Plural of the last name Williams

Grammatically, it would be Williams' since Williams's would be possessive and it is a proper noun.

I believe the plural is Williamses (according to a Google search

)

Or you could just bypass it completely and say the Williams family! Lol

View Quoted Comment This is a good idea!

The apostrophe makes something possessive. So if you are one William: “that is William’s dog.” Adding an s to the end without an apostrophe makes it plural. “Both of the Williams families were at the party.” To make it both possessive and plural, you put the apostrophe after the s. “The Williams’ Christmas party was fantastic!”


I married a Harris. “I love the Harrises! Mr. Harris’s dog is so cute and Mrs. Harris’s jokes are fantastic. I always have a great time at the Harrises’ !”
Hope this helps! It’s super confusing. I miss my maiden name 😂

Here are all of the answers:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-happens-to-names-when-we-make-them-plural-or-possessive

Apostrophes are possessive, so for plural it would be Williamses

You would either say “the Williams family” or “Williamses.” Apostrophes always show possession, never pluralization.


You would only say “Williams’s” if you were referring to something belonging to a single person such as “Mr. Williams’s car.” It’s singular possessive. For something belonging to more than one family member, such as a house, you need to make it plural and possessive as in “the Williamses’ house.” You would never use “the Williams’” or “the Williams’ house” because that implies the name William has been made both plural and possessive and is grammatically incorrect.
It’s something so, so many people do incorrectly. I have a nephew whose name ends in S, and even his parents don’t know how to use it correctly.

View Quoted Comment Wouldn't you say "the Williams' house" if you were referring to "the house owned by the Williams family"? As in possessive, like the Smiths' house?

Its all dependent on the context the name is being used in.


I'd imagine pronunciation wise its 'Williamses'
Grammatically for possession its Williams' as in the Williams' house
If you're just writing it in the plural non possesive and talking qbout them in a subject matter its just as is - Williams. - ie: "we gave the gift to the Williams family."

View Quoted Comment Okay yes! I need it for our guestbooks sign so I think it’d be “The Williamses EST. 2020” ...right? Hahha

Never ever make something plural with an apostrophe. Williamses.

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That's right!

View Quoted Comment No, you wouldn’t. You have to make it plural and possessive. “Smiths’ house” is both plural and possessive. The plural of Smith is Smith and the apostrophe makes it possessive. The plural of Williams is not Williams. It’s Williamses. The S is part of the name. It does not make it plural, so you cannot add an apostrophe to show possession. If you were talking about a singular person with that last time, you would add an apostrophe and a second S. Only adding an apostrophe is never grammatically correct if it’s a name that already ends in an S.
(I’m a teacher who also has a degree in writing.)

View Quoted Comment Sorry, my first comment should’ve said that the plural of Smith is Smiths. I can’t edit the comment.

View Quoted Comment Yes! The Williamses or The Williams Family both work.

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No, this is incorrect. there is never an apostrophe in any plural name. it would be Williamses.

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So you're wrong on the Williams' but correct on the Harrises'!

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