Apostrophy "s" in plural nouns

Question

I've seen the possessive used in proper nouns (Names) that end in "s" as both just the apostrophe (Jesus') and with an "s" (Jesus's). Which is correct?

Answer 1

Great question! This concept is definitely one that is commonly misunderstood.

So the example you gave of "Jesus's" can't exactly be applied to your question because the noun "Jesus" is singular, not plural.

When it comes to the rules with possessive plural nouns that end in "S" you always just use an apostrophe, not an apostrophe followed by another "s". If the plural noun does not already end with an "S" then you would add an apostrophe followed by an "S".

Example:

The girls' bikes are outside.

The children's bikes are outside.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

This depends on the writing manual you're utilizing, but the most widely accepted in academia is that ALL nouns use an apostrophe followed by "s" no matter what the noun is. So these would all be as follows:

Jones's

Santa's

SSS's

Crass's

╣'s

Most media, including newspapers and magazines started to remove the "s" when the word ended in an "s" because of space limitations, and it has now become pretty standard to exclude the "s" in such instances:

Jesus'

SSS'

So both versions can be correct, but if using it in a formal paper, be sure to refer back to the appropriate manual for guidance on the correct use.