teounled”?
I wince every time I see an apostrophe after years, like during the 1970s, 1980s, etc. If a sentence is “1970’s style”, not so much. BBC am I wrong?
Can’t letters of the alphabet being made plural (your “z’s” example) give up the apostrophe by capitalizing the letter?
There are four Zs in razzmatazz.
This is bad news for the cards I just mailed out to the O’Leary family.
Great article. I enjoyed reading it.
PS I’m also in the side of the kerning.
Omg yes! My eyes hurt. Yes
What is kerning?
It’s that tiny little space that goes between letters. 🙂
Which house is the Douglasses’?
Correct?
No.
This indicates possession.
Whether you write “The Douglass’ house is on the left” or “Which house is the Douglass’?” an apostrophe IS involved.
You may, however, get a Christmas card signed “The Douglasses,” or, as the author wisely suggests, “The Douglass Family.” 🙂
Why wouldn’t that be correct if more than one Douglass lives in the house and they are showing ownership?
I had the same question, and I Googled it to get the answer ?
Thank you. And a bonus from reading the comments is that I learned about kerning!
Thanks for asking! That is what I was wondering.
What about the O’Malleys?
Ha, thought I was the only one who noticed the kerning. Great article; much needed advise!
Advice
Good article! Now if you could just teach people that “you’re sweet” is not spelled “your”! See this all the time!
I totally agree! Love this!
Ok.
My son’s name is Angus
Show me ownership?
Angus’s?
Angus’ book
If a word ending in s is one syllable such as Gus, then it would be Gus’s house (an apostrophe followed by an s). However, if the word ending in s is two or more syllables, then you only add an apostrophe after the s to show possession, such as Angus’ house or Travis’ car.
Thank you for the kerning comment.
THANK YOU! As an English freak, this is one of the things that drives me completely crazy. Also, using ‘due to’ instead of ‘because of’….. ARGH! (I’m Lea Wait’s sister Nancy.)
Did you know that when signing a Christmas card, it is implied that the name belongs to a home: The Smith’s House (or home), so an apostrophe is necessary. Also, if the name ends in s, it would be The Jones’s home, unless it’s a famous religious name like Jesus. Then it would be Jesus’ home when showing possession.
So, hang those cards proudly, sir! Some folks are using grammar rules from trusted educational materials. Perhaps they are even credentialed themselves. Merry Christmas!
Be careful, Kat! That’s not right! If I live by myself and I say, “Merry Christmas from John,” it would sound really strange to say “From John’s,” implying the household. The same rule applies if you have plural anything; “Merry Christmas from these three cats,” or “Merry Christmas from the pizza delivery guys.” If it’s from a family, it’s just “from the Nelsons” or “from the Hansens.” Adding an apostrophe, then ‘s,’ is completely inaccurate.
If, though, indeed you want to imply from the household, you can…but you still have to make a plural possessive! So…if it’s from the Jones family, you’d still make it plural, then put the apostrophe AFTER the plural, like this:
Merry Christmas from the Jonses’.
I hope that helps!
Haha I didn’t think so.
I just learned kerning. This is awesome!
This is cool and all but misleading. Some people do have apostrophes in their actually last name. The title needs updated to reflect that you aren’t talking about this.
Relax
If you read the whole article, this particular issue is addressed at about the halfway point.
Right, but the title and the first paragraph both make broad assertions that clearly have problems. For someone trying inform others about good communication, don’t you think the author should also show such care?
It was addressed. Read the full article…
He speaks very clearly in the article to names that include apostrophes within the singular names.
Thank you very much! (Written with expressiveness, so the exclamation mark is appropriate.)
Agree with the above comment. My last name has an apostrophe in it and I get tired of having to leave it out just to make my credit card go through, etc. “If we can go to the moon….”
Apostrophes aren’t just used for showing possession, they are also used for contractions such as in the second word in this sentence.
