签名
qiānmíng · HSK 5
sign one's name
✍️ 签 = label/tag + 名 = name; tag your name onto something
签 originally meant a bamboo slip or label used to mark things, and 名 means name. Together they describe attaching your name to a document — signing it. Same 签 appears in 签证 (visa) and 签到 (sign in).
签 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 佥 (qiān, phonetic)
Originally written 籤, this character depicts bamboo strips (⺮) used as markers, tags, or lots drawn for divination. The component 佥 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from physical bamboo slips to labels, signatures, and signing one's name.
名 — evening 夕 + mouth 口
A compound ideograph: in the dark of evening (夕), one cannot recognize others by sight, so the mouth (口) calls out a name to identify oneself. The original sense of 'name' broadened to include reputation, fame, and a measure word for people.