The sign "institute" is the source of a family of ASL signs that are used to refer to residential schools for deaf children and to other institutions. The members of the "institute" sign family--although initialized--are well-established within the Deaf community and, importantly, are used to refer to highly-valued aspects of Deaf culture. This is true despite the fact that initialized signs are sometimes rejected within the Deaf community. We examine the etymology of the sign "institute" and suggest two plausible hypotheses for its origin. In analyzing the etymology of the sign "institute" and its derivatives, we consider historical changes in how state residential schools for deaf children were named in the United States. (Contains 11 figures and 23 notes.)