Is it "Max's dog" or "Max' dog"

[Jordan]

When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

[micky]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 03:50:15 +0000 (UTC), Jordan <Jor...@is.invalid>
wrote:

>When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
Max.

AIUI, even when it is omitted, it is pronounced like it is there. And
if it isn't pronounced, that's even worse.

[Jerry Friedman]

On 8/20/13 9:50 PM, Jordan wrote:
> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

Not not not not not.

Okay, I'm calmer now. Actually, some people do it. There's a much
wider range of practices (and range of things people are taught in
school) on this point than on any other aspect of spelling. You could
also have asked about "Chris", "Jones", "Martinez", and "children".
I've even seen "Bush" with the plain apostrophe.

I use the plain apostrophe only for plural nouns ending in "s" and, in
deference to tradition, for ancient names of Greek or Latin form
(Socrates', Marius', Jesus'). I don't know what the style guides say.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On 8/20/13 9:50 PM, Jordan wrote:

> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

By the way, COCA results:

Max's: 890
Max': 53

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter T. Daniels]

The Chicago Manual of Style now omits the <'s> in many, many more
circumstances than it used to. (I was shocked just now when I checked
the 15th ed., which isn't even the latest.)

The rule used to be: use <'s> everywhere except after [ijz] as in
Socrates', and in certain set phrases like "in Jesus' name" and "for
conscience' sake." It now gives a long list of exclusions -- and
follows that by saying that if this is too complicated, you can just
go back to the old-fashioned style of never writing the <s> after the
apostrophe after a sibilant.

[Peter Moylan]

I'm in Australia, and I agree. Except for the "moreso", which looks like
a three-syllable word to me. /m@'risaU/ ?

--
Peter Moylan, Newcastle, NSW, Australia. http://www.pmoylan.org
For an e-mail address, see my web page.

[Don Phillipson]

"Jordan" <Jor...@is.invalid> wrote in message
news:kv1ddn$gt7$1...@news.albasani.net...

> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in
> American English?

Because we cannot hear the difference, this is more a question of spelling
and
punctuation than of US vs. Br. English, and therefore discussed at some
length
in the larger style books (e.g. Chicago.)

The problem is familiar because of names ending in S e.g. Perkins.
Thus Mr. and Mrs. Perkins together are (usually, cf. Chicago) the Perkinses:
and the dog they own is the Perkinses' dog, otherwise Jack Perkins' dog.

However, lots of people might pronounce Perkinses' dog and Perkins' dog
identically.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

[musika]

Probably a Perkinese.

--
Ray
UK

[Christian Weisgerber]

I'm confused now. Are we talking morphology or spelling?

Is it
(1) /'m&ks@z dAg/ or
(2) /m&ks dAg/
?

I would think it obvious that the corresponding spellings are
(1') Max's dog
(2') Max' dog

If you add an extra sound (/z/, /s/, /@z/) to the pronunciation,
you add "'s" to the spelling. Otherwise it's just an apostrophe.
Are people trying to make this more complicated?

(I don't think (2) is acceptable, so the spelling comes out as (1'),
but I'm prepared to be surprised.)


PS: Please, let's not fight over /dAg/ vs. /dOg/ and /@z/ vs. /Iz/
now.
--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber na...@mips.inka.de

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Wednesday, August 21, 2013 11:13:11 AM UTC-4, Christian Weisgerber wrote:
> Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in
> > > American English?
>
> > Not not not not not.
>
> > Okay, I'm calmer now. Actually, some people do it. There's a much
> > wider range of practices (and range of things people are taught in
> > school) on this point than on any other aspect of spelling. You could
> > also have asked about "Chris", "Jones", "Martinez", and "children".
> > I've even seen "Bush" with the plain apostrophe.
>
> > I use the plain apostrophe only for plural nouns ending in "s" and, in
> > deference to tradition, for ancient names of Greek or Latin form
> > (Socrates', Marius', Jesus'). I don't know what the style guides say.
>
> I'm confused now. Are we talking morphology or spelling?

Spelling.

> Is it
>
> (1) /'m&ks@z dAg/ or
>
> (2) /m&ks dAg/
>
> ?
>
> I would think it obvious that the corresponding spellings are
>
> (1') Max's dog
>
> (2') Max' dog
>
> If you add an extra sound (/z/, /s/, /@z/) to the pronunciation,
> you add "'s" to the spelling. Otherwise it's just an apostrophe.
> Are people trying to make this more complicated?
>
> (I don't think (2) is acceptable, so the spelling comes out as (1'),
> but I'm prepared to be surprised.)

