North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 161. Register of Deeds § 161-14.2. Indexing procedures for instruments and documents filed in the office of the register of deeds

(1) When each word of the signature is legible and it gives the complete name of the party, the signature shall govern.

(2) When the signature is legible but initials or abbreviations are used, any additional information given by the printed or typed name and not in conflict with the signature shall govern.

(3) When none of the words in the signature are legible, the printed or typed name shall govern.

(4) When one or more of the words in the signature are legible, then the words that are legible shall govern; the words that appear in the printed or typed name shall govern over the words of the signature that are not legible.

(5) When the spelling of any word in a legible signature and the spelling of the corresponding word in the typed or printed name is at variance, and the variance would cause the entries to be made at different places in the index, then the instrument shall be indexed under both spellings.

(6) When a reasonable interpretation of an illegible word in a signature is at variance with the corresponding word in a typed or printed name, and the variance would cause the entries to be made at different places in the index, then the instrument shall be indexed in both places.