Last name endings are important to write correctly.
At this point in the Christmas game, hopefully you’ve already purchased all your gifts for beloved friends and family. Your Christmas day plans are solidified. Everyone knows that cousin Tammy’s macaroni and cheese is what the people show up for.
But there’s one final task you must complete before the big day: sending Christmas cards … And how to pluralize your family’s last name.
This trips up a lot of people, and I imagine there’s no worse feeling than Aunt Sue judging your Christmas card because of incorrect spelling.
If the pluralization of last names trips you up, don’t worry. By the end of this post, you should have clarity on how to write “from the X” on your pretty card of choice.
Let’s begin with the more difficult rule of the two.
Last Names Ending in S, Ch, J, Sh, X, or Z
If a last name ends in -s, -ch, -j, -sh, -x, or -z, you will add an -es ending to pluralize the last name.
Here are a few examples:
Hodges → Hodgeses
Hamaj → Hamajes
Cox → Coxes
Gonzalez → Gonzalezes
Last Names Ending in Any Other Letter
For last names ending in pretty much every other letter, you will add an -s ending.
Examples include:
Smith → Smiths
Bell → Bells
Porter → Porters
Wilson → Wilsons
Other Considerations
For example, if a last name ends with the letter -y, pluralization of a word that ends this way would change to -ies.
Such is the case with pony → ponies
However, we can’t just change a person’s name. Quite the opposite; the rule will need to change to accommodate this name.
In the example given above where an individual carries a last name that ends in -y, the last name will take on the -s ending.
Example:
Romany → Romanys
If you follow these rules when writing your next batch of Christmas cards you’ll be able to send them out with confidence.
Featured photo by micheile dot com on Unsplash