A deaf couple have become the first people in Britain to record their baby's name in sign language on her birth certificate.

Theatre director Paula Garfield, 47, and her partner Tomato Lichy, 39, from Wembley, north London, wanted to record Hazel's name in British Sign Language (BSL), but said they were initially told by their local Brent Register Office that it was impossible.

Now their personal name for four-year-old Hazel, a reference to her smiling face, has pride of place on her birth certificate - as UbOtDDstarL.

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Sign of the times: Tomato Lichy and Paula Garfield's daughter Hazel has become the first person in Britain to have her sign name legally recorded on her birth certificate - where it has pride of place as UbOtDDstarL

Simple but effective: Tomato Lichy demonsrates his daughter's name, which begins as a small O-shape held at the chin with the thumb and forefinger before opening out into an L-shape across the chin

Hazel's sign name, like many others, is not simply the letters H-A-Z-E-L spelt out.

Instead it is a made-up combination of symbols which, when taken in context, describes her personality in a way only her parents and friends can fully understand.

Hazel's sign name is written as UbOtDDstarL, which represents a combination of hand movements.

The U represents the chin, bO means a 'baby O' made with the thumb and forefinger, tD means 'hands facing the signer', Dstar means 'the handshape opens' and L shows the shape of the hand.

Put that together and it makes a small O shape held at the chin, which then opens into an L shape.

Ms Garfield told MailOnline she had a battle of up to nine months with the Register Office. The issue was finally sorted around four years ago, but the case has had little publicity.

'My daughter's sign name is what it is because her first expression was a smile,' she said. 'There's no way to translate it perfectly into English.

'But we went to the register office and they said it was "ridiculous, you can't register a sign name, don't be silly". So we got in touch with a solicitor, who said the law allows people to have their name on a birth certificate "in their own language".'

The couple officially named their daughter Hazel. But her sign name is formed by a change from a closed to open index and thumb handshape near the chin

The couple consulted with a linguist how to officiate on paper their daughter's sign name, and with the help of a lawyer have now managed to record their daughter's British Sign Language name

HOW TO BREAK DOWN THE SIGN NAME INTO HAND SYMBOLS UbOtDDstarL U represents the chin bO means a 'baby O' made with the thumb and forefinger tD means 'hands facing the signer' Dstar means 'the handshape opens' L shows the shape of the hand at the end Put together, that makes a small O shape with the thumb and forefinger held at the chin, which then opens out into an L shape. Advertisement

A spokesman for the British Deaf Association said: 'When you come up with a sign name it's often as a result of a characteristic. Judging by the type of symbols in this name, the parents might have noticed Hazel smiles or laughs a lot.

'With other people, if they talk a lot for example their sign name might include wiggling fingers at their mouth.

'But there's no exact translation. Hazel's isn't a specific name or spelt out. It all depends on the context of the relationship with the child.'

By an unusual coincidence, both of the couple's children are deaf - but they say they couldn't be happier.

Ms Garfield said: 'We're the best possible parents for them'.

Mr Lichy said he had tried to register his first daughter Molly's name in British Sign Language but was told it was not possible.

When his second daughter came along, he told bslzone he was more determined.

He said: 'Why did (the name) have to be registered in English? British Sign Language (BSL) has been recognised, why could we not have it in BSL?'

They consulted with a linguist how to officiate on paper their daughter's sign name, and with the help of a lawyer have now managed to record their daughter's British Sign Language name.

Happy: Hazel is completely unaware of her significance as she crawls around her parents' London home

The little girl's name is written in sign notation as UbOtDDstarL. It is formed by a change from a closed to open index and thumb handshape near the chin

Tomato, who changed his name from Tom aged 20 because it was a more 'visual, strong name', was the one who came up with the idea.

Ms Garfield said that she had originally dismissed her partner's desire to register Hazel's name in BSL.

But she said: 'Looking back I realised Tomato was right.

'We've been so used to having our language dismissed and we've accepted that. The law is there, and we have rights.

'Sign language is stronger than we thought.'

To find out more about the couple's story and see how Hazel's name appears in BSL, click here.