Overview
- Reniec published mid‑July data showing thousands of Peruvians carry names tied to international footballers and that new registrations rose sharply in the weeks after the 2026 World Cup began.
- Erling Haaland is the single biggest recent surge with Reniec recording about 560 people with Haaland in their registered name, including 468 with Haaland as a given name, 91 registered as Erling Haaland, and four as Erling Braut Haaland.
- Longer-term totals remain large for other stars with Reniec listing roughly 24,696 people named Lionel, 3,402 as Messi and thousands more for names such as Neymar, Endrick and Ederson.
- Regional offices mirror the national trend: Ica’s Reniec reported local counts including 120 Neymars, 80 Lions, 60 Messis and several Haalands, and the national registry also shows unconventional entries like eight people named the nickname 'Dibu'.
- Officials and opinion writers say the pattern illustrates how major tournaments and star players drive quick cultural adoption of names, a change that affects identity records and offers a case study in how fandom crosses borders even when Peru did not qualify for the World Cup.