I think this is a style book issue (along with, for example, the serial comma).
IIRC, Strunk and White insists as you do that the possessive singular always ends with apostrophe + s. I think one of their examples uses "Charles's" just to hammer the point. I think people drop it because it sounds clunky and there is little chance of misunderstanding. I write "Jesus's", "Charles's", "Katie Holmes's baby" anyways.
(BTW, this is unlike the serial comma where it's easier to find cases where not using it leads to ambiguity. The canonical example is the hypothetical book dedication "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God." I believe there are also cases where using the serial comma leads to ambiguity, but I think they are less common.)
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Date: 2006-12-19 07:04 pm (UTC)IIRC, Strunk and White insists as you do that the possessive singular always ends with apostrophe + s. I think one of their examples uses "Charles's" just to hammer the point. I think people drop it because it sounds clunky and there is little chance of misunderstanding. I write "Jesus's", "Charles's", "Katie Holmes's baby" anyways.
(BTW, this is unlike the serial comma where it's easier to find cases where not using it leads to ambiguity. The canonical example is the hypothetical book dedication "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God." I believe there are also cases where using the serial comma leads to ambiguity, but I think they are less common.)