From Loco to Love, Angola’s Nicknames Rule

June 20th, 2006 | by: WC Bob |

Frequent readers of World Cup Blog know that Angola is my adopted team this competition. One of the reasons why I chose to back the Palancas Negras way back in December is because of the names of their players. I have a thing for names and this World Cup I have latched onto some favorites. Perhaps the reason why is because my own name is so dull. I have name envy.

Like many of you, I loved it when I heard that Brazil had a player named Fred. A classic, if understated name if there ever was one.

I also can’t get enough of Croatia’s Jerko Leko and Togo’s Razak Pimpong. These names might sound normal in their native languages but in English they are elicit a smile, if not a chuckle.

But it is the names of the Angola players that have really done it for me. Love, Loco, Jamaba, Flavio, Lama… the list goes on and one. This article does a nice job of explaining the origins of many of their nicknames.

My favorite is Love who was given his name because of his close relationship with his mother. I can’t think of too many athletes in too many countries who would willingly accept a nickname that acknowledges that they are a momma’s boy.

Of course, I also can’t think of too many bloggers who would willingly call themselves “Green Bean,” which is roughly how my name translates in Russian.

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Gus

Am I the only one that finds it amusing that certain English-speaking commentators keep referring to “Roberto Carlos” just as “Carlos”, as if that was his surname?

I mean, you can understand with some young players or from new nations on the world stage, where the players aren’t really known but, come on, Roberto Carlos has been around for ages, enough for people to know that “Carlos” is his middle name, not surname!

BTW, his surname is “Da Silva” but, like most brazilians, everybody refers to him by his given name(s) in the absence of a “cool” nickname like “Kaká”

Maybe another interesting quiestion would be what is the worst mispronounced/hardest-to-pronounce name, or which sounds the funniest when mispronounced (e.g. Káka, instead of Kaká)
Claude

Well that’s still better than being named Kaka. I guess it doesn’t mean the same in Portoguese as it does in English.