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Javanese Baby Names

The Javanese are an ethnic group native to the Indonesian island of Java and predominantly located in the central to eastern parts of the island. Majority of the Javanese people identify themselves as Muslims, with a minority identifying as Christians and Hindus.

Javanese is a member of the Austronesian family of languages and is closely related to other languages Indonesia.

Most Javanese in Indonesia are bilingual fluent in Indonesian and Javanese. In a public poll held circa-1990, approximately 12% of Javanese used Indonesian, around 18% used both Javanese and Indonesian, and the rest used Javanese exclusively.

The Javanese language was commonly written with the a script descended from the Brahmi script, natively known as Hanacaraka or Carakan. Upon Indonesian independence it was replaced with a form of the Latin alphabet.

While Javanese was not made an official language of Indonesia, it has the status of 'regional language' for communication in the Javanese-majority regions. The language also can be viewed as an 'ethnic language' because it is one of the defining characteristics of the Javanese ethnic identity.

Javanese do not usually have family names or surnames. Javanese names may come from traditional Javanese languages, many of which are derived from Sanskrit. Names with the prefix Su-,which means good, are very popular. After the advent of Islam, many Javanese began to use Arabic names, especially coast populations, where Islamic influences are stronger. Commoners usually only have one-word names, while nobilities use two-or-more-word names, but rarely a surname.

Due to the influence of other cultures, many people started using names from other languages, mainly European languages. Christian Javanese usually use Latin baptism names followed by a traditional Javanese name while some people use a patronymic.

                            

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