“Who’s name” or “whose name”: which is correct?
whose name
The short answer
The correct term is whose when you are indicating possession or asking to whom something belongs.
Why people get it wrong
People confuse who’s and whose because they sound the same. Who’s is short for who is or who has; whose shows possession.
What kind of mistake it is
It’s a grammatical error involving the misuse of the contraction who’s in place of the possessive pronoun whose.
Examples with whose name
- Whose name is on the list?
- Do you know whose book this is?
- Whose responsibility is it to take out the trash?
Quick check
is on the list?
The correct term is whose when you are indicating possession or asking to whom something belongs.
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