The child learning to write their name is making a place for themselves on paper.

Writing your own name is the first time most people put themselves somewhere permanent. It is a small act of claiming: this is mine, I was here, this belongs to a person with a shape on paper. The wobbly letters matter enormously to the child and look like practice to everyone else. Being able to inscribe yourself is a real threshold, even if it gets crossed at five and never thought about again.

If a child near you is at this stage, let them label their own things. And notice what it still means when you sign something: a small assertion that you exist and are willing to be counted.