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Archiver > NYALBANY > 2010-01 > 1262386030


From: Twila Yednock <>
Subject: Re: [NYALBANY] Plurals of surnames
Date: Fri, 1 Jan 2010 14:47:10 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <4B3E69E1.3010906@nycap.rr.com>


Thanks Cliff, for your always helpful and well-documented input.

Twila Yednock
1915 Champlain St.
Ottawa, IL 61350
LifeScapes Design
815-434-0475
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a smile pays great dividends!

--- On Fri, 1/1/10, Cliff Lamere <> wrote:


From: Cliff Lamere <>
Subject: [NYALBANY] Plurals of surnames
To: , ,
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010, 3:32 PM


A very common punctuation error in genealogy is the use of the
apostrophe followed by an 's' to create the plural of a surname.

Exampled of that wrong usage follows:
"There are seven Chadwick's on the census page."
"Has anyone found obituaries for any Horner's in this county?"

The error is becoming so common that it had me wondering if it was I who
was doing it wrong.

A little research had confirmed that an apostrophe should NOT be used to
make the plural of a surname.  Gardner's is incorrect as a plural, but
correct to show possession (as in "Betty Gardner's pie was great.").

The following plurals are correct.  For most surnames, simply add an 's'
to form the plural of it.

Smith --> Smiths 
Bailey --> Baileys
Gardner --> Gardners
Van Woert --> Van Woerts

However, if the name ends in an
s,  x,   ch,  sh,  or a  z,
the plural is formed by adding an -es.

Jones --> Joneses
Maddox --> Maddoxes
March --> Marches
Rush --> Rushes
Martinez --> Martinezes

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp

See Rule 5.

I wish you all a very happy and healthy 2010.

Cliff Lamere




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