Names in Sign Language
- Xis Sign
- Oct 7, 2021
- 2 min read
Name sign is a special sign that refers to a person without fully spelling out their name using Sign Language.
Sources: Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
Hearing people's names are chosen by their parents when they're born.
For Deaf people, they are assigned a name sign by a person from the Deaf community.
DESCRIPTIVE NAME SIGNS
Your name in sign language is created based on many aspects, varying from your occupation, personality, characteristic, hobby, or a physical feature.
For example, a person could sign their name by pointing their finger to their curly hair--a notable feature of them. Another example would be a guitarist mimicking the act of playing the guitar using two hands & arms, showing his interest and occupation.
INITIALIZED NAME SIGNS
For many others, their names are a lot more simple.
If your name is Ana, your initialized name sign would be the sign "A" in Sign language.
If your name is Linh, your initialized name sign would be the sign "L" in Sign language.
COMBINED NAME SIGNS
Some people combine their initialized and descriptive name signs.
For example, Hoa is a swimmer. She could sign her name by swirling the letter "H" of her name like a fish.
IMPORTANT NOTE
It's a gift to receive a name sign. If you have a name sign, you've been welcomed into the Deaf community.
One's name sign is only used by deaf people, not official documents or by people who could hear. Only deaf people could assign someone a name sign.
It is very common to have your name sign changed as you move between social groups or communities because your personality and how you are perceived could vary in different situations. A name sign is uniquely assigned for only ONE person, which is also the reason why you might need to change your name sign if there is already a person in your new community with the same name sign as yours.
If you have a name sign, you have been welcomed into the Deaf community.
References:
my Deaf friend gave me a name sign before;P I didn't know that it has such beautiful meaning
Answering question from Guest#aed2:
It seems that our replied comment is not visible for other viewers besides Guest#aed2 due to the website's setting. To answer this question for others as well, we would like to clarify that you must identify yourself as culturally deaf (=being in the Deaf community) to give another person a name sign. We recommend you checking out our "Deaf or deaf" post to understand the difference. Hope this helps!
Can I give my friends name sign if Ive learnt sign language?
could u give an example pls