Jess’s or Jess’?

Jess’s  is the standard singular possessive form for the term Jess. Use it when you are following the chicago manual of styles e.g Jess’s  baking skills are exceptional.  Furthermore, Jess’ is another singular possessive form for the term Jess. Use it when you are following the Associated Press stylebook e.gThe car keys were found  in Jess’ backpack.

You can see that different styling guides have different rules. Let’s look at some of the possessive forms for the term Jess and their examples in the following chart.

Form	Example
Singular	Jess
Singular possessive	Jess’/ Jess’s

Singular:  Jess is one of the most hardworking people in the company.

Singular possessive: Jess’ dog is always excited to see the family come home.

Singular possessive: We celebrated Jess’s birthday with a family dinner at her favorite restaurant.

So, as you can see from the above, there are two singular possessives for the term Jess. Jess’s and Jess’. 

Jess’s is formed by adding an apostrophe a and an ‘s’ at the end of the name Jess. 

Jess’ is formed by only adding an apostrophe.  Use any of them depending on the styling guide but ensure that you maintain consistency throughout the document you are working on.

That is what you need to to know about the two possessive forms  for Jessie.  However, making a mistake in the future is something that you don’t want to do .  To avoid that, let’s look at each of the forms and examples in detail.

Jess’s

The Term Jess’s is the standard singular possessive endorsed by the Chicago Manual of Style. You should use it when you are referring to  something that belongs to a person named Jess.

It is the commonly used form of the two in modern English according to Google Ngram.

• Jess’s car broke down, so the family had to share rides for a week.
• We celebrated Jess’s birthday with a family dinner at her favorite restaurant.
• Jess’s graduation was a proud moment for the entire family.
• Every year, Jess’s family gathers for Thanksgiving at her parents’ house.
• Jess’ family spent the summer camping by the lake, creating lasting memories.

However, some people often omit the s leaving the term with only an apostrophe when the next word starts with an ‘s’

• Jess’ surprise for her mom included a spa day to celebrate her birthday.
• Jess’ siblings organized a surprise party, complete with streamers and confetti.
• I love watching Jess’ soccer games; the whole family cheers for her on the sidelines.

Jess’

Jess’ is another singular possessive form for Jess. Use Jess’ when you are talking about something that belongs to Jess.  It is less popular  but is  grammatically correct and endorsed by the Associated Press Stylebook.

To some people, this is the more preferred form as it is clearer especially when the next word starts with s. 

• Jess’ family enjoyed a day at the beach, building sandcastles and collecting seashells.

• Jess’ cousins came over for a barbecue, making it a lively family get-together.
• The highlight of the weekend was Jess’ hiking trip with her family in the mountains.
• The rainy Sunday was perfect for Jess’ family to have a cozy movie marathon with blankets and popcorn.
• Jess’ graduation party turned into a lively celebration with family and friends.