Is there anyone in Bangladesh named Neymar? Or perhaps Lionel Messi or Zinedine Zidane?
Quite possibly — after all, Bangladesh is a football-loving nation. It’s not uncommon for parents there to name their children after global football icons. But imagine the situation in Brazil — a country that lives and breathes football. The five-time World Cup champions embody the phrase: “Eat football, drink football, sleep football.”
Recently, Brazil’s Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released a list of the most popular names based on the 2022 national census. From this data, the newspaper Globo identified which footballers have inspired the most namesakes across Brazil.
The results underline how deeply football and the World Cup are ingrained in Brazilian life. Naming children after footballers — whether by first name or surname — is entirely natural for Brazilians. A fan of Cristiano Ronaldo, for instance, may simply choose “Cristiano” or “Ronaldo.”
According to Globo, there are 2,443 people named Neymar in Brazil — including 50 women. Neymar may not have led Brazil to a World Cup title, and injuries have plagued much of his career, yet his immense popularity endures. Interestingly, prior to his 2009 debut for Santos, fewer than 100 Brazilians bore his name. The average age of today’s Neymars is 11 — most born during the star’s rise to fame.
Distribution of “Neymars” Across Brazil
| State | Number of People Named Neymar |
|---|---|
| Minas Gerais | 372 |
| São Paulo | 340 |
| Amazonas | 239 |
| Bahia | 232 |
Neymar’s influence is nationwide — every one of Brazil’s 27 states has namesakes in his honour.
However, Neymar isn’t the most popular football-inspired name in Brazil. In fact, he trails an Argentine legend — Juan Román Riquelme.
According to IBGE data, there are 25,942 people named Riquelme across Brazil. The name also appears as a surname, and intriguingly, 338 people are registered under the variant “Riquelme.”
Riquelme, now president of Boca Juniors, once donned Argentina’s number 10 shirt before Messi. Known for his “lazy elegance,” he captivated fans throughout Latin America — including in Brazil, where roughly 0.01% of the population bears his name. Their average age is 12.
In the early 1990s, only 228 Brazilians were named Riquelme. But between 2000 and 2009 — during his golden era — that number soared to over 12,220, as he led Boca Juniors to three Copa Libertadores titles (2000, 2001, and 2007).
Most “Riquelmes” by State
| State | Number of People Named Riquelme |
|---|---|
| São Paulo | 3,798 |
| Bahia | 3,773 |
Other football names are also common. Brazil counts 363 people named Messi, 128 named Maradona, and as surnames, 755 Messis, 447 Maradonas, and 5,517 Riquelmes.
The emotional bond between Brazilians and the World Cup is longstanding. After Brazil’s 1994 triumph, the number of people named “Romário” jumped dramatically — from 9,211 in 1989 to 32,110 in the 1990s. His teammate Bebeto, whose real name is José Roberto Gama de Oliveira, inspired 247 namesakes. Today, the average age of Romários and Bebetos is around 29 years.
Even nicknames have become official names in Brazil. There are 187 Ronaldinhos, 121 Kakas, and 582 Zicos — the latter referring to the “White Pelé” of the 1980s. Their average ages: Zicos 41, Ronaldinhos 24, and Kakas 16.
And what about Pelé, the greatest of them all? Brazil has 75 people named Pelé, averaging 47 years of age, along with 154 others bearing Pelé as a surname.
In Brazil, football is not merely a sport — it’s a way of life, written proudly in the very names of its people.