It’s not unusual for fans to name their children after their favorite athletes — but when thousands of people in the same country share a single name, things can get confusing! In Brazil, home to passionate football lovers, a unique naming crisis has emerged.
According to a recent report by Globo, more than 2,400 Brazilians now share the name “Neymar.” Of these, around 50 are women, making the name one of the most unexpectedly popular in the nation.
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒏. “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒔 ‘𝑵𝒆𝒚𝒎𝒂𝒓!’ 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄, 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅!”
Neymar’s Fame Sparks Naming Boom
Neymar began his professional career at Santos FC in 2009. Back then, fewer than 100 people in Brazil were named after him. But as his stardom skyrocketed — from Santos to Barcelona, PSG, and now Al-Hilal — so did the number of babies named Neymar.
Data shows the name is now found in all 27 Brazilian states, with the highest numbers in Minas Gerais (372), São Paulo (340), Amazonas (239), and Bahia (232).
Despite this, Neymar is not the most popular football-inspired name in Brazil. That title goes to Juan Román Riquelme, the legendary Argentine midfielder.
According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), there are 25,942 people named “Riquelme” across Brazil. In the early 1990s, only 228 people had the name, but during Riquelme’s peak years (2000–2009), over 12,000 children were named after him.
“𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 — 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑹𝒊𝒐. “𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑵𝒆𝒚𝒎𝒂𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝑹𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆.”
Football or Identity Crisis?
In a country where football reigns supreme, this name explosion shows how deeply the sport influences Brazilian life. Still, some joke that the trend has created a mild identity crisis.
When fans, families, and friends shout “Neymar!” — it’s anyone’s guess which one will answer first!
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