Pele lives on as over 700 Peruvian children named after legend

The world of football lost "King" Pelé in 2022, but the name of this legendary player will still live on, notably through the 738 Peruvian children born last year.

According to the list published by the Peruvian National Civil Registry at the end of 2022, a total of 738 babies were registered as Pelé, Rey Pelé, Edson Arantes or Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the real name of the triple world champion.

On Monday, thousands of football fans and dignitaries gathered at the stadium of Brazilian club Santos, where he played from 1956 to 1974, to bid a final farewell to the Brazilian player who died on December 29 at the age of 82.

The footballer, who many consider the greatest in history, is not the only celebrity who passed away in 2022 to whom Peruvians wanted to pay tribute.

Thus, 551 Peruvian girls have baptized Queen Elizabeth, Elizabeth the Second or Elizabeth II, the title of the British monarch who died in September. In Peru, however, the name that tops the list is Portuguese football star Ronaldo or Cristiano Ronaldo (31,583).

Far behind are those of the Argentinian Lio Messi or Messi - the reigning football world champion - given to 371 newborns and of the French star Mbappé or Kylian Mbappé to 229 children.

The world of cinema is also in the spotlight, 733 children have been named Maverick, the character of the cult film released in 2022, Top Gun, played by Tom Cruise.

Among women, 1,787 bear the name of Colombian singer Shakira.

The country also has Elon Musk, the American billionaire owner of Twitter. Another is called "Qatar", the host country of the 2022 World Cup.