Can you have more than one signature? Official, everyday and autograph

Why does this even come up?

We rarely plan to have several signatures. It usually just happens: the hand is in a hurry, the situation is different, and after a while there are two or three forms that are all yours, but not the same.

• The teenage legacy. You invented your first signature at school; perhaps a different one went into your ID, and a third into your bank.
• Quick and slow situations. With a contract you have time; with a courier or at the till you're in a rush. The rushed version slowly takes on a life of its own.
• The autograph. Whether you play sport, perform, draw or write, many people want a showier public mark that isn't their bank signature.
• Work and private life. Some people use a tidier form at work and a looser one in private.

Some of these are deliberate and useful; some just happened. The aim of this article is more of the first and less of the second.

What does “more than one signature” mean here?

It's worth being clear about what we're discussing, because “more than one signature” can mean several things, and they aren't all the same question.

• Parallel full signatures. Two or more distinct full signatures that you use in different places. That's what this article is about.
• Full and short form. One full signature and its first part used as initials. That isn't two signatures but one family; see the article on short forms.
• A different name, a different signature. When a version starts from your nickname or your middle name. Which name to sign with is covered in the article on middle names and nicknames.
• Old and new signature. When you replace the old one with a new one. That's a transition, not parallel use; changing your signature describes the steps.

From here on there are three roles: the official signature you use on documents and important papers, the everyday signature for quick situations, and the autograph you hand out in public.

Is it allowed? What's generally worth knowing

In most places a signature has no single, mandatory form kept in some central register. Instead, every institution works with its own specimen: the bank with the one you gave when you opened your account, the authorities with the one on your ID, your employer with the one on your contract.

• The specimen is the reference point. If an institution keeps a specimen signature for you, it typically compares your later signatures with it. A completely different form can raise questions.
• Consistent per institution. At the same bank, on the same document, with the same employer, always write the same thing.
• A difference isn't forbidden, but may need explaining. A differing signature won't necessarily be rejected, but it can slow things down and they may ask to check.

The question isn't how many signatures you have, but whether everyone it matters to always gets the same one from you.

The official signature: one, and always the same

If you take one thing from this article, let it be this: have one official signature. It's the one on your documents, at your bank and on important contracts, and the one your later signatures are compared with.

1. 1
   Identity documents. ID card, passport, driving licence: what appears here is the most important specimen.
2. 2
   Banking and finance. Opening an account, loans, insurance. Many banks keep a specimen signature and go by it.
3. 3
   Contracts. Employment, rental, purchase: the full, official form is the safe choice.
4. 4
   Authorities and offices. Applications, declarations, powers of attorney.
5. 5
   Notaries and certification. Here it's especially important that your signature matches the one on your ID.

This signature doesn't need to be spectacular. It should rather be calm, always writable the same way, and suited to your name. What makes a signature confident and repeatable is the subject of the article on professional signatures.

The everyday signature: do you need a separate one?

With a courier, at the till, on an attendance sheet or a school form, many people write a quicker, looser form. That's understandable, but decide deliberately: an everyday signature works when it's a faster-written version of the official one, not a different mark.

If your official signature is too slow to be comfortable at a counter, that's a sign the official form could be simplified, not that you need a second one. We've covered screens in a separate article.

The autograph: why it helps to keep it separate

The autograph is the one case where a separate signature, different from the official one, can be a genuinely good idea. You don't need to be famous: it's enough that you play sport, perform, exhibit, write books, or simply sign things for lots of people.

• It becomes public. Autographs get photographed, posted, sold and framed. If yours is the same as your bank signature, your official specimen is circulating in the world.
• It can be showier. An autograph doesn't need to be quick and restrained. It can be bigger, more ornate, more sweeping.
• It can use another name. A nickname, a stage name, just your first name: the autograph can carry the name your audience knows you by.
• It can be extended. A short dedication, a date, a drawn symbol or your shirt number can all be part of it.

Designing an autograph that's yours, but not your bank signature

A good autograph is a relative of your official signature, not its twin. It's recognisably you, yet nobody can read your official specimen from it.

