As sign languages do not have a tradition of literacy, Deaf naming customs must survive mainly through collective memory [...] Official records of Deaf schools, Deaf clubs, or Deaf sports groups or in Deaf publications, for example, document Deaf people’s English names but not their sign names. Linda Day & Rachel Sutton-Spence (2010)
WHAT IS THIS?
What would the world be without Deaf people? What would the Deaf community be without memory? The contributions of Deaf people are numerous, their creativity and talent is amazing and the sign name is one of the most identifying features of the Deaf community and of Sign Language. Sign names must be preserved and the individual achievements of Deaf people all over the world must not be lost in oblivion.
This website is dedicated to collecting the sign names of Deaf people all over the world, as well as some prominent deafblind people.
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One phenomenon reported from many sign language communities around the world is the use of so-called name signs (or, alternatively, sign names). A name sign is a sign that is used with reference to an individual and is normally used alongside a spoken language community name. Name signs are important as identity markers in the community because it is often a symbol of inclusion, that is, individuals with name signs are mostly those that are members of the community, although name signs are also given to individuals often talked about within the community without themselves being members, such as famous people or others with some relevance to the community. Carl Börstell (2017)
WHAT IS THE SIGN NAME?
Origin
The origin and way of establishing sign name may vary culturally from some deaf communities to others but most research agrees on some points:
- In most Sign Languages, sign names can be arbitrary or descriptive.
- Usually, the sign name given to a person keeps it all life.
- Most of the time, the name sign is given by a deaf person.
- Often, the sign name is discussed and agreed in a group, as everyone should feel comfortable with the sign name.
- When a person joins the Deaf community after childhood, it is often called ‘baptism’.
Sign name in other languages
- Chinese (traditional): 手語名
- Finnish: Viittomanimi
- Portuguese: nome gestual
- Russian: Жестовое имя
- Spanish (Europe): signo personal
- Spanish (South America): seña personal
- Ukrainian: Жестове ім’я
Types of sign names
- Appearance: Signs denoting the visual appearance of the name bearer.
- Person: Signs denoting the character or doings of the bearer’s person.
- Name: Signs relating to the spoken language community name of the bearer.
- Background: Signs denoting some aspect of the referent’s background.
- Other: Signs that do not fall into any of the above categories.
Bibliography
- Börstell, C. (2017). Types and trends of name signs in the Swedish Sign Language community. SKY Journal of Linguistics, 30.
- Day, L., & Sutton-Spence, R. (2010). British sign name customs. Sign Language Studies, 11(1), 22-54.
- Hedberg, T. (2009). Persontecken i teckenspråket. Studia Anthroponymica Scandinavica, 27, 97-114
- Kourbetis, V., & Hoffmeister, R. J. (2002). Name signs in Greek sign language. American Annals of the Deaf, 147(3), 35-43.
- Meadow, K. P. (1977). Name signs as identity symbols in the deaf community. Sign Language Studies (16), 237-246.
- Mindess, A. (1990). What name signs can tell us about Deaf culture. Sign Language Studies 66(1), 1-23.
- Shun-Chiu, Y., & Jingxian, H. (1989). How deaf children in a Chinese school get their name signs. Sign Language Studies 65(1), 305-322.
That deaf people feel strongly the connection of their name signs to their identities is illustrated by one man’s report. Even though the name sign given to him in school by the other kids when he was ten years old focused on a physical aspect in a negative way, he felt good that he was thus noticed by the others and given a name sign; it would have been much worse not to have been given any name sign at all. Anna Mindess (1990)
HOW DOES THIS SITE WORK?
You can search by first name, last name, country, topic or use the magnifying glass search engine in the top of the main page. It is challenging to choose the topic and often one person could be included in several topics, but we don’t want too many topics either. So, an attempt has been made to associate each person with the most relevant topic. The topics are as follows :
Please consider that collecting the information for this website has taken many hours of work for more than two years. Excuse any mistake or lack of Deaf people.
FAQ
When biographical information is available in several languages, the international standards for language codes with two-letter codes are used. For example, EN for English, PT for Portuguese and ZN for Chinese.
All information is collected from the Internet. Language barriers limit the collection of information from all countries in the world. But if you know a prominent deaf or deafblind person who you think should be on this website, please contact us.
Sometimes the heirs to a person’s legacy continue to spread information on social media. Other times, official organisations or foundations open accounts on social media to continue spreading their work.
If you would like to propose a person to add on this website, please use the contact page. If you find any wrong information or sign, please also use the contact page.
Signs Unusualverse is completely independent and does not receive any kind of funding, not even from advertising.
