In Deaf culture and sign language, a sign name is a special sign that is used to uniquely identify a person, just like a name.

There are some special cultural rules around sign names; for example, they must be given to you by a Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing person (someone who is in the Deaf community). This ensures that no one else in the community already has the same sign name, or that the same sign does not have a different meaning.

Until a person receives a sign name, the person's name is usually fingerspelled.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ BBC - Ouch! (disability) - Features - What's your Sign Name?

[edit] Further reading

• Erting, Carol (1994). The Deaf Way. Washington: Gallaudet University Press. ISBN 1563680262. 

[edit] External links

• About.com: Sign names
• Lifeprint.com: Name signs
• Name Sign

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