Of course! Apostrophes are used for other things as well–like quotes within quotes or to cut off letters in a word (as in, “good ol’ days”). They just aren’t used to make things plural! 🙂
… except for when they are, as when dealing with individual letters…
I thought MLA recently changed the single letter rule to no apostrophe for the plural–just the letter plus s. Maybe I am mistaken; I haven’t looked it up to be sure.
CMS says no apostrophe to make a letter plural if capitalized: Ps and Qs
Lower case can take an apostrophe:
p’s and q’s
Also, add an apostrophe if not having one would create confusion by making another word: A’s and I’s (not As and Is)
I think MLA is the same (but don’t quote me on that; I haven’t looked it up in a while, either!).
The O’Connors and d’Artagnans are annoyed that web form programmers heard this rule and implemented it badly.
In other news, I’m sending a card to you this year, “From the Lawrences’ home to yours…”
O’Neil.. “Of The Royal Clan, Neil”
And yet, the article is referencing LAST NAMES.
Not contractions. Nice try with the useless distraction, however.
YES! Great article! We have received cards addressed to our name-apostrophe-s, which I find very improper, as in The Smith’s. Perhaps they are alluding to the fact that the house where this arrives is ours, but I would much rather it say The Smith Family. What do you think?
Thank you. I always have trouble referring to my friends as the “Westermans” instead of the “Westermen”, but you’ve convinced me not to change their name.
Another rule you might have missed is that in a closing only the first word is capitalized. Yours truly,
With love,
Now THAT’S funny!
What about the mark in names like O’Conor? Is it not an apostrophe?
No, that’s a sky comma.
Of The Royal Clan Conner
He covered that.
Curtis Newbold–
Dashes are two hyphens! Your sentence above should say “….other things as well–like quotes….” I learned the rule about apostrophes in last names when I married my husband by the last name of Nash. His mother who was somewhat of a writer signed their Christmas cards “The Nash’s.” I knew it was wrong, but how do you take on a new mother-in-law?!! HaHa! Over the years, I was able to teach her to write “The Nashes,” thankfully.
Well, the joke is on me, sort of. I typed in two hyphens, but when I Posted, it looks like one hyphen, which is also probably what Curtis did! I wonder how one hyphen looks – compared to two — . We shall see when I click on Post.
Here I have an amazing opportunity to set straight another writing/speaking error. This is a huge pet peeve for me: “His mother, who was someTHING of a writer..” is correct. Probably 75% of people get this wrong, even people who are otherwise fairly literate. If the word precedes “of”, it will always be someTHING. “Something of a … “. Somewhat is only used immediately before an adjective or an adverb—never “of”. I am somewhat tired this evening, so this post may be somewhat strangely written. As opposed to, I consider myself something of a grammar Nazi.
Well, here it looked like two hyphens. I bet auto-correct changed it to one the first time because I did not use a space before or after, which I learned many years ago there should be no spaces before or after a dash!
Ready to have your mind blown?
hyphen = –
en-dash = –
em-dash = —
Well, darn. LOL
Hey, so if the Humphreyses have a house, is it the Humphreyses’s house?
Yep 🙂 But, usually in this case, you would just leave the last ‘s’ off, like this: “I just visited the humpnhreyses’ house.” It’s a plural possessive, so that second ‘s’ at the end is optional.
Then I’m going with Humphreyses’s. I want it to look as whack as possible.
I love the article but would like to add that rarely the English language does allows for the use of an apostrophe to make a word plural. Take, for example, this expression: “Mind your p’s and q’s.” According to the Chicago Manual of Style, when making lower case letters plural, the apostrophe is correct. Never say never! ?
He covered that in the article.
Just to play devil’s advocate. But what if the implied meaning was to be from ‘the household of’?
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Every year, this issue is like nails on a chalkboard for me.
Thank you for your service!
(Thought neither do “Ap os trop hes”. ?)
