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Semantic and Socio-Cultural Analysis for Indonesian Children’s Names Born in the 2000s

Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia

Received: 5 Apr 2022; Published: 13 Feb 2026.
Open Access Copyright (c) 2026 PAROLE: Journal of Linguistics and Education under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the names and naming system for children who were born in the 2000s. It focuses on the meaning of personal names and the socio-cultural shift in the names system. This study used the qualitative approach and the descriptive qualitative is as the design because the analysis would elaborate descriptively. The participants were selected based on purposive sampling. The instrument used in this study was observation and interview. The parents’ interview was conducted by WhatsApp chatting and Google Form. The data were collected, categorized, analyzed, and concluded. Finally, it is inferred that the children’s names in the 2000s have the meaning semantically in connotative and denotative meaning, which relates to courage, beauty, cleverness, and peacefulness. The socio-cultural shift changes the names and automatically changes the identity that most parents prefer the Arabic language to reflect the Muslim identity. The parents’ perspective has shifted because they prefer to choose names with high complexity by giving unfamiliar words and difficult to be pronounced. Javanese tradition in giving names has shifted because it is not following the Islamic religion’s teaching.

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Keywords: culture in the 2000s, naming system, semantics, socio-cultural

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