Something funny I noticed because I didn't think about it, now that I'm writing my male name on things that don't require a legal name, I have absolutely no idea how to make a nice signature. Gonna have to practice, Dean doesn't flow together nicely in my signature handwriting.

Also a question- if I am filling out a liability release form for horseback riding, I DO have to use my legal name, correct? (A parent is still signing, but I'm assuming I need my legal name there.)


Edited for personal information.

For any legal documents, as far as I know, you do have to use your legal name. It's pesky, but better to air on the side of caution. If something happens, it could get messy otherwise.

I haven't had a problem changing my signature, but I still have to use my female name on most things.

If it is a legal document like a liability or disclaimer form you need to use your legal name.

Yeah I picked a name that I could sign but the T looks like a star or an A shape because I don't like to pick my pen up to make a capital T. I recommend practicing during boring classes to get a consistent signature.

For legal documents, any mark you put on paper counts as your signature as long as it is you personally making the mark.

My signature looks crazy and has changed quite a bit over the years (both in the name I was trying to make and the visual end result), and my kid signs things pretty bizarrely. Both of our scribbles on paperwork are perfectly valid as long as we are the ones doing the signing.

Hah, the positive side of picking a name that seems similar to your old one. Same first letter, I've had a sloppy signature style so you can't really tell anyway lol.

Well you can change your signature when you change your name (or even gradually after that). If you sign something and it doesn't match, say like your credit card signature. It could give you BIG headaches.
I'd suggest it isn't nearly as easy to change your signature as you might assume.
I don't know how masculine my signature is or if there IS such a thing. No one has given it a second glance, or changed their gendering.

--Jay

I didn't really have this problem since my old name was different only by one letter. But before my name changed, I just used the first letter instead of full first name on signatures since it was the same as my, back then, upcoming name.

You can get a little sloppier. That tends to seem "male". Kind of silly stereotype but there you are.

--Jay

As many above have said, if the first letter is the same, it doesn't matter much.  So if legal name started with D, you're probably in the clear.  If not, just learn how to write a D and then your signature can be D-squiggle-squiggle-squiggle.

That's how a lot of people sign things, anyway.  Over the last 15 years my signature has devolved from extremely legible and on point to C-Ihavenoideawhattherestofthatsays.  The older you get and the more things you have to sign, the less you care and wanna get the signing over with already.

Or, if you really would like to write your name perfectly, you could practice at home a lot.  Try writing Dean over and over until it feels natural?

This was one thing that I got caught out on after I came out (even though at that point I still hadn't changed my name legally).  I wanted to join an organization, and at the bottom of the application form they wanted my signature.  I realized I didn't know how to write my own name.  Felt just a bit stupid.

So I started practicing and almost two years on I'm still practicing.  A lot of times in the evening I listen to music for a while, so for about 10 or 15 minutes while I'm doing that, I'm practicing my signature.

You need to understand that my handwriting has always been poor and hasn't got any better as I've got older.  So I've had to work hard to make my signature look nice.  But I eventually got there, and I still practice quite often just to keep it up to standard.  Everything else I write is close to illegible, but my signature looks great.

I don't know if this sounds silly to anybody else, but I love my new name and having a nice signature is important to me.  So the work involved has been worth it.

 

Quote from: Foxglove on June 26, 2014, 02:06:49 PM
This was one thing that I got caught out on after I came out (even though at that point I still hadn't changed my name legally).  I wanted to join an organization, and at the bottom of the application form they wanted my signature.  I realized I didn't know how to write my own name.  Felt just a bit stupid.

I also had this  moment happen, so totally practice it.  I didn't, and when I went to change my bank account to update it after legally changing my name, they flipped around the little electronic pad deal and had me sign the new name - I was frozen for a second and just scribbled something. The bank person said, "I guess you just feel like a whole new person." when I hesitated. It was awkward.

I promised myself my new signature wouldn't be as hideous as my old signature.

It was. lol.

hah.  My signature remained exactly the same after my name change.  The names were the same length, and start with the same two letters.  One ended in y the other in n.  Somehow it looks like both names the way I've always written it =p

My pre-marriage name was very long and annoying and no one could pronounce it, so when we got married my spouse and I chose a new surname. And then I very deliberately made my signature "scribble scribble". I can sign really fast, and as a side benefit, no one can tell what it says, so no one can tell if it's my legal name. Admittedly the first letter does arguably look a bit like an R, but not really enough to get pinged on it.