Neymar
Meaning
modern Brazilian coinage, shared with his father Neymar Sr.; famously borne by Neymar Jr.
The story
Neymar is that rare thing, a name invented within living memory: a modern Brazilian coinage that belonged to Neymar dos Santos Sr. before he passed it to his son. Neymar Jr. made it world-famous, dazzling for Santos as a teenager, winning the 2015 Champions League at Barcelona alongside Messi and Suárez, then moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 for a transfer fee that remains the highest ever paid, and eventually passing Pelé as Brazil's all-time leading scorer. Few players have carried more hope, hype, and heartbreak at once. The name's American life tracks his almost exactly: nothing at all in US records until the 2010s, when it suddenly appears just as he became a global star. The timing lines up, even if no chart can prove it. Neymar remains an uncommon, unmistakable choice, a one-man name in the way Pelé's was.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Neymar peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
2,443 people · the #4,486 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 83,333 · median age 11
Among people named Neymar living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 131 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Neymar
Most people given the name Neymar in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Neymar deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Neymar truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Neymar fits with your family’s names and surname.
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