I love this article! I agree and totally understand that you are not adding an apostrophe to show possession of a family, but what if this is on a personalized item that says “Welcome to the Johnstons”? If you are referring to the Johnstons as a family alone, it would not be needed. BUT what if you are referring to the house that the Johnstons possess? Is that an exception, or just very commonly misused? I see it used both ways all of the time.
Of course! There are times when you actually do add apostrophes on last names, just not usually with greetings. If you create a banner that says “Welcome to the Johnstons’,” you can imply possession there. BUT…note that the apostrophe goes AFTER the final ‘s’ because it’s a plural possessive. Make the word plural first (Johnstons), then add the apostrophe.
This just would be super rare on a Christmas card! 🙂
Great article! My question is this even taught in schools any more? It seems so many things aren’t.
Yes, it is taught! Is it learned? That’s another question. I’m wondering if this article might help. I’m going to try it.
The hell they don’t!
Merry Christmas from The O’Kanes.
If you actually read the article… 🙂
Ms. Greens’ headache
Only if her last name is Greens and not Green. If her last name if Green, it would read “Ms. Green’s headache.”
Reeveses??? Uh, no.
But that IS correct.
This is not in contradiction to your article but is a related peeve that needs to be said as a reminder: “It” is a basic pronoun (unless you’re being coy about Pennywise); the basic pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who) have possessive forms (my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, its, our/ours, their/theirs, whose), none of which take apostrophes. “It’s” is always a contraction for “it is” or “it has” (unless, again, you’re being coy about Pennywise).
So do I say The Voorheeses? Auto correct says it Voorhees’s. I have settled on putting our first names ( T & C Voorhees) to avoid controversy, because if they don’t know us they probably are not getting a card from us.
What about last names ending in Z. Bartzs or Bartzes. Neither look correct, but Bartz’s looks even worse to me. Interesting that auto correct underlines the s and es option as incorrect, but accepts ‘s as correct.
Autocorrect is determined by unpaid interns.
P.S.: The comments are at least as entertaining as the article (which is terrific and thank you).
We just received a housewarming gift of a door mat that says “Welcome to our home” and has our name-apostrophe-s. I can’t put it at the front door. I can’t sleep at night.
This has always bothered me! My last name ends in an “o”. My family says “o’s”. I say “oes”. I like to think I’m right!
Well sometimes the Christmas card or the christmas wish is the possession of the family giving it. In that case Merry Christmas from the Nawrocki’s is not inappropriate. The Nawrocki’s, all of them, have a wish they are giving to you. They posses it. It is their possession so am apostrophe would be appropriate
Wrong.
Correct: The Nawrockis have a wish to give you.
Correct: The Nawrocki’s gift is in the mail.
Incorrect: The Nawrocki’s, all of them, have a wish they are giving to you.
Wrong. The Nawrockis’ gift is in the mail. NOT Nawrocki’s.
What about plural possessive for last names? Say, if the Clark family wanted to share a picture of their Christmas tree would it be: Here’s the Clarks’ Christmas tree.
And for the Jones family would it be: Here’s the Joneses’ Christmas tree.
OMG DID YOU READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE?!?
I am just happy to receive a card.
As someone who has an apostrophe in her last name, the article’s title had me seeing red immediately. Glad I took the time to read the piece to see that it is about posessives and not apostrophies.
And couldn’t you write “razzamatazzes” and not use an apostrophe?
I am totally on board with the no apostrophes but I have an issue with pronunciation and s vs es t make my own name plural. Our last name is DuBois and we use the French pronunciation Doo-bwah. Since the name ends with an s the plural should be DuBoises but that looks like it should be pronounced the Doo-bwah-ses. I feel that the proper plural for our family should sound as – the Doo-bwahs but then how should that be spelled – DuBoiss?
In French, DuBoises WOULD be pronounced Doo-bwahs.