There's a Penguin Classics verse translation of Aeschylus in which it
is eminently clear that <Zeus'> is scanned as two syllables.

[micky]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 23:07:46 +1000, Peter Moylan
<pe...@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

>On 21/08/13 19:50, micky wrote:
>> On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 03:50:15 +0000 (UTC), Jordan <Jor...@is.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>>
>> I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
>> for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
>> Max.

Maybe that's becaue Max doesn't even have an "s" in it.

>> AIUI, even when it is omitted, it is pronounced like it is there. And
>> if it isn't pronounced, that's even worse.
>
>I'm in Australia, and I agree. Except for the "moreso", which looks like
>a three-syllable word to me. /m@'risaU/ ?

Darn. "More so". it's all these urls, like www.givemeacookie.com that
I think confuse make any group of words look okay without spaces in
between.

[Skitt]

micky wrote:

> Jordan wrote:

>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>
> I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
> for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
> Max.

What's a "moreso"?


--
Skitt (SF Bay Area)
http://home.comcast.net/~skitt99/main.html

[micky]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:04:15 -0700, Skitt <ski...@comcast.net> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> Jordan wrote:
>
>>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>>
>> I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
>> for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
>> Max.
>
>
>What's a "moreso"?

John Wayne's real name?

[Mac]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:04:15 -0700, Skitt <ski...@comcast.net> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> Jordan wrote:
>
>>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>>
>> I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
>> for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
>> Max.
>
>
>What's a "moreso"?

"...same as downtown."

"it looks like a henway."

"When the moon hits your eye..."

"the masculine of 'morsel.'"

ANMcC

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:04:15 -0700, Skitt <ski...@comcast.net> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> Jordan wrote:
>
>>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>>
>> I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
>> for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
>> Max.
>
>
>What's a "moreso"?

The opposite of a "fewso". Or sometimes a "lessso".

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Jerry Friedman]

On Wednesday, August 21, 2013 9:13:11 AM UTC-6, Christian Weisgerber wrote:
> Jerry Friedman <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > > When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in
> > > American English?
>
> > Not not not not not.

I meant "Yes yes yes yes yes." Oops.

> > Okay, I'm calmer now. Actually, some people do it. There's a much
> > wider range of practices (and range of things people are taught in
> > school) on this point than on any other aspect of spelling. You could
> > also have asked about "Chris", "Jones", "Martinez", and "children".
> > I've even seen "Bush" with the plain apostrophe.
>
> > I use the plain apostrophe only for plural nouns ending in "s" and, in
> > deference to tradition, for ancient names of Greek or Latin form
> > (Socrates', Marius', Jesus'). I don't know what the style guides say.
>
> I'm confused now. Are we talking morphology or spelling?

Spelling, as PTD said.

> Is it
> (1) /'m&ks@z dAg/ or
> (2) /m&ks dAg/
> ?
>
> I would think it obvious that the corresponding spellings are
> (1') Max's dog
> (2') Max' dog
>
> If you add an extra sound (/z/, /s/, /@z/) to the pronunciation,
> you add "'s" to the spelling. Otherwise it's just an apostrophe.
>
> Are people trying to make this more complicated?

No, there's a difference between pronunciation and spelling. Plenty of
people pronounce "going" as something like /'goU@n/, and the spelling
that goes with that is well known to be "goin'", but in formal
contexts they still write "going". Likewise people who have beliefs
about the correct spelling of the possessive of "Max" will spell it that
way regardless of how they pronounce it.

On the other hand, there are probably people whose beliefs about the
correct pronunciation come from the rule they've adopted about the
spelling. I'm pretty close to that. However, I say /'dZiz@s@z/ but
write "Jesus'".

> (I don't think (2) is acceptable, so the spelling comes out as (1'),
> but I'm prepared to be surprised.)

Some people do say (2). I suspect there are far more people who pronounce
the genitive (equal time) the same as the plain case when it ends in /z/.

> PS: Please, let's not fight over /dAg/ vs. /dOg/ and /@z/ vs. /Iz/
> now.

OK.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Mike L]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 15:09:25 +0100, musika <mUs...@NOSPAMexcite.com>
wrote:

I see her as a cat person, though.

--
Mike.

[musika]

Ha. One of my nieces has (had?) a cat called Perkins.

--
Ray
UK

[Joe Fineman]

Jordan <Jor...@is.invalid> writes:

> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in
> American English?

