签名(qiān míng) - signature, autograph; to sign one's name in Mandarin

签名 (qiān míng) covers both the mark you put on a contract and the autograph you queue up for outside a stage door. As a noun it is the signature itself; as a verb it means to sign your name.

Grammatically it is a verb plus object glued together, so anything that would normally follow the verb has to sit before it. You sign on a document with 在文件上签名, not with 签名文件.

The trap for English speakers is exactly that. Learners want to say 我签名合同 for I sign the contract, and it does not work, because 名 already occupies the object slot. Use 我在合同上签名, or switch to 签字, or use the plain verb 签: 我签了合同 is fine. In Taiwan and Hong Kong you will also hear 簽名 used where the mainland says 签字 for the formal act of signing paperwork.