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NAMEH

Motion diagram. This sign is outside the licensed video corpus, so the diagram is its full record here.

Everyday·Level 1

NAME

name

How to make it

Cross the fingers of two 'H' hands and tap them together twice.

Where the sign comes from

Unknown

No reliable source. We'd rather say so than invent one.

The crossed-H form is old and stable, but no reliable source explains why 'name' is signed this way. Marked unknown rather than guessed.

No sources — which is the point of the “unknown” tier. If you know of a documented account, the historical databases are where to check it.

The sign, taken apart

Every ASL sign is built from a handshape, a place it's made, and a movement. Learn to see these three and you can read and store any sign.

Handshape

Index and middle together, pointing sideways.

Also: letter H

Location
Neutral space

Made at the neutral space.

Movement
a tap

Both hands move together.

Repeated. Palm facing in.

Easy to confuse with

These differ from NAME in one or two parameters — the minimal pairs our receptive drills use to make sure you can really tell them apart.