The Name Game
I have a fascination with names of athletes. Does an athlete name have anything to do with anything? In all seriousness, no. Nicknames are a big part of sports. I mean, you get 36 nicknames from Google alone for Shaquille O’Neal when you google “Shaq nicknames”. Names also help with marketing athletes sometimes. But for whatever reason, I just like unusual names. So, I’ve decided to rank my top 10 names in sports.
In all truthfulness, I could probably make a lot of different lists. And year-to-year that list would vary. For my list, I am going with current players. Well not exactly current, but either current or in recent memory from the last decade or so. Using older athletes would make these decision a lot harder. And also, let it be known that I don’t even know what it is about names that intrigue me. It doesn’t impact the way a player plays. But right now, here are my top 10.
10. Fred
I’ll admit, I’m not very familiar with soccer names. But this one stands out to me. There are great one-name players in soccer. Ronaldo, Ronaldihno, Pele, etc. But this one stands out because it’s one syllable. His full legal name is Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva. But he goes by Fred. That’s awesome!
9. Uche Echefu
I first heard this name reading a high school magazine about top high school basketball players in the nation. The remarkable fact about Echefu is that he only started playing organized basketball in high school. His senior year at Florida State was in 2009. I just remember seeing his name in a magazine and thinking how great it was. A great name and a great one for the PA announcer to say as well.
A classic. A character on and off the field as a baseball player.But you can’t ignore the fact that his name is the exact same as the famous board game brand. The only major difference of course being the board game Bradley died in 1911 while the recently retired baseball player was born in 1978. You have to wonder if his parents were aware of the board game maker or not when naming him.
Picabo is a retired alpine race skier. But what a great name! She also put out an autobiography called Picabo: Nothing to Hide. Is that a a play on her own name? She even appeared on a Sesame Street episode and Elmo was searching for Peekaboo Street but instead found the actual Picabo Street.
6. Pierre-Marie Altidore Cespedes
I first heard about Cespedes when he played basketball for Gonzaga in 2004. What a great name! Long names in sports always fascinate me, especially when the public adress announcer or broadcaster had to call his name. Such a mouthful, but at the same time so great. Cespedes transferred to Marshall after playing at Gonzaga but I’m unsure of whether or not he still plays basketball today.
Hard to rank Cespedes and Mbah a Moute. For me, Mbah a Moute goes ahead in part because of longevity in the game. Mbah a moute played at UCLA, which was when I first heard his name. And now he plays for the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, and is an outstanding defender. From Cameroon, Mbah a Moute has a father who is a government official for Cameroon and Mbah a Moute is actually the prince of a village in Cameroon. A pretty cool success story getting to the NBA, and a pretty cool name.
I head about Kickingstallionsims when he played for Alabama State in the NCAA Tournament a few years back. The dude is 7-foot-1 and weights 265 lbs. Although his team didn’t make it far, his story and name was a talked about a lot while the team was in the tournament. I’m pretty sure he know plays professionally in Europe.
Longar played basketball collegiately for Oklahoma. I remember reading his name somewhere and having to reread. A first name the same as a last name! He was a senior in 2008, and may be out of basketball by now. Originally from Sudan, I found his full name is Longer Salvatory Longar. I wish I could have been at an OU game to here the PA announcer call his name when he scored.
Probably a little biased ranking Andrews up so high. But a current basketball player for UW, I remember seeing that the Dawgs were going to sign Andrews. At first I was like, “Cool his first name is the same as mine…but wait is last name is too!” I found out Andrews changed his last name after his aunt adopted him and helped raise him. So it was actually somewhat of a choice? A great choice by my judging. It’s great to hear an announcer call the name “Andrew….Andrews!” in the starting lineup introductions.
1. Vander Blue
A current player who recently finished his career with Marquette and will now enter the NBA draft after his junior year. I hope he has a good NBA career. That name can sell some t-shirts or something, I know it. The rare first name combined with one syllable last name is great. Here’s a highlight video of Blue in tribute of his name and spot on my countdown list.
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