Street name query

[ilovemyflipflops]

Harris's Alley, it always looks odd to me, is that correct? or should it be Harris' Alley? Please clear this up for me so i can can concentrate fully on the road when i drive past it

I think it would be Harris's. Although would that suggests the alley belongs to Harris? Erm. I'll wait for someone who's more knowledgable to come along Maybe it should just be Harris Alley?

1. People's names

Most of us were told at school to put the apostrophe after any name that ends in an s. One referred to James' motorbike and King Charles' execution.

This is still strictly correct, but it looks stilted because most people nowadays say James's motorbike and King Charles's execution.

This is the way most newspapers write it and most broadcasters say it.

There's one other obscure but interesting point. If a family has the name Jones, they are the Joneses. There's no apostrophe, because it's just a plural. However, when they own something, they need an apostrophe following the rule, outside the s of the plural form as in the line the Joneses' front garden.

C&P from a journalism website.
I think it means that either way is correct but s' is more pleasing to the eye ...
HTH

The rule I was given for the possessive, is, if you would say an extra 's' for the possessive, then you write it, too.

e.g. you would say the S for charles's execution, so you write it. But you would not say an extra s for dogs' home, so you don't write it.

So, Tigerschick - it should be Harrises Alley?

I read recently that it is now grammatically accepted and correct to add the s after the apostrophe whereas a few years back one would have used only the apostrophe (which indeed was the case when i was at school).
As mother of a James, the change in accepted rule caught my eye but i still struggle to write it as anything other than James'.

At least that street has an apostrophe; ours doesn't and it drives me crazy!

Kings are a special case - they should still be James' and Charles'. King James' boyfriend, for instance.