"Yavadvipa" is mentioned in India's earliest epic, the Ramayana.
And, in Sanskrit yava means barley, a plant for which the island was famous. There are other possible sources: the word jaú and its variations mean "beyond" or "distant". One possibility is that the island was named after the jáwa-wut plant, which was said to be common in the island during the time, and that prior to Indianization the island had different names. The origins of the name "Java" are not clear.
This article contains letters from the Javanese script.