Carl N. Gorman's signature(s)

Early Career

When Carl Gorman began painting in the 1950s, he chose as his professional name Kin-ya-onny-beyeh, “Son of Towering House.” The Navajos are matrilineal, so one is born into your mother’s clan and born for your father’s clan. Carl’s father’s clan was Kiyaa’áanii or Kinyaa’áanii (modern spelling). Biye’ (modern spelling) means “his son.”

Navajo was not traditionally a written language which means variations on spelling existed, even today. For collectors of Gorman’s art work, we have listed several ways this name appears on Carl N. Gorman’s art pieces.

• Kinyaonnybeyeh

• Kin-ya-onny-beyeh

• Kinyionnybeyeh

• Kin-Yionny-Beyeh

• Kinyionnybeye

• Kee-yi-onny-beyeh

Later career

In the late 1970s and early 1980s Gorman began signing his art work with his given name, Carl Nelson Gorman. However, he also used variations here, too. These included:

• Carl N. Gorman

• Carl Gorman

• C.N. Gorman

• Carl N Gorman in signature form

On several of his mosaics, he used the “K” for Kin