Jordanian Families in the Northern Jordan Valley: A Socio­Semantic Study

Authors

  • Luqman M Rababah

    Department of English Language and Translation, Jadara University, Irbid 21110, Jordan
  • Maisa Ali Aljondi

    Department of English Language and Translation, Jadara University, Irbid 21110, Jordan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.10926
Received: 7 May 2025 | Revised: 11 July 2025 | Accepted: 21 July 2025 | Published Online: 10 September 2025

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate Jordanian family names in the northern Jordan Valley from a sociological point of view, as well as to investigate the cultural importance of these names. In addition, it aims to classify the given family names according to their meanings and the reasons that led to their naming, as well as to ascertain the meanings, origins, and reasons that led to the selection of these names. The sample for this research project includes twenty­seven different family names from Jordan. In order to conduct interviews with relevant persons and members of the family, the study used a qualitative methodology. According to the findings of the research, Jordanian families who reside in the northern Jordan Valley may be classified into five distinct groups. These categories include regional, occupational, anecdotal, nicknames, and patronymic surnames. Future studies should look at more aspects of family names, such as phonetic, syntactic, and morphological differences. They should also repeat similar studies in other parts of Jordan or elsewhere, and look at other types of family names that have been found in previous research, such as metronymic surnames, kinship-­derived family names, ethnic surnames, or other groups, as well as how they spread and what caused them to appear. It is of the utmost importance to investigate the ways in which the different dialects spoken by members of the community have influenced the surnames of families.

Keywords:

Onomastics; Family Names; Naming Practice; Semantics; Culture; Sociolinguistics

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How to Cite

M Rababah, L., & Ali Aljondi, M. (2025). Jordanian Families in the Northern Jordan Valley: A Socio­Semantic Study. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(9), 553–570. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i9.10926

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 9 (September 2025)

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Article

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Copyright © 2025 Luqman M Rababah, Maisa Ali Aljondi

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.