Lionel, Julián and Enzo were the most chosen names to baptize newborns during December to coincide with the Qatar World Cup, and a baby was also registered as Messi in the Buenos Aires town of Vicente López and another as Messias in La Matanza , both given birth in the middle of the caravan for the celebrations of the champions after their return to the country.
In the province of Buenos Aires, From the semifinal against Croatia that was held on December 13 until Wednesday, 1,020 births were registered, of which at least 80 bear a name related to “la Scaloneta”.
Lionel, for Messi, was the most chosen in Buenos Aires, with 13 children registered with this name during the World Cup month.
According to data from the National Registry of Persons that goes up to 2015, at the national level the name Lionel registered its maximum popularity peaks in the years 2006, 2010 and 2014, coinciding with the World Cups in Germany, in which Messi debuted with a goal against Serbia and Montenegro; the one in South Africa that had Diego Maradona as coach, and the one in Brazil in which Argentina lost to Germany in the final.
The passion for the Argentine captain does not end there and reaches truly unimaginable levels.
According to the Civil Registry of the province of Buenos Aires, on December 20, in the midst of the celebrations of the world champions aboard an open-top bus that took more than four million people to the streets, Messi and Messias arrived in the world. , two babies born in Vicente López and La Matanza respectively.
However, During the World Cup, the most chosen name in Buenos Aires was not that of the player, but coincided with that of one of his sons, Mateo, who registered 20 registrations, while Ciro and Thiago, who complete the Messi family, had 10 and five , respectively.
The local Civil Registry maintained before a consultation of Télam that, despite the coincidences, it does not know if the choice of the name “has any relationship or not with events or events of a football nature.”
The trend, however, occurred throughout the World Cup in different provinces of the country.
In Mendoza, during the last 30 days, 32 babies were baptized with the name Lionel, 26 with Julián and 14 with Leonel and Lautaro, according to reports to Télam from the Government area.
Next on the list of names in homage to the players of the National Team are Enzo, with 13 registrations, and Ángel and Emiliano with seven.
While, the name Lionel was also the most chosen in the province of Tucumánwhere the first Lionel was born on December 9 and the second on December 13, explained Alicia Quinteros, in charge of the Newborn Identification service of the “Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes” Maternity Institute of that province.
Meanwhile, authorities at the maternity hospital in the city of Concepción indicated that from December 1 to 20 they registered two births with names that could be linked to the players: one was Leonel and another Lionela.
lionel It was also the name chosen by a family from the city of Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuegofor his son born on December 6, three days after the victory of the National Team against Australia, the only case in the province in which Lionel Messi is alluded to.
While, in Salta five babies who were born last Sunday, while Argentina was consecrating world champion, were registered with the names of Lionel and Juliánin homage to the captain and striker of the national team Julián Álvarez.
In the city of Cordovathe Civil Registry informed Télam that during the championship in Doha they signed up for four babies named Lionel (two of them in second place), one with Alexis (by Alexis Mac Allister), one with Nahuel (Nahuel Molina) and one with Emiliano (by ‘Dibu’ Martínez).
The same thing happened in the province of Neuquén where “five (named children) Lionel, two Emiliano, one Nicolás and one Julián were registered”indicated the provincial director of Civil Registries, Mariana Nuñez.
In JujuyMeanwhile, births were registered “with the names Lautaro, Leandro, Emiliano, Rodrigo, Julián, Enzo and Lionel not only now after obtaining the title but throughout the World Cup,” the director of the province’s Civil Registry, Octavio Rivas, told Télam, who did not specify the number of births.
The trend of parents opting for names of well-known soccer players at the time of their children’s birth is not new.
Like ’78 and ’86
The same thing had happened in the 1978 World Cup with the newborns who registered under the name of Mario Alberto, by Kempes. Or as Diego Armandofor Maradona, who went from 47 newborn babies with this name in 1978 to 1,703 in 1981 and to 1,500 in 1986 when the National Team got the second star in Mexico, according to the National Registry of People.
Name Enzowhich today can be a tribute to the Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernández, knew how to be inspired -as in the case of the current champion- by the former River player, Enzo Francescoli.
Coinciding with the greatest triumphs of this “millionaire” idol, the popularity peaks of the name in Argentina were recorded in 1998, after River won the three-time championship a year earlier.
The same was registered with the name Juan Román, by Riquelme, in 2000 and 2001, years in which the xeneize team won the Copa Libertadores, as in 2007, in which Riquelme was a scorer.
