When the World Cup begins on Thursday, a horde of tiny Kylians and Neymars from all around South America will be watching the fortunes of the celebrities who inspired them.
However, depending on which players perform well in a year, expectant parents might favor Vitinha (Portugal), Ousmane (Dembele, France), Lamine (Yamal, Spain), or Harry (Kane, England).
The most well-known football players of Ecuador, which is participating in its fifth World Cup, are not local celebrities like Kendry Paez or Paris Saint-Germain’s two-time Champions League winner Willian Pacho.
Rather, with 3,847 namesakes, Brazil’s all-time record scorer Neymar, who is competing in his fourth and likely final World Cup, leads the field, according to the nation’s civil registration on Wednesday.
With more than 2,800 infants bearing his name, Kylian Mbappe, the wunderkind who helped France win the 2018 World Cup in Russia, comes in second. James Rodriguez, the captain of Colombia, comes in third with 2,136 nods.
The first and surname names of the famed Argentine and Portuguese players Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are also prominently featured in Ecuadorian family history.
There are 1,549 small Lionels, 38 Messis, 178 Cristianos, and 1,006 Ronaldos in the nation.
According to data from 2022, the pattern is inverted in Colombia, with 836 kids named Kylian or Mbappe ahead of 269 Neymars and 220 Cristianos or Ronaldos.
Unsurprisingly, Neymar has also inspired a generation of parents in his own country; according to a 2022 census, 2,443 children have been named after the footballer who has played a crucial role in three World Cup campaigns.
However, Brazil, the five-time champions, also have a sweet place for Kylian or Killian, as evidenced by the more than 400 that bear his name.
Lionel had a significant moment in football-mad Argentina in 2023, the year Messi solidified his reputation by winning his nation’s third championship, but the name’s popularity has since declined.
In the lead-up to the 2022 World Cup, a Chilean family gained national attention when they welcomed a baby called Griezmann Mbappe, after the former striker and current star forward of France, respectively.
The young Griezmann was surrounded by famous people: his brother was named James Modric, a combination of Luka Modric and James Rodriguez, and his relatives were Neymar Ronaldo, Leonel Messi, and Andres Iniesta, a renowned former Spain player.