As others on this thread have noted, usage is chaotic, and the spelling
is not a reliable indication of pronunciation: I am willing to bet that
most of the people who viewed a recent invitation on posters in Boston
to "Laugh in your boss' face" pronounced "boss'" in two syllables.
However, if you want my *advice*, it is that the old Chicago rule ('s
after all singulars, with a few enumerated exceptions) is eminently
sensible. The stranded apostrophe has a strong tendency to migrate:
When you see "Adams's", you will be pretty sure that the person's name
is Adams, and will let it be; but when you see "Adams'", there is a good
chance that you will remember it as "Adam's", and so mistake the name.
(I have even seen "Schwart'z", tho not in print.)

Make it "Max's".
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net

||: Rules exist to make you think before you break them. :||

[Robert Bannister]

Well, spelling should where possible represent pronunciation. I would
write "Max's" because I would say "maxes". I write "James'" and
"Charles'" because that is what I say.
--
Robert Bannister

[Stan Brown]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 03:50:15 +0000 (UTC), Jordan wrote:
>
> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

It must be "Max's dog".

A more difficult case is "Charles's dog" or "Charles' dog". I would
choose the first, but I am not quite willing to say that people who
choose the second are wrong.

--
"The difference between the /almost right/ word and the /right/ word
is ... the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning."
--Mark Twain
Stan Brown, Tompkins County, NY, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com

[Stan Brown]

On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 06:46:23 -0600, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On 8/20/13 9:50 PM, Jordan wrote:
> > When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>
> Not not not not not.
>
> Okay, I'm calmer now. Actually, some people do it.
>

s/some/most/

I think you're on the minority on his one, Jerry, at least for my
region.

[Dr Nick]

I wish I'd worked out how I'd /say/, let alone spell "belonging to
Frances" before we gave her that name.

[LFS]

<grin>

--
Laura (emulate St George for email)

[Dr Nick]

Luckily she seems amused when we say Francesiziziziziziz

[Jerry Friedman]

On Wednesday, August 21, 2013 8:14:12 PM UTC-6, Stan Brown wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 06:46:23 -0600, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On 8/20/13 9:50 PM, Jordan wrote:
> > > When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>
> > Not not not not not.
>
> > Okay, I'm calmer now. Actually, some people do it.
>
> s/some/most/
>
> I think you're on the minority on his one, Jerry, at least for my
> region.

I'm in a minority consisting of people who say the exact opposite of what
they mean, five times in a row. (In the words of Shakespeare, you should
always always always always always do that.)

--
Jerry Friedman

[abc]

Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:04:15 -0700, Skitt<ski...@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>> micky wrote:
>>> Jordan wrote:
>>
>>>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>>>
>>> I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
>>> for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
>>> Max.
>>
>>
>> What's a "moreso"?
>
> The opposite of a "fewso". Or sometimes a "lessso".

The opposite of a "fewerso", surely. The opposite of a "fewso"
is a "manyso" as most seven-year-old school kids know from
their grammar homework.
"lessso" is spot on though.
abc

[abc]

musika wrote:
> Ha. One of my nieces has (had?) a cat called Perkins.

I had one only last week, and a tasty one it was too.
Don't know if it was called Perkins though.
abc

[Mike L]

I feel vague stirrings of a brand-new Python sketch. A skeleton might
be: "You said you didn't!" "No, I didn't!" "Yes you did! I counted the
'nots'. " "That was a litotes" "A what?" "You know, when two negatives
equal positive." "That's a double negative!" "Well, I meant a double
negative." "No you didn't! I counted the 'nots' and there were five of
them!" "That's right!" "But five doesn't divide by two!"...etc.

--
Mike.

[Robert Bannister]

On 22/08/13 10:12 AM, Stan Brown wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 03:50:15 +0000 (UTC), Jordan wrote:
>>
>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>
> It must be "Max's dog".
>
> A more difficult case is "Charles's dog" or "Charles' dog". I would
> choose the first, but I am not quite willing to say that people who
> choose the second are wrong.
>

But what do you actually say? I write "Charles' dog" because I say
"charls dog". If you say "charliz dog", then I think you are perfectly
correct to spell it "Charles's dog".

--
Robert Bannister

[R H Draney]

musika filted:

Lately I've been noticing an actress turning up in a lot of commercials...some
research tells me that her name is "Dixie Perkinson"....

Not since the works of Charles Dickens has a person's name evoked such a perfect
image of what that person is like....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[Stan Brown]

I always say and write "Charles's" as the possessive of "Charles".

(But in another thread, a few minutes ago, I used " Brussels' " as
the possessive of "Brussels".)

