Apostrophes in Names of Holidays
Summary
Use an apostrophe in the name of a holiday that contains a possessive noun, but omit the apostrophe if the name is a descriptive term (New Year’s Eve and Mother’s Day, but Christmas Eve and Civil Rights Day). Whether to use an apostrophe in names of holidays may also depend on tradition and the style you follow: for example, the Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster recommend placing an apostrophe after the s in Presidents’ Day, while the AP Stylebook suggests omitting it (Presidents Day).
The general rule
Use an apostrophe in the name of a holiday, festival, or other special day to indicate the possessive form of a noun. Omit the apostrophe if a noun is used attributively—that is, as a descriptive term rather than as a possessive.
- Possessive: New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Women’s Day, Children’s Day
- Descriptive: Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Midsummer Eve, Human Rights Day, Christmas Day, Veterans Day
Whether the name of a holiday is considered possessive or descriptive (Presidents’ Day or Presidents Day) or even singular or plural (Worker’s Day or Workers’ Day) is often a matter of style and tradition rather than grammar. We review accepted conventions in this article. As an editor, respect the house style of your client’s publisher, university, or other organization.
Holidays with apostrophe before s
Place an apostrophe before and not after the s to form the possessive of a singular noun in the name of a holiday.
- Incorrect: Mothers Day
Incorrect: Mothers’ Day
Correct: Mother’s Day - Incorrect: New Years Day
Incorrect: New Years’ Day
Correct: New Year’s Day - Incorrect: Valentines Day
Incorrect: Valentines’ Day
Correct: Valentine’s Day
Although the day is called New Year’s Day, the greeting does not contain an apostrophe: it’s “Happy New Year,” not “Happy New Year’s.”
-
Incorrect: Happy New Year’s!
Correct: Happy New Year! Incorrect: We met on New Years Day.
Correct: We met on New Year’s Day.
Also place an apostrophe before instead of after the s to form the possessive when the name of a holiday contains an irregular plural like women. (An irregular plural is one that doesn’t end in s.)
- Incorrect: International Womens Day
Incorrect: International Womens’ Day
Correct: International Women’s Day
Here is a list of holidays, festivals, and other special days with an apostrophe before s.
- Mother’s Day
- Father’s Day
- New Year’s Eve
- New Year’s Day
- International Women’s Day
- Children’s Day
- Women’s History Month
- St. Joseph’s Feast Day
- St. Patrick’s Day
- St. David’s Day
- St. Andrew’s Day
- St. George’s Day
- Valentine’s Day (or St. Valentine’s Day)
- King’s Birthday
- Washington’s Birthday
- Lincoln’s Birthday
A standard dictionary can tell you whether and where to use an apostrophe in the name of a holiday. For instance, Merriam-Webster, Oxford, and Cambridge have entries for New Year’s Eve, Mother’s Day, and All Saints’ Day.
Holidays with apostrophe after s
If the name of a holiday contains the possessive form of a regular plural noun, place an apostrophe after the s that forms the plural.
- Incorrect: Parents Day
Incorrect: Parent’s Day
Correct: Parents’ Day
Here is a list of names of holidays with plural forms ending in s, where the apostrophe appears after the s.
- Presidents’ Day (also Presidents Day)
- All Hallows’ Eve
- All Saints’ Day (also All Saints Day)
- All Souls’ Day
- All Fools’ Day
- April Fools’ Day (also April Fool’s Day)
- Parents’ Day
- Patriots’ Day
- Martyrs’ Day
- Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Doctors’ Day
- Teachers’ Day
- Founders’ Day
Names of holidays like Founders’ Day may be spelled with the apostrophe before or after the s: an institution or nation may prefer Founder’s Day if there was only one founder.
Holidays without an apostrophe
When the name of a holiday is a descriptive word or phrase rather than a possessive, don’t use an apostrophe.
- Incorrect: Christmas’ Day
Correct: Christmas Day
Holidays named after people also generally don’t contain apostrophes, unless they are birthdays.
- Incorrect: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day
Correct: Martin Luther King Jr. Daydescriptive: not a day of Martin Luther King Jr. but a day to honor him - Incorrect: Lincoln Birthday
Correct: Lincoln’s Birthdaypossessive: the birthday of Lincoln
Holidays with names that end in s but don’t take an apostrophe can be particularly confusing. Think of whether the name is used as a possessive: King’s Birthday is a possessive; Guy Fawkes Day and Rosa Parks Day are not.
In names of days based on seasons or astronomical and meteorological events, no apostrophe is necessary.
- Incorrect: summer’s solstice
Correct: summer solstice
Here is a list of holidays, festivals, and special days that are not considered possessive terms and don’t take an apostrophe.
- Independence Day
- Veterans Day
- Labor Day
- Human Rights Day
- Civil Rights Day
- Bill of Rights Day
- National Cancer Survivors Day
- May Day
- Christmas Day
- Christmas Eve
- Midsummer Day
- Midsummer Eve
- Midsummer Night
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Columbus Day
- Guy Fawkes Day
- Rosa Parks Day
- Daisy Bates Day
- Burns Night
- spring equinox
- vernal equinox
- autumnal equinox
- summer solstice
- winter solstice
Apostrophe in Presidents’ Day
Presidents’ Day can be written with or without an apostrophe. Some style guides, like the Chicago Manual of Style, suggest placing an apostrophe after the s, as do Merriam-Webster and Oxford. Others, like the AP Stylebook, consider “presidents” a descriptive word rather than a possessive, and suggest omitting the apostrophe altogether.
- Correct: Chicago: Presidents’ Day
Correct: AP: Presidents Day
Apostrophe in Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is written with the apostrophe in Chicago style and without the apostrophe in AP style. Note that when the apostrophe is used, it appears after and not before the s.
- Incorrect: Indigenous People’s Day
Correct: Chicago: Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Correct: AP: Indigenous Peoples Day
If a holiday is official in a state or a nation, follow that territory’s official style.
Apostrophe in Veterans Day
Don’t use an apostrophe in Veterans Day. The official name of the federal holiday is written without an apostrophe. Dictionaries (like Merriam-Webster) and style manuals (Chicago Manual of Style, AP Stylebook) therefore all agree on omitting the apostrophe.
- Incorrect: Veterans’ Day
Incorrect: Veteran’s Day
Correct: Veterans Day