Copa do Mundo
Sports event increases popularity of names of soccer stars
June 22, 2018 02h02 PM | Last Updated: June 25, 2018 02h37 PM
For many Brazilians, a way to show their passion for soccer is naming their sons after names of the stars who stood out in world cups. The application Names in Brazil, which uses the information collected in the 2010 Population Census, allows to relate the increase in the registration of children named after soccer players in the period that they hit the top in their careers.
It is still too early to detect the popularization of the name Neymar, one of the highlights of the Brazilian team in the World Cup of Russia. Up to 2010, 454 Neymars were registered, a figure that will be updated by the 2020 Population Census. It may increase if it follows the behavior of other stars, mainly if Brazil conquers the title of the world cup this year.
Ex-player Romário is an example Slightly more than two thousand Romários were born in the 1970s. The exposure of the player, his transfer to Europe in the 1980s and the heyday in the world cup in 1994 with the Brazilian team contributed to popularize his name: 39.7 thousand births were registered between 1990 and 2000.
Social scientist Romário Nelvo, 23, tells that even before his parents knew his sex, the conquest of the fourth championship would mark his life forever. "My father and my uncle made a bet: if I were born a boy, I would be named after Romário if Brazil wins the cup. Brazil won and I took this name", told him. Administrator Romário Marques Ribeiro, 28, is another example, son of a fan of Romário. "people use to kid with my name, they ask its origin, but I am cool. They always want to know if it was a homage".
A soccer fan, physiotherapist Guilherme Cherene, 39, is the father of Arthur, six years, and Raí, three months. In spite of following soccer since he was a boy and attending the stadiums to watch Flamengo, he told that the names of his sons are not a reference to the soccer stars. "I relate them with the names of the players just after their births. Zico (Arthur) and Raí are two idols of high value and good character. People always ask if it was due to the players. I answer no, but I am very happy when they make this relation".
Pelé x Maradona
As if that was not enough the controversy of who was the best player, Pelé (Edson) or Maradona (Diego), the civil registry surprises the Brazilians: up to 2010, 112 Pelés and 165 Maradonas lived in Brazil. Despite the Argentinian victory in the Names in Brazil application, there are more Edsons than Diegos in Brazil, 431.5 thousand against 424.4 thousand. The increase in the birth of Edsons was right after the world championships of 1962 and 1970. They were 90.1 thousand in the 1960s, the equivalent of 46.6 thousand more than in the previous decade, hitting the top between 1970 and 1980, when 111.5 thousand were registered.
Beyond the Argentinian star, the Brazilian population also paid homage to other foreign names. Born in the 1990s, Accounting student Klinsmann Ferreira de Barros, 21, was named after German player Jürgen Klinsmann, one of the main forwards when Germany conquered the cup in 1990.
The Brazilian Klinsmann did not see the inspiration of his name playing: "if I come to the grandfather or father of a friend, they usually know the reference, call me German, make reference to the 7 to 1, kidding with me. As to the young persons, one or another knows him", said him. The Klinsmanns registered in Brazil only appeared in the 1990s, with the heyday of the German star. Of the 157 persons named after him, 131 were registered in the 1990s.
