Reuters —
Haaland’s babies are being born one after another in Peru. In Argentina, Lionel rose through the ranks, and in Mexico, girls have reportedly been named after three soccer players. Parents in Latin America are already christening a new generation of babies after World Cup stars.
Hundreds of newborns in Peru have been named after rising stars such as Norway’s Erling Haaland, while names inspired by traditional icons such as Lionel Messi, Brazil’s Neymar and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo each count around 30,000 registrations, Ivan Torres, a spokesperson for Peru’s civil registration agency RENIEC, told Panamericana TV last week.
“Haaland has also become Peruvian,” Torres said, noting that one of the newborns was named “Mundial” simply after the Spanish abbreviation of the World Cup. Peru failed to qualify for the tournament.
Many Latin Americans, whose teams failed to qualify or were eliminated, have been reluctant to support Argentina, which is widely seen as too European-centric, and have thrown their support behind the Norwegian team, which won many new fans with the Viking brawl and Haaland’s first appearance in the quarterfinals.
In Mexico, which co-hosted the World Cup with the United States and Canada, a photo of a birth certificate showing a baby girl named Quiñona Isidora Morita Haaland Guevara went viral on social media. This refers to Mexican stars Julián Quiñones and Gilberto Mora, as well as Norwegian striker.
Isi Sidora is a play on the upbeat mantra that Mexican fans chanted before they were eliminated by England in the last 16: “Y si sí?”, or “What if?”.
Mexico’s governing secretariat did not immediately verify the authenticity of the certificate.
In Argentina, Enzo, Emiliano and Lionel topped the list of most popular boys’ names in the northeastern province of Salta the week before the final, with local authorities blaming the trend on the “World Cup phenomenon.”
Argentina’s World Cup squad for Sunday’s final includes midfielder Enzo Fernandes, goalkeeper Emiliano “Dib” Martinez and team captain Messi.
Fabiola Molina, host of the Mexico City-based podcast “Sin Manual para Padres” (“Parents Have No Manual”), told Reuters the trend has a history across Latin America dating back to Diego Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal against England in 1986.
“Years ago, when the Backstreet Boys were popular, many women named their sons Kevin and Brian. So, for example, in countries like Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, it’s very common to find someone named Brian Gonzalez.”
“It’s interesting, but it can also be detrimental to children when they grow up,” she says. “Just because your name is Messi or Lionel doesn’t mean you’re going to be a great footballer. Fate doesn’t dictate that.”