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Thu, 22 Aug 2013 23:40:30 +0200, abc <a...@abc.net> wrote:

>Peter Duncanson [BrE] wrote:
>> On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:04:15 -0700, Skitt<ski...@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>>> micky wrote:
>>>> Jordan wrote:
>>>
>>>>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>>>>
>>>> I'm in the US. I think omitting the apostrophe-s looks ridiculous,
>>>> for Charles, James, Jesus, and even moreso if that is possible, for
>>>> Max.
>>>
>>>
>>> What's a "moreso"?
>>
>> The opposite of a "fewso". Or sometimes a "lessso".
>
>The opposite of a "fewerso", surely.

Yes. My mistake.

> The opposite of a "fewso"
>is a "manyso" as most seven-year-old school kids know from
>their grammar homework.
>"lessso" is spot on though.
>abc

[Jerry Friedman]

On Thursday, August 22, 2013 11:20:57 PM UTC-6, Lewis wrote:
> In message <MPG.2c7f3dfb9...@news.individual.net>

> Stan Brown <the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
> > On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 06:46:23 -0600, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> >> On 8/20/13 9:50 PM, Jordan wrote:
>
> >> > When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>
> >> Not not not not not.
>
> >> Okay, I'm calmer now. Actually, some people do it.
>
> > s/some/most/
>
> > I think you're on the minority on his one, Jerry, at least for my
> > region.
>

> Agreed. I'm nearly positive I've only ever seen "Max's". I am absolutely positive I would never ever use Max' for a possessive.<1>
>
> <1> With the obvious exception of dialog for someone who, for some
> reason, didn't pronounce it "maxiz"

By now you'll have seen what my mistake was. Speaking of which, sixteen
of the 53 hits I quoted for "Max'" had a single quotation mark rather than
an apostrophe, and all the rest, as far as I can tell, are from a single
article by one Nelson R. Orringer, so it's probably much less common than
the numbers suggested.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Robert Bannister]

On 23/08/13 5:28 PM, Stan Brown wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Aug 2013 09:58:52 +0800, Robert Bannister wrote:
>>
>> On 22/08/13 10:12 AM, Stan Brown wrote:
>>> On Wed, 21 Aug 2013 03:50:15 +0000 (UTC), Jordan wrote:
>>>>
>>>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?
>>>
>>> It must be "Max's dog".
>>>
>>> A more difficult case is "Charles's dog" or "Charles' dog". I would
>>> choose the first, but I am not quite willing to say that people who
>>> choose the second are wrong.
>>>
>>
>> But what do you actually say? I write "Charles' dog" because I say
>> "charls dog". If you say "charliz dog"

I meant "charlziz".

, then I think you are perfectly
>> correct to spell it "Charles's dog".
>
> I always say and write "Charles's" as the possessive of "Charles".
>
> (But in another thread, a few minutes ago, I used " Brussels' " as
> the possessive of "Brussels".)
>

I would prefer not to have to write that at all.
--
Robert Bannister

[Christian Weisgerber]

Christian Weisgerber <na...@mips.inka.de> wrote:

> If you add an extra sound (/z/, /s/, /@z/) to the pronunciation,
> you add "'s" to the spelling. Otherwise it's just an apostrophe.
> Are people trying to make this more complicated?

And now I've checked some reference works:

* Chicago Manual of Style: Doesn't say much at all.

* Cambridge Grammar: Implicitly agrees with what I wrote above.

* MWDEU: Talks about the variation in spelling but fails to mention
pronunciation.

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber na...@mips.inka.de

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Sunday, August 25, 2013 12:59:18 PM UTC-4, Christian Weisgerber wrote:

> * Chicago Manual of Style: Doesn't say much at all.

Which edition??

[Jerry Friedman]

On Wednesday, August 21, 2013 1:10:56 PM UTC-6, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Wednesday, August 21, 2013 9:13:11 AM UTC-6, Christian Weisgerber wrote:

...

> > Is it
> > (1) /'m&ks@z dAg/ or
> > (2) /m&ks dAg/
> > ?
>
> > I would think it obvious that the corresponding spellings are
> > (1') Max's dog
> > (2') Max' dog
>
> > If you add an extra sound (/z/, /s/, /@z/) to the pronunciation,
> > you add "'s" to the spelling. Otherwise it's just an apostrophe.
>
> > Are people trying to make this more complicated?
>
> No, there's a difference between pronunciation and spelling. Plenty of
> people pronounce "going" as something like /'goU@n/, and the spelling
> that goes with that is well known to be "goin'", but in formal
> contexts they still write "going". Likewise people who have beliefs
> about the correct spelling of the possessive of "Max" will spell it that
> way regardless of how they pronounce it.

...

