I’m trying to learn sign language, and I was going to go and name a few of my friends with long names so I didn’t have to finger spell them every time. When I was researching names, about 50% said that it was okay to assign myself a name, and about 50% said a deaf or hard of hearing person has to give me a name. The problem is, I don’t know any deaf or hard of hearing people, nor do my friends. Is it okay in this situation to just give myself a name?
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The cultural rules:
You can’t name yourself.
A deaf person has to give it to you.
HOWEVER, if you don’t know ANY deaf or HOH, it’s usually okay to give yourself/your friends a sign name, as long as it’s not a sign for something else (especially something offensive). Just don’t be against getting a different sign name from a deaf person when one comes along.
Part of the reason for deaf people giving it is so that it doesn’t conflict with already existing signs. I don’t know the other reasons.