I used to basically write my name, but consciously de-legible-ized it in my mid-twenties when I realized that no adult’s signature looked like that.
I voted for passable, but I personally think it’s perfectly legible. A perfect stranger would, however, probably have trouble reading it because my name is unusual and hyphenated. People have trouble reading it when it’s typed.
Reminds me of some prescriptions I have seen. Could there be a connection?
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The only thing I sign on a regular basis is credit card receipts, and my “signature” just involves a very quick scrawl that doesn’t look like my name, anybody else’s name, or an attempt at a signature at all. And I would imagine that they all look slightly different (although they all look basically like a line without much complication to it).
I’ve only had a problem once–a cashier asked for my ID and got all pissy that the signatures didn’t match. So, I just paid with my debit card instead.
Mine’s legible. I cross the “t” in my last name with the end of the “n” at the end of it, so there’s this big ol’ scribbly loop on my last name. Other than that, it’s pretty readable.
I think my sister started the whole “cross the t with the tail of the last letter” thing, and now just about everyone in my immediate family does it. (Though, funnily enough, my sister doesn’t do it anymore, because she got married and has a different last name.)
We’re talking about trying to make it legible, right? Not just scrawling on the signature line of a stack of checks to be deposited into one’s own account. I had a clerk tell me that she couldn’t believe how readable my signature on my debit card was. My trying-to-be-readable cursive is pretty easy to read, though I turn the “e” at the end of my last name into a midheight line rather than a loop.
Take a Slinky, dip it in ink, and roll it on a piece of paper. You will get something that looks remarkably like my signature.
First name – a scrawl after the first letter, but a common first name.
Last name – more legible, but much, much less common (and so still prone to misinterpretation).
Mine has been fondly called “The Wave” by cashiers. It is kind of a swoopy thing that doesn’t resemble anything in any alphabet.
It has slowly deteriorated over the years. My last name ends in -etz. It was legible at one time, then the Z started to morph into a squiggle. The squiggle grew and overtook the T and now the E is also a part of it. So I figure in another decade or two, it will be nothing more that a doodle on the paper.
Oddly enough, my first name has not gotten much worse than it has ever been.
Funny thing is, mine looks just like Charlie Ergan (sp?) from Dish Network. We got some “free movie vouchers” from Dish once with his fake signiture, and it was damn near exactly like mine.
My name ain’t “Charlie” (but in all fairness, the first letters could look alike).
Mine is a symbol derived from my initials. It’s not legible English but it is a consistent repeatable mark that is unique to me.
You can recognize the first letter of my first name. After that it’s a crapshoot.
Depends on what I’m signing. CC slip? Pretty bad. Bank document? Easy to read. It’s the same sig, just faster on the CC slip.
My usual signature consists of my first initial followed by my last name, drawn in one stroke. I think my two initials are pretty makeable out and you might be able to deduce my last name, because it is pretty common, but probably not if not for that.
My handwriting in general isn’t very legible. My signature used to fall into a barely readable category similar to my writing. Then I ran a shipping/receiving department signing hundreds of things a day. My signature got shorter and shorter till it became the random scribble it is today. On the plus side for anyone that has to deal with it though, I almost automatically print my name after signing.
If I think about it I don’t print but autopilot often kicks in and I get odd looks from cashiers wondering why I just printed my name under the signature for my gallon of milk.
My signature looks something like this. However, if I’m allowed to use my own pen, my signature is in purple ink.
My husband and I closed on a house on Tuesday, and I had to sign a gazillion forms. My husband had given the wrong version of my name on the forms, so I wasn’t used to signing my name that way. My signature started out somewhat legible, but by the end of the signing, had deteriorated into another version of the scrawl that is my usual signature. My handwriting was never very pretty, even when I wrote by hand a lot. Nowadays, I print out the shopping list half the time, rather than hand write it.
It’s illegible, but I change it yearly as well. It might be a extra curve here or a loop there. Usually, it doesn’t matter except when they check it against my driver’s license. Not even a close match. I tell them it was from when I was 16. I get an, “oh, when you used to write out every letter.”
I’m split on this poll – my first name is perfectly legible, while my last name stats good and then turns into a bunch of squiggles. To read it, you’d think my name is Paul McScribblescribble.
I used to sign things very meticulously, but about 20 years ago I had a job that required I sign thongs 20 times a day. After awhile, I got tired of being careful about it and switched to my current sloppier style.