Well written, with 2 “exceptions”:
“From, the Hatches” – comma inappropriate
“Love the Curtis Family” – comma required
You should mention that the “apostrophes are for possession” rule does not apply to “it”.
“I cut its head off” is correct.
The only time an apostrophe is used is for the contraction of “it is”.
“It’s time to cut its head off”.
This is a wonderful, useful article that I hope will be read and followed by many people (mostly the ones I correspond with). One small correction (sorry; retired English teacher here): there is NO COMMA after the word “from.” As in, “From, the Smiths.” From is a preposition, and commas do not follow prepositions. EVER. Just writing, “Merry Christmas from the Smiths!” is sufficient. Okay. Getting off my soapbox now. Thank you for your article.
Excellent article. Would you mind doing one on colons and semi-colons, and the rules. Thanks.
Good article! Now if you could just teach people that “you’re sweet” is not spelled “your”! See this all the time!
Interesting. I was just ordering a new sign to go in front of our Lakehouse. Last name is Maddox. Should I use “The Maddox’s” to show possession of the house? Or, should it be “The Maddoxes “or “ The Maddoxs “? Please rush reply. Ordering sign today and it will be engraved in stone and not changeable!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the question, Ed! In this case, because you are referring to the lake house that you possess, the apostrophe is okay, but it’s a plural possessive (more than one Maddox that possesses the lake house), so the apostrophe goes AFTER the plural, like this: The Maddoxes’. But, you don’t necessarily have to have to make it possessive, if you just want to imply it’s the Maddoxes who live there, like this: The Maddoxes.
Now, if you don’t like how either of those look on a sign, I think it’s perfectly acceptable to just put the singular form of your last name, without the “the,” like this: MADDOX or MADDOX LAKEHOUSE.
It’s all about how you frame it and what you mean by it. But it would be wrong to do The Maddox’s, for sure. That implies a single person named The Maddox, who owns it, which just sounds silly. 🙂
Sage advice.
I would add that the ‘y’ rule never applies to digraphs ending in ‘y’ (ay, ey, oy – enjoyed). It’s all about ‘y’ in an “open” syllable (i.e., a syllable ending with a single vowel letter – happiness), so it’s not as random as it would first appear.
My last name is Wood not Woods. Both are surnames. Just adding the s actually changes my last name (which is a point of contention in our household). So I always use The Wood’s is that wrong?
So my last name is Marks… would plural be The Markses? If so, it does look weird
My family’s last name is Collins. How would you write the possessive form of Collins. Fill in the blank, please. The _____________________ family dog ran away.
Thanks, Joann! In the sentence, you are using the last name as a plural possessive (multiple people in the Collins family who who the dog that ran away), so you just add the apostrophe at the end:
The Collins’ family dog ran away.
Read the whole article before commenting. Also, be kind, people!
Love the Curtis family?? I don’t think so. The comma is missing.
As a D’Esposito, by birth; I thank you for including the formal name section.
Your comment about the tiny exception to the rule is also incorrect. Apostrophes are only to be used to show possession or for contraction. When making a single letter plural, simply make the letter uppercase and add an ‘s’. For instance, and using the same example you used: “There are for Zs in ’razzmatazz’”. Please make a note of this as it is a completely incorrect use of the apostrophe.
Curtis, feel free to use my name as an example of confounding those who struggle with grammar. The last name is Mucci (spelled and pronounced like Gucci). Making my name plural changes the ‘perceived look’ of my name, leading people to think they “changed” my name. Muccis? Muccies? So, instead they stick an apostrophe in the name rather than write “The Mucci Family”. (Insert a long-suffering sigh here.)
As an O’Bryan (who has indeed read the entire article, so put your snippy reply thumbs down now, please), I do wish you’d change the title. The title is just as inaccurate as the grammar sin you’re hoping to correct. Apostrophes do, in fact, go with *some* last names. They just don’t make them plural.
last name Barnes. how should that be on Christmas card?