Yes, some will point out that the name is given and it is an honor, much like what someone mentioned, a Native name. However, there are some traditions, such as my spiritual tradition, in which you have several names. A given name (legal), a childhood name (one which is given in ceremony), an adolescent name (one that is chosen by the person to represent self), and a plethora of other names that one can obtain through life. Not to mention, nicknames or shortened names. A sign name is another representation of yourself. Although I think that being given a sign name is a wonderful thing, sometimes the opportunity to receive one is not always available. Some people are outside the deaf community, but utilize sign language within their family unit, even if all are deaf-impaired."
-TRAEONNA1
"What is so sacred about making up a short way to sign one's name? ALL cultures have rude or insulting behaviors that should be eradicated, assuming that we DO all want to get along....Purity is fine, but can we not ALL exercise a bit of flexibility?..and then, if one desires, go back to purity..The letter from the NTID interpreter made me sad.."careful not to cross the lines of deaf culture." Is making someone feel welcome not cool in ALL cultures? If we deaf-impaired aren't wanted, why don't we just "get out of Dodge," as they say???"
-About Visitor
"I just use animal signs. It's a great idea for animal lovers to make their sign names out of it. For instance, I love cats so I use my sign name as a "K" to sign "cat's whiskers" on my cheek."
-About Visitor
"The idea that you can not give yourself a sign name because it is a "gift" from the deaf community is ridiculous! Of course you can. If there is someone who would like to 'give' you one, great, but if not, that's OK. And don't feel that you have to stick with it your whole life. As someone else said, sign names do change, for a variety of reasons. It is a good idea to ask around to make sure you are not duplicating a commonly used sign, but hey, if that happens, it's not the end of the world. And it can always be changed! Be sure to spell your name the first time you are introduced. By the way, yes, I was given my name sign by a deaf friend (deaf, not DEAF), but I often give name signs or encourage people to make up their own so that my deaf child can identify them."
-About Visitor
"Actually, both of my name signs came from animal-signs. My first name-sign was given to me from some deaf children in a school in Mexico, when I gave them some My Little Ponys. They combined the signs "R" and horse. My second name sign was given to me recently by a classroom of deaf children I work with. I kept talking about my birds, so they combined "R" and the sign for bird."
-About Visitor
"When my daughter was born she would smile all the time and she was as sweet as can be. My mom and dad and almost half my family are deaf. So they were trying to find a sign name for her. They used the sign for J and rubbed the pinky finger by the cheek. As if she would smile."
Do you stop an American from giving their child a French name? Of course not!"
-About Visitor
"There is absolutely no reason why you cant give yourself a temporary sign name. Who's gonna stop you, and for that matter, if you don't have a "deaf given" sign name it's probably because you don't know any deaf that well so who are you gonna offend? Call yourself whatever you want until you get a deaf given sign name, you're not breaking any rules. I am a third season asl student and gave myself a sign name at the beginning of my class (my English name is Melissa and I am a mother so I sign an m on my chin for Melissa/mother). I have introduced myself to some deaf people with this name and told them I picked it, but am waiting for a replacement, and they all have seemed fine with this."
-About Visitor
"I'm in the camp that you should wait until a sign name is given to you from a d/Deaf person. Fortunately for me my name is only four letters so it's short enough to be fingerspelled easily. With that I didn't have an issue until I was given a sign name. How did get my sign name? I was dating a hard of hearing girl and she gave me one that was a combination of GULLIBLE
