Ross’ is the singular possessive form you should use if you follow the rules of the AP Stylebook. E.g., “Ross’ house is in the country.” Furthermore, Ross’s is the singular possessive form you should use when following the Chicago Manual of Style. E.g., “Ross’s family are all vets.”
As the following chart shows, there are two versions of the singular possessive for the name Ross. The first you make by adding an apostrophe to the end of the word Ross. While for the second form, you need to add an apostrophe and an “s.”
| Singular | Ross |
| Plural | Rosses |
| Singular possessive | Ross’ / Ross’s |
| Plural possessive | Rosses’ |
Here are some examples of the different forms in context.
- Singular: I invited Ross and his wife over for dinner tomorrow night.
- Plural: The Rosses sent us an invitation to their Christmas party.
- Singular possessive: Ross’ wife is a lawyer.
- Singular possessive: Ross’s car is an electric vehicle.
The Chicago Manual of Style specifies that you should use Ross’s. However, the AP Stylebook stipulates that you use Ross’ as the singular possessive.
Furthermore, the plural form of Ross, Rosses, is more likely to appear in reference to several members of a Ross family as shown in the plural example.
This example shows how the plural possessive form of Ross appears in a sentence.
- The Rosses’ house has been up for sale for over a year.
You have read the basics concerning the name Ross. Now, you should keep reading the rest of the page, where we explain more about each form and how to use them.
Ross’s
The term Ross’s is the standard singular possessive form of Ross. You should use it to indicate that something belongs to a Ross.
- Ross’s dog is a German Shepherd.
Furthermore, Ross’s is the more common of the two singular possessive forms, according to Google Ngram. Moreover, it is the version you must use according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
Also, some people remove the “s” at the end of Ross’s if the following word starts with “s.” However, if you do this once, make sure you are consistent and do it throughout the text.
- Ross’ sister is back for the holidays.
Ross’
The term Ross’ is the singular possessive form of the name Ross. Therefore, you should use it when you want to say that something belongs to a person named Ross.
You can use the possessive to reference parts of someone’s body, as well as non-tangible things like jobs.
- Ross’ job sounds stress-free compared to mine.
- Ross’ face always looks unhappy.
Furthermore, according to the AP Stylebook, you should use the form Ross’ as the singular possessive because it is a proper noun.