Identity Transformation and Changing the Person’s Name;Observing Social Changes in the Field of Social Onomastics

Introduction: This study investigates the phenomenon of globalization and its relevance to changing the names of university students to see the tendency of new identity in both sexes and to identify the motivations of changing the names according to the field of onomastics in both groups of university students.
Method: The population of the study is the students of the university of Tehran. The research is quantitative survey with descriptive approach and the method done for choosing the universities of Tehran was purposive and for university students was convenience sampling.The statistical sample is 1609 questionnaires and among the 1609 questionnaire gathered from university students, it is shown that  the second name was choosen by 459 of them. Two questionnaires of naming and identity tendency were used to collect data, in order to see which identity (national, ethnical , religious or transnational identity) is the favorite one for students. In the identity card questionnaire, students participating in the survey were asked to identify the name of the identity and, if they had a second name instead of their main name, specify the changed name and the motive for it. The identity questionnaire given to the students was according to the Likert scale with 110 items and the answers were given on a 4-point Likert  scale ; (strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree). The independent variable of research is (gender; male and female) and the dependent variable is choosing a new name (naming).
Findings: The research findings indicated that among those who changed their names were 22.5 % of the boys and 77.5 % of the girls. The results showed that there is a tendency for national identity in boys and transnational identity in girl students . There is also a shift in the name from the old religious names to the new one  as well as to the national identity of the boys , while on the other hand, female students tended to shift from national and religious to transnational one. For the motivations stated among the male and girl students respectively , personal interest and also to have Iranian names (intrinsinc and extrinsic motivation) and promotion of prestige, then beutifulness (intrinsic motivation) was the most important factor.
Discussion: One of the useful ways to identify cultural changes in a country and in different historical periods is the use of “names” and the process of naming transformations. The consequences of globalization as a pervasive process can affect all aspects of individual life .The nationa, ethnical and religious identity on the basis of the transformation of political system , and changing the cultural beliefs and its openness to other culture , has undergone serious transformation and will change attitude and behavior. Social onomastics is one of the attractive field which plays an important role, Because the names are seen as a sign that through analysis of these signs in each community, a large extent can be traced to the attitudes, thoughts, and mood of the society. This study showed that socio- linguistics, and especially social onomastics, is capable of observing social transformations including identity changes and can answer the questions of linguists and sociologists.