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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sociol.
Sec. Race and Ethnicity
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1487934

Exploring the Changing of Name as a Socio-Cultural Adaptation Strategy of the Javanese Diaspora in Sabah Borneo -Malaysia

Provisionally accepted
Sahid Teguh Widodo Sahid Teguh Widodo 1*Suyatno Suyatno Suyatno Suyatno 1Bahtiar Mohamad Bahtiar Mohamad 2Shafinar Ismail Shafinar Ismail 3
  • 1 Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Indonesia
  • 2 Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia
  • 3 Faculty of Business and Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Melaka, Malaysia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This research explores the evolution of personal names within the Diaspora Jawa Sabah (DJS) community, which highlights its connections to historical events, social changes, and cultural practices. Building on a 2023 study in the Malaysian Peninsula, this research focuses on Sabah, examining how historical, social, and cultural dynamics influence the linguistic aspects of DJS names. Using content analysis and in-depth interviews, the study reveals (1) distinct migration histories of Javanese people to Sabah compared to the Malaysian Peninsula; (2) significant influences of historical, social, and cultural phenomena on DJS names before and after Sabah joined Malaysia in 1963; (3) the evolution of DJS names into modern and current Malay Islamic name which reflects personal aspirations; and (4) insights into the collective cultural and ideological shifts within the DJS community in Sabah, Malaysia. This research sheds light on the dynamic development of thought, cultural response, ideology, and politics within the DJS community. The research findings have made a significant contribution to previous studies, both theoretically and practically. Theoretically, this study demonstrates the development of structures (Gardiner, 1954; Ullmann, 1977) and variations in name forms (Crystal, 1987;Widodo et al., 2023) influenced by different historical, social, religious, and cultural contexts. Furthermore, the research findings confirm a strong relationship between linguistic phenomena and other social, historical, and cultural factors, which form the basis for understanding that the study of personal names is a phenomenal and contextual subject in linguistic research.

    Keywords: Personal name, diaspora, Java, Sabah, Malaysia

    Received: 29 Aug 2024; Accepted: 16 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Widodo, Suyatno, Mohamad and Ismail. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sahid Teguh Widodo, Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Indonesia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.