How To Make Your Last Name Plural

It's getting to be that time of year when we scan through our photos looking for the perfect one to add to our holiday cards.

We take great care to get a good family photo—free of closed eyes and children's tears—and then we mess up our last name. How do you make your family name plural, and should it have an apostrophe?

These are the mysteries we'll explore in today's lesson.

Step 1. Singular or Plural?

You have two ways that you can sign your holiday cards. You can use the plural version of your last name (The O'Briens), or you can use a singular version of your last name plus the word family (The O'Brien Family).

If you're going to go with the ______ Family version, you're already done. Just put your last name in its singular form in front of the word family. Voila!

Singular Last Name	Signature
Waldman	The Waldman Family
Kennedy	The Kennedy Family
Marsh	The Marsh Family
Reich	The Reich Family
Jacobs	The Jacobs Family
Sanchez	The Sanchez Family

Step 2. Make Your Family Name Plural

Okay, so you decided to make your last name plural. Let's go over the rules!

For most names, add an -s to make them plural.
For names that end in ch, s, sh, x, and z, add -es to make them plural.

*There is an exception to this rule: If your last name ends in ch but is pronounced with a hard /k/ sound, like the word monarch, add only an -s rather than -es.

Singular Last Name	Plural Last Name	Signature
Waldman	Waldmans	The Waldmans
Kennedy	Kennedys	The Kennedys
Marsh	Marshes	The Marshes
Reich*	Reichs	The Reichs
Jacobs	Jacobses	The Jacobses
Sanchez	Sanchezes	The Sanchezes

Now that you have the plural form of your last name, give yourself a pat on the back. Simply add the word the in front of your plural last name, and you're done!

The final step is a reminder for you to resist temptation.

Step 3: Never Use An Apostrophe To Make Your Name Plural

If you feel unsure about how to make your last name plural, you may feel an itch to add an apostrophe. Resist that urge! I say this in the most loving way possible: We never use apostrophes to make last names plural.

Happy Holidays!
Love,

The Jones's = No

The Jones' = Nope

The Joneses = Yes

The Jones Family = Yes

If you don't like the way your last name looks in its plural form (The Joneses), use the singular form plus the word family (The Jones Family).

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It starts from the very beginning and teaches you grammar and sentence diagramming in easy, bite-size lessons.