What’s in a name: a prediction of future glory or a nod to greatness already written?
Across South America, a generation of young “Kylians” and “Neymars” will be watching the World Cup unfold, named after stars whose careers have shaped their identities.
A year from now, the cycle could shift again. If current form holds, expect newborns named after Lamine Yamal of Spain, Ousmane Dembélé of France, Harry Kane of England or Vitinha of Portugal.
In Ecuador, competing at its fifth World Cup, the trend is already clear. The most common football-inspired names do not belong to local standouts such as Kendry Páez or Willian Pacho, the Paris Saint-Germain defender and two-time Champions League winner, but to global icons whose influence stretches far beyond national borders.
Instead, it is Brazil’s all-time leading scorer Neymar, playing at his fourth and likely final World Cup, who tops the list with 3,847 namesakes, the country’s civil registry said Wednesday.
Kylian Mbappé, the wunderkind who led France to victory at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, is second with more than 2,800 children bearing his name, ahead of James (Rodríguez, Colombia’s captain) in third with 2,136.
Argentine and Portuguese greats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo also have their first and last names written into Ecuadorian family records.
The country counts 1,549 Lionels, 38 Messis, 178 Cristianos and 1,006 Ronaldos.
In Colombia, the order is reversed, with 836 children named Kylian or Mbappé ahead of 269 Neymars and 220 Cristianos or Ronaldos, according to 2022 figures.
Neymar, unsurprisingly, has also inspired a generation of parents in his homeland, with 2,443 children named after the player who has been central to three World Cup campaigns, according to a 2022 census.
Brazil, a five-time champion, also shows a fondness for Kylian or Killian, with more than 400 children bearing the name.
In football-mad Argentina, Lionel saw a surge in 2023, the year after Messi cemented his legacy by leading the country to its third World Cup title, though the name has since declined in popularity.
In Chile, one family made national headlines ahead of the 2022 World Cup when it named a newborn Griezmann Mbappé, after the French forwards.
The child joined a group of similarly football-inspired relatives: a brother named James Modric, a blend of James Rodríguez and Luka Modrić, and cousins named Andrés Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Neymar Ronaldo.
