William Shakespeare never spelled his own name as 'William Shakespeare' in any of his surviving signatures.

Historians have found only six original signatures written by William Shakespeare. These signatures appear on legal papers signed between 1612 and 1616. Three are on his will, and the others are on property deeds and court records.In these documents, he used different versions like 'Willm Shakspere' and 'William Shaksper'. He never used the modern spelling found on his books today. During the 1500s and 1600s, there was no single 'correct' way to spell most words. Records from his lifetime show his name written in over 80 different ways.Some records even spelled it as 'Shaxberd' or 'Shackespeare'. Standard spelling rules for English did not become common until the 1700s. Experts who study old handwriting are called paleographers. They note that Shakespeare used a style called 'Secretary Hand'.This was a standard type of cursive used for business in England. Using different spellings was normal for everyone at the time, including highly educated writers. It shows how much the English language has changed over the last 400 years.