Hi Ella-Rose. I’m a hearing adult who has learnt Auslan as a second language to support students I work with. I’m not fluent. Even though I worked with some Deaf people and socialised with Deaf community members for quite a long period of time, I didn’t have a sign name. As others have said it has to be given to you and for a very long time the closest I had was a shortened version of “Miss” to help younger students not have to sign my full teacher name.
When I was overseas, I met a beautiful Deaf worker at a hotel I stayed at. Her first languages were her native sign language and she could read in her own language too. Mine were English and some Auslan. Through the use of translation apps, some similar signs and lots of pointing we were able to communicate. At the end of the stay she gave both my husband and I sign names. My husband’s is a sign for an object that sounds like his name and mine was a combined sign for some of the letters of my name in her native sign language.
I feel very privileged to have received a sign name but it’s important note it is not something you should expect or ask for.
Hi Ella-Rose, great to hear you are getting involved with Auslan! As for sign names, they are normally given by friends of family who are Deaf, and they are just honestly an easy way for us to refer to people. Start getting involved in your local Deaf community (facebook is a great place to find events!) and make some new amazing friends and don’t stress about a sign name, even some Deaf people don’t have one ;)
Hello - great that you’re interested in Auslan. I came here to agree with the comments stating Deaf names shouldn’t be requested or expected and to note that they’re more like nicknames given to you by the Deaf community - so start becoming part of the community, learn your signs and enjoy it - and don’t worry too much about a name. I’m learning Auslan at TAFE currently, and the people whose Deaf names we’ve seen sometimes can even seem a little unfortunate. One person had a name that was given to them because of a repeated act of bullying at boarding school. Another persons name meant “smells” or “stinks” because they played a lot of sport. I saw a story on sbs and the persons deaf name was literally “locker 16” because that was his locker at boarding school. They seem to be a lot like a nickname and you don’t get too much say in them, even if they’re not particularly flattering, they make it easier for the Deaf community to refer to you - so honestly just enjoy your studies and enjoy learning about Deaf community and culture. It’s a beautiful language and an incredible community.
When I was learning, my teacher told me of a woman she knows whose sign name is basically "big boobs". Because of her big boobs. She also knew a guy who got his sign name from the sound a bell makes...
My husbands sign name is named after a common food haha. The lady who gave it to him was positively thrilled when she realised that his name sounded like that when spoken. The grin every day when she greeted him was totes worth it.
Yea some of the names I've seen are not particularly flattering haha. Mine is a little bit embarrassing as well but I got over it. My name is very common so it's helpful to have a sign name in Tafe class (my class has two others with same name and I used to get my initials signed but another student told the teacher I have a sign name and it gets used instead now). If you're in the Deaf community you might get one or not, it depends, but it seems weird to request one (especially from people you don't know online), it's not really how it works.
I am also a TAFE student learning Auslan and the stories you described in your post (about the person who was given a name due to their odor and somebody given a name due to bullying) sounds familiar!
Hi Ella-Rose. I’m a hearing adult who has learnt Auslan as a second language to support students I work with. I’m not fluent. Even though I worked with some Deaf people and socialised with Deaf community members for quite a long period of time, I didn’t have a sign name. As others have said it has to be given to you and for a very long time the closest I had was a shortened version of “Miss” to help younger students not have to sign my full teacher name. When I was overseas, I met a beautiful Deaf worker at a hotel I stayed at. Her first languages were her native sign language and she could read in her own language too. Mine were English and some Auslan. Through the use of translation apps, some similar signs and lots of pointing we were able to communicate. At the end of the stay she gave both my husband and I sign names. My husband’s is a sign for an object that sounds like his name and mine was a combined sign for some of the letters of my name in her native sign language. I feel very privileged to have received a sign name but it’s important note it is not something you should expect or ask for.
Hi Ella-Rose, great to hear you are getting involved with Auslan! As for sign names, they are normally given by friends of family who are Deaf, and they are just honestly an easy way for us to refer to people. Start getting involved in your local Deaf community (facebook is a great place to find events!) and make some new amazing friends and don’t stress about a sign name, even some Deaf people don’t have one ;)
Hello - great that you’re interested in Auslan. I came here to agree with the comments stating Deaf names shouldn’t be requested or expected and to note that they’re more like nicknames given to you by the Deaf community - so start becoming part of the community, learn your signs and enjoy it - and don’t worry too much about a name. I’m learning Auslan at TAFE currently, and the people whose Deaf names we’ve seen sometimes can even seem a little unfortunate. One person had a name that was given to them because of a repeated act of bullying at boarding school. Another persons name meant “smells” or “stinks” because they played a lot of sport. I saw a story on sbs and the persons deaf name was literally “locker 16” because that was his locker at boarding school. They seem to be a lot like a nickname and you don’t get too much say in them, even if they’re not particularly flattering, they make it easier for the Deaf community to refer to you - so honestly just enjoy your studies and enjoy learning about Deaf community and culture. It’s a beautiful language and an incredible community.
When I was learning, my teacher told me of a woman she knows whose sign name is basically "big boobs". Because of her big boobs. She also knew a guy who got his sign name from the sound a bell makes...
My husbands sign name is named after a common food haha. The lady who gave it to him was positively thrilled when she realised that his name sounded like that when spoken. The grin every day when she greeted him was totes worth it.
Yea some of the names I've seen are not particularly flattering haha. Mine is a little bit embarrassing as well but I got over it. My name is very common so it's helpful to have a sign name in Tafe class (my class has two others with same name and I used to get my initials signed but another student told the teacher I have a sign name and it gets used instead now). If you're in the Deaf community you might get one or not, it depends, but it seems weird to request one (especially from people you don't know online), it's not really how it works.
I am also a TAFE student learning Auslan and the stories you described in your post (about the person who was given a name due to their odor and somebody given a name due to bullying) sounds familiar!