# How does your name appear on your stamp?



## RevMen (Jan 6, 2010)

I need to order my stamp and I can't decide whether I should put my middle initial in my name or not.

On the one hand it seems more official and it seems customary. On the other I never sign emails or documents using my middle initial and I am the only licensed engineer in Texas with my surname.

The instructions for making a stamp say:



> All seals obtained and used by license holders may contain any given name or initial combination with the surname as currently listed with the board and in the usual written signature


I'm not exactly sure how to interpret that. Does it mean the entire name on the stamp needs to be consistent with how I sign my name? Or just the surname?

I'm a great decision maker when it comes to being an engineer but things like this always trip me up.


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## Dexman1349 (Jan 6, 2010)

I treated the stamp the same way I treat bank documents: Have the print version match your signature. If you don't sign with your middle initial, don't put it on your stamp.

If your middle initial appears on your stamp, I would assume you would need to sign your drawings with your middle initial as well.

I have a coworker who has a very common name, and she felt she needed to add the middle initial to both her signature as well as her stamp (at least for drawings).


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## RevMen (Jan 6, 2010)

It turns out my written signature doesn't actually resemble my name. You can sort of make out the J of my first name but after that it's anybody's guess. I'll probably leave the initial off. Don't want to seem too hoity toity.


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## Fluvial (Jan 6, 2010)

I put my whole name (first, middle, last) but all of the names are short. I don't think you'd want to do that if you had lot of long names.

I sign it "first, initial, last". I don't think your signature has to match it exactly, and as you pointed out already, many signatures are illegible. If you think it looks to hoity toity then by all means leave the initial out.


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## MonteBiker (Jan 6, 2010)

I've got Monte D. Biker on mine but then again I'm pretty hoity toity.


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## benbo (Jan 6, 2010)

MonteBiker said:


> I've got Monte D. Biker on mine but then again I'm pretty hoity toity.


I'm also hoity toity, but I've only got first and last names. But they are pretty long and I don't think there's much room for anything else. It also matches my license info on the certificate.

I've never used it in five years anyway, and don't expect to.


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## EM_PS (Jan 6, 2010)

hoity toity here too, got my middle initial on mine. My state's licensing board wants consistency with how you are registered with them. Thus, if i had opted not to have included my middle initial way back when i first applied to write the ps exam, i probably wouldn't of needed to include it on the stamp. But my license &amp; the state's database has me with the m.i., so best to be hoity toity i guess


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## Fluvial (Jan 6, 2010)

Good thing the board here is flexible. I've been married three times since I got my P.E. license. Had to change my stamp each time.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Jan 6, 2010)

^My wife (in academia) uses her maiden name professionally for the most part, to keep the paper trail of publications she's done consistent. She hyphenates it for any financial, legal, etc. type documents we need to fill out so it's obvious we're married.

As for my PE stamp, it's First M. Last. Which is how I sign off on stuff.


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## RevMen (Jan 6, 2010)

I've decided to leave my middle initial out. It seems that will set me apart from all of the other engineers who leave their initials in. In other words, this Sneetch is going into the star-removal machine!







Actually, both my first and last names are kind of long and I never use my middle name for anything. So it seems to make logical sense.


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## kevo_55 (Jan 8, 2010)

All of my stamps read: First M. Last.

I never have signed with my middle initial. Then again, my signature looks like it came from a seismograph.


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