More and more parents are choosing International names for their children. Sporting events like the World Cup give us an opportunity to see a bunch of those names in action.

 

Here’s a sampler of some of the names you might want to consider (and a few you probably shouldn’t) along with the county the player represents:

 

COOL NAMES

DARIO Vidosic (Australia)

SERGIO Romero (Argentina)

GUY Ndy (Cameroon)

RODRIGO Millar (Chile)

KOLO Toure (Ivory Coast)

HUGO Lloris (France)

NIKOS Spiropoulos (Greece)

KEIJI Tamada (Japan)

RAFAEL Marquez (Mexico)

DIRK Kuyt (Netherlands)

DEMY de Zeeuw (Netherlands)

TAYE Taiwo (Nigeria)

ROQUE Santa Cruz (Paraguay)

BRUNO Alves (Portugal)

ERIK Jendrisek (Slovakia)

MARKO Suler (Slovenia)

 

VINTAGE NAMES

LIONEL Messi (Argentina)

SEBASTIAN Bassong (Cameroon)

ISMAEL Fuentes (Chile)

HUMBERTO Suazo (Chile)

FABIAN Orellana (Chile)

EMMANUEL Eboue (Ivory Coast)

JESPER Christiansen (Denmark)

EMILE Heskey (England)

GARETH Barry (England)

FLORENT Malouda (France)

CEDRIC Carasso (France)

JEROME Boateng (Germany)

IBRAHIM Ayew (Ghana)

OSCAR Garcia (Honduras)

EDGAR Alvarez (Honduras)

DOMENICO Criscito (Italy)

EFRAIN Juarez (Mexico)

ISRAEL Castro (Mexico)

NIGEL de Jong (Netherlands)

RODOLFO Gamarra (Paraguay)

GERARD Pique (Spain)

IGNACIO Gonzalez (Uruguay)

 

TRADITIONAL NAMES

MICHAEL Beauchamp (Australia)

MARTIN Jorgensen (Denmark)

JAMES Milner (England)

ROBERT Green (England)

PHILIPP Lahm (Germany)

JONATHAN Mensah (Ghana)

ALBERTO Gilardino (Italy)

GREGORY van der Wiel (Netherlands)

VLADIMIR Stojkovic (Serbia)

BERNARD Parker (South Africa)

STEVEN Pienaar (South Africa)

FERNANDO Llorente (Spain)

BENJAMIN Huggel (Switzerland)

WALTER Gargano (Uruguay)

STUART Holden (USA)

CLARENCE Goodson (USA)

 

HARD TO PRONOUNCE NAMES

DIDIER Zokora (Ivory Coast)

DJIBRIL Cisse (France)

MESUT Oezil (France)

PIOTR Trochowski (Germany)

KWADWO Asamoah (Ghana)

GIOURKAS Seitaridis (Greece)

CUAUHTEMOC Blanco (Mexico)

ZDRAVKO Kuzmanovic (Serbia)

NEJC Pecnik (Slovenia)

SIPHIWE Tshabalala (South Africa)

CESC Fabregas (Spain)

 

UNISEX NAMES

ARIEL Garce (Argentina)

JEAN Beausejour (Chile)

ASHLEY Cole (England)

SIDNEY Govou (France)

PATRICE Evra (France)

MORGAN de Sanctis (Italy)

SIMONE Pepe (Italy)

ROBIN van Persie (Netherlands)

JASMIN Handanovic (Slovenia)

JOAN Capdevila (Spain)

 

NICKNAME NAMES

MAXI Rodriquez (Argentina)

TONI Kroos (Germany)

SAMI Khedira (Germany)

SULLEY Muntari (Ghana)

GEORGIE Welcome (Honduras)

JONNY Magallon (Mexico)

TIAGO (Portugal)

PEPE Reina (Spain)

JOZY Altidore (USA)

ROBBIE Findlay (USA)

 

UNIQUE NAMES

GONZALO Higuain (Argentina)

THIAGO Silva (Brazil)

AURELIEN Chedjou (Cameroon)

GAETAN Bong (Cameroon)

YAYA Toure (Ivory Coast)

LEDLEY King (England)

ARNE Friedrich (Germany)

HOLGER Badstuber (Germany)

ASAMOAH Gyan (Ghana)

PRINCE Tagoe (Ghana)

VANGELIS Moras (Greece)

ATHANASIOS Prittas (Greece)

GIANLUIGI Buffon (Italy)

JUSTO Villar (Paraguay)

DRAGAN Mrdja (Serbia)

KORNEL Salata (Slovakia)

ELVEDIN Dzinic (Slovenia)

BRANKO Ilic (Slovenia)

SURPRISE Moriri (South Africa)

TRANQUILLO Barnetta (Switzerland)

EDINSON Cavani (Uruguay)

DaMARCUS Beasley (USA)

HERCULEZ Gomez (USA)

 

STYLISH NAMES

MIKKEL Beckmann (Denmark)

BASTIAN Schweinsteiger (Germany)

CHRISTOS Patsatzoglou (Greece)

LEONARDO Bonucci (Italy)

CRISTIANO Ronaldo (Portugal)

NIKOLA Zigic (Serbia)

MAXIMILIANO Pereira (Uruguay)

 

DOUBLE NAMES

ANDRE PIERRE Gignac (France)

JULIO CESAR Caceres (Paraguay)

JUAN MANUEL Mata (Spain)

 

MODERN NAMES

LANDRY Nguemo (Cameroon)

LEE Addy (Ghana)

HENDRY Thomas (Honduras)

WESLEY Sneijder (Netherlands)

RORY Fallon (New Zealand)

CLINT Dempsey (USA)

 

POPULAR NAMES

NICKLAS Bendtner (Denmark)

LUKAS Podolski (Germany)

ISAAC Vorsah (Ghana)

DOMINIC Adiyiah (Ghana)

GIOVANI dos Santos (Mexico)

RYAN Babel (Netherlands)

LEO Bertos (New Zealand)

AUSTIN Eijde (Nigeria)

LANDON Donovan (USA)

 

SURNAME NAMES

WILSON Palacios (Honduras)

WINSTON (New Zealand)

DICKSON Etuhu (Nigeria)

BROWN Ideye (Nigeria)

NELSON Valdez (Paraguay)

MacBETH Sibaya (South Africa)

GELSON Fernandes (Switzerland)

 

SOURCE: www.fifa.com

 

The most surprising name? Obviously Surprise Moriri. My favorite name though is MacBeth Sibaya. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s quite cool. I’m not recommending it for your baby, but as a name nerd, I love it.

 

What are your favorites?

 

Happy naming,

♥  Amanda

 

 

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