What is the plural of "Santa Claus"?

Question

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Family Name Pluralization

What is the plural of Santa Claus? It would be Santa Clauses, right? I started with Santa Claus' but that's obviously not correct.

There is only one Santa Claus. The simulacra you see at malls everywhere are impostors, who promise toys but don't deliver. I know this from bitter experience. — Robusto, Nov 11 '11 at 17:13
@Robusto - May I disagree? My local shopping mall always hires three Santa Clauses to work different shifts over the Christmas period. — , Aug 08 '12 at 11:49
This question is not a duplicate of the linked one; the "Claus" in "Santa Claus" did not originate as a surname, even if some English speakers have re-parsed it as one. Therefore, it's not clear if rules for surname pluralization should apply in this case. — herisson, Oct 01 '15 at 00:48

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 11 '11 at 14:41

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The plural of Santa Claus is Santa Clauses. See this guide on unusual plurals for example.

answered Nov 11 '11 at 14:41

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But that's the same as the plural of 'Santa clause'. – Barrie England Nov 11 '11 at 15:14
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I was thinking of a heading or a title - or speech. – Barrie England Nov 11 '11 at 15:18
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@BarrieEngland, why does that matter in this particular case? (Stones and Stones can be a tittle of an article about angry fans throwing stones at Rolling Stones) – Unreason Nov 11 '11 at 15:49
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@Unreason: I don't think it does matter. I was being gerish. – Barrie England Nov 11 '11 at 15:55

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 11 '11 at 15:47

Santa Clauses. Since Santa Claus is a proper noun, it's capitalized, thus differentiating it from Santa clauses, which is maybe where you're getting confused. Other than that, it's up to your discretion to make the distinction. That's the English language for you...

What is the plural of "Santa Claus"?

2 Answers2