Compare Thomas' English muffins, since we're talking about AmE muffins. Their
slogan used to be "Thomas' promises", pronounced to rhyme.

http://www.tvacres.com/adslogans_t.htm

--
Jerry Friedman

[Christian Weisgerber]

Peter T. Daniels <gram...@verizon.net> wrote:

> > * Chicago Manual of Style: Doesn't say much at all.
>
> Which edition??

The one on my bookshelf.

[sgilbo...@gmail.com]

I KNOW that it is NOT Max' and I am almost positive it would be Maxs' for the plural possessive.

[Jerry Friedman]

On 10/25/17 6:30 AM, sgilbo...@gmail.com wrote:
> I KNOW that it is NOT Max'

I agree.

> and I am almost positive it would be Maxs' for the plural possessive.

"The Maxes' dog", if the dog belonged to, say, the painter Peter Max and
his family.

--
Jerry Friedman

[RH Draney]

Like, wow, man!

https://i.pinimg.com/236x/77/16/5d/77165da41f4e6a94dbc9711ebb5e44d2--psychedelic-doberman-pinscher.jpg?noindex=1

....r

[occam]

On 25/10/2017 14:30, sgilbo...@gmail.com wrote:
> I KNOW that it is NOT Max' and I am almost positive it would be Maxs' for the plural possessive.
>

Did Mad Max have a dog? That would be Max's dog.

[Dingbat]

On Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 9:20:15 AM UTC+5:30, Jordan wrote:
> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

Max and his dog would be Max and Max's dog.
Mack and his dog would be Mack and Mack's dog.

Max's is pronounced [m&ks@z].
Mack's pronounced [m&ks].

That's in English in general, not just American English.
Your next English exercise, if you so please:
What do you say when the dog is possessed by "the Maxes" or "the Macks"?

[BCD]

***"Hello, operator? Could you put me through to an exorcist?"

Best Wishes,

--BCD

[Dingbat]

Ha ha! No need to get exorcised over an exercise:-)

[Ross]

Two guys named Max have a dog. It's the Maxes' dog. The spoken rule, for me,
I think, is haplological: when the possessor noun ends in (unstressed) /@z/,
you drop the -/@z/ suffix that would normally follow. I would not drop it
for Max, or Schwartz, or Linus, or Chris. BUT I find that if (to use a more common surname) the Blacks (couple or family) have a dog, I might just prefer
/bl&ks/ dog to /bl&ks@z/, and thus -s' to -s's. I'm not sure why.

[Lewis]

Depend on the exercise, I'd think,

--
You could save people. You could get there in the nick of time. And
something could snap its fingers and say, no , it has to be that way.
Let me tell you how it has to be. This is how the legend goes. --Soul
Music

[Peter Moylan]

On 25/10/17 23:30, sgilbo...@gmail.com wrote:

> I KNOW that it is NOT Max' and I am almost positive it would be Maxs' for the plural possessive.

A bare apostrophe is customary with some classical names. You might, for
example, refer to Aristophanes' dog. Although, actually, I don't know
whether he had a dog, so perhaps I should use Antisthenes' dog for my
example.

Max probably doesn't qualify as a classical name, but Asterix might qualify.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Friday, October 27, 2017 at 7:10:26 AM UTC-4, Peter Moylan wrote:
> On 25/10/17 23:30, sgilbo...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I KNOW that it is NOT Max' and I am almost positive it would be Maxs' for the plural possessive.
>
> A bare apostrophe is customary with some classical names. You might, for
> example, refer to Aristophanes' dog. Although, actually, I don't know
> whether he had a dog, so perhaps I should use Antisthenes' dog for my
> example.
>
> Max probably doesn't qualify as a classical name, but Asterix might qualify.

The Chicago (CMS) rule is to always use <'s> except in names ending with "-eez" (as in the
Classical names above), and in a few set phrases like "in Jesus' Name" and "for conscience' sake."

[steveo...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 10:50:15 PM UTC-5, Jordan wrote:
> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

Maxes (es is added)

[Madrigal Gurneyhalt]

Huh? What's wrong with Max's?

[Lewis]

In message <3a7608ca-a700-4ac1...@googlegroups.com> steveo...@gmail.com <steveo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 10:50:15 PM UTC-5, Jordan wrote:
>> When using a name like "Max", does the possessive get an "s" or not in American English?

When a name ends in S it might be made posessive with simply a ' instead
of 's, but taht is onyl with an s and is a stylistic choice.

Max's dog.

> Maxes (es is added)

No.


--
I have a cunning plan.
Does it involve a turnip?
Funnily enough, it does!