Can You Type Your Name as a Signature?

What the law says

The federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. § 7006(5)) and each state's UETA define an electronic signature as, in UETA's words, "an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record." It does not require a handwritten stroke, an image or a certificate: a name typed in an email or a form qualifies, as long as there was intent. And UETA (§ 9) adds that a signature is attributable to a person "if it was the act of the person," which "may be shown in any manner."

«The term “electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process, attached to or logically associated with a contract or other record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.»

ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7006(5) · Official source

When courts have accepted it

• Khoury v. Tomlinson, 518 S.W.3d 568 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2017): the sender's name in the "From:" field of an email saying "we are in agreement" was enough of a signature to satisfy the statute of frauds.
• Williamson v. Bank of New York Mellon, 947 F. Supp. 2d 704 (N.D. Tex. 2013): names typed in emails exchanged between attorneys counted as electronic signatures on their agreement.
• Lamle v. Mattel, Inc., 394 F.3d 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2005), and Cloud Corp. v. Hasbro, Inc., 314 F.3d 289 (7th Cir. 2002): a typed name in an email could satisfy a signature requirement, much as courts had long accepted typed names on telegrams.

When courts have rejected it

• Cunningham v. Zurich American Insurance Co., 352 S.W.3d 519 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth 2011): a signature block generated automatically by the email program was not a signature, because nothing showed the sender had typed it or meant to sign.
• J.B.B. Investment Partners, Ltd. v. Fair, 232 Cal. App. 4th 974 (2014): a name printed at the end of an email was not enough on its own; the court found no evidence that the sender intended to sign a binding settlement or had agreed to settle by electronic means.
• SN4, LLC v. Anchor Bank, fsb, 848 N.W.2d 559 (Minn. Ct. App. 2014): signing an email does not mean signing the attached document.

The practical rule

A typed name counts when (1) the person typed it, (2) with the intent to sign that document and (3) you can prove it. An automatic email footer fails point 2; a name in an email about something else fails points 2 and 3. So if the document matters, have the name typed inside the document, in a signature field, through a process that records who, when and from where.

How to do it with proof

1. Upload the PDF in Sign for free and mark where each person signs. If you'd rather have them type their name instead of drawing, add a name field next to the signature.
2. They get a personal link by email or text. They open it, review the document, fill in their name and sign with a finger or mouse; tapping “Send signature” records that they agree to sign electronically.
3. You get the PDF back with the audit trail: the email or phone number the link was sent to, IP address, device and browser, date and time, a unique signer code and the SHA-256 fingerprint. That covers all three points of the rule.

More on federal law and the cases in is an electronic signature valid in the United States?; on signatures pasted in as an image, in does a scanned signature count?

This is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, ask a lawyer licensed in your state.