It’s grammatically correct to say “Happy Valentine’s Day” – not “Happy Valentine” and not “Happy Valentines.”

Quick Scoop

  • Use: Happy Valentine’s Day (this is the standard greeting).
  • Avoid:
    • “Happy Valentine” – sounds incomplete, like you forgot the word “Day.”
* “Happy Valentines” – wrong because it drops the apostrophe and incorrectly makes _Valentine_ plural.

Why “Valentine’s Day” Is Correct

  • The holiday’s name is Valentine’s Day – it’s a day belonging to (or named after) Saint Valentine, so it needs the possessive ’s.
  • Same pattern as Mother’s Day or New Year’s Day – you wouldn’t say “Happy Mothers” or “Happy New Years.”

When “Valentine” and “valentines” Are Okay

  • valentine (no apostrophe, no “Day”) = a person or a card: “Be my valentine,” “I gave out ten valentines at school.”
  • That’s why you see valentines (plural) when talking about several cards or people, but not in the greeting itself.

Real-Life / Online Usage

  • Style and grammar guides explicitly recommend writing “Happy Valentine’s Day” in both formal and casual messages.
  • Ads and social media sometimes shorten it to “Happy Valentines” for a snappy slogan, but that’s considered a marketing shortcut, not correct standard English.

If you’re posting, texting, or writing a card in 2026 and you want to be safe and correct, stick with: “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.