1. 1
   Start from the official one, then depart from it. Keep your style, such as the slant or a characteristic loop, but change the capital, the proportions or the ending.
2. 2
   Choose a different name or form. If your official signature starts from your full name, the autograph can be your first name only, your nickname or a stage name.
3. 3
   Make it bigger and freer. Autographs often go on large surfaces: posters, photos, shirts. It should hold up at size.
4. 4
   Add a feature of its own. A star, a heart, a number or a short word that appears only in your autograph.
5. 5
   Practise it separately. An autograph needs practising just like the official signature, or it will come out differently at every signing.

Chloe Bennett is an illustrator, and for years she signed her prints with the same signature she used at the bank. At a craft fair a buyer remarked that her signature looked exactly like the one on her tenancy agreement, which he'd once seen photographed in a listing. Chloe then designed a separate artist's mark: a big round “C”, her first name after it, and a small star at the end. At the bank and on contracts she kept her usual, calm signature.

In Calligra you can try more than 30 styles with your name. If you'd like an autograph too, you can pick a more restrained one for your official signature and a showier one for your autograph, or type in your nickname or stage name and get designs for that.

Stage names, artist's marks, signing your work

Creators have long used a separate mark on their work. A painter's signature in the corner of a canvas, an illustrator's mark on a print, a musician's signature on an album cover: these are relatives of the autograph that become part of the work.

• Always in the same place. If you mark your work, decide where the mark goes and stick to it. That's part of being recognisable too.
• Always the same way. A signature on your work becomes yours by being the same on every piece. Small variations are fine, but the form should stay.
• Official matters get the official one. If you sign a contract under your stage name, your legal name and official signature on the signature line are the safe choice, unless the other party explicitly asks otherwise.

When several signatures cause trouble

The problem with several signatures isn't that they exist, but that they get mixed up. Most of the hassle comes from a few typical situations.

• The wrong form in the wrong place. At the bank you write your everyday or autograph version, and it doesn't match the specimen. They may want to check, or ask you to sign again.
• You don't know which is where. Years later you can't remember which form you gave which bank, so you sign hesitantly and inconsistently.
• The forms start to merge. If you use two similar signatures, your hand eventually mixes them up, and neither stays consistent.
• Confusing for others. At work or in family matters, others can't tell which one is yours, and that can even raise suspicion.

Tidying up: if you already have too many versions

If you've read this far and realised you have three or four signatures in circulation, don't worry. It can be sorted out in a few steps.

1. 1
   List where each one appears. Documents, banks, work, important contracts. If you can't remember, check your documents and the copies you keep.
2. 2
   Pick the official one. The best candidate is usually the one on your ID card, because that's the hardest specimen to change.
3. 3
   Decide whether you need an autograph. If so, choose or design a deliberately different form. If not, one signature covers everything.
4. 4
   Let the rest go. Simply stop using the unnecessary everyday versions. Write the official one everywhere, at most more fluidly.
5. 5
   Tell people if needed. If a bank or office holds a different form from the one you're keeping, ask whether they need a new specimen. Changing your signature walks you through it step by step.

Practise the form you keep deliberately for a few days, so your hand doesn't slip back into the old ones. The practice article has a 7-day and a 21-day plan.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Problems with several signatures almost always come from the same few mistakes, and each can be fixed.

• Two official signatures. One on your ID, another at the bank. Fix: pick one, and if needed give a new specimen where it differs.
• The autograph is the same as the official one. The mark you hand out in public is your official specimen. Fix: design a deliberately different autograph and use that in public from now on.
• The everyday version is a different mark. The quick form looks nothing like the official one. Fix: make the everyday one a more fluid version of the official, with the same start.
• Improvising every time. You don't really have a form, just mood-dependent versions. Fix: settle on an official one and practise until ten out of ten match.
• You don't know what you gave where. Fix: a simple list of where each one appears, and a gradual move to a single official form.

A checklist for your signatures

Run through this list. If the answer to everything is yes, your marks are in order, whether you use one signature or several.

1. 1
   Do you have one official signature? Your documents, your bank and your contracts all show the same one.
2. 2
   Do you know which one is on file where? If not, make a short list.
3. 3
   Does your everyday version start from the official one? Same capital, same slant, just more fluid.
4. 4
   Is your autograph different from the official one? Recognisably you, but not your bank specimen.
5. 5
   Is each form the same ten times out of ten? Whichever you write, you're not improvising.
6. 6
   Do you only hand out the autograph in public? Your official signature doesn't end up on social media, posters or photos.

Questions