Identity, Religion, and Globalization in Contemporary Baby Naming Practices: A Socio-Onomastic Study of Names in 2025–2026

Abstract

This study aims to examine socio-onomastic trends in baby naming practices in Indonesia during the 2025–2026 period by focusing on issues of identity, religiosity, and globalization reflected in naming choices. The data consist of 30 baby names collected through documentation techniques from online news portals, social media platforms, and the researcher’s local environment. The study employs a descriptive qualitative approach within the framework of socio-onomastics, which views personal names as linguistic phenomena closely related to social and cultural factors. Data were analyzed by identifying linguistic elements, cultural backgrounds, and social values embedded in the selected names. The findings reveal three major trends in contemporary baby naming practices. First, religiosity remains a dominant influence, reflected in the frequent use of Arabic-derived names and names carrying religious meanings. Second, globalization has significantly shaped naming patterns, as evidenced by the incorporation of linguistic elements from various languages, including English, French, Hebrew, and Sanskrit, often combined within a single name. Third, there is a growing tendency toward creative and innovative naming practices, reflecting parents’ desire to construct distinctive identities for their children. These findings suggest that baby names function not only as markers of personal identity but also as representations of cultural values, religious beliefs, social aspirations, and contemporary global orientations.