A soccer-crazed Argentine couple encountered an unexpected roadblock 12 years ago when they tried to name their firstborn son after their country's most celebrated player.
They discovered that the name they had chosen in honor of Lionel Messi violated an obscure 1969 Argentina statute prohibiting the use of surnames as first names.
Messi David Varela won the right to keep his distinctive first name after his parents petitioned for and received an exemption from the civil registry office in the Río Negro province. Hector Varela and his wife, Lorena Sanchez, preferred "Messi" as a first name for their newborn son because there were already so many Lionels and Leos named after the beloved No. 10 on the Argentine national team.
"This was more of a statement," Hector Varela said during a September 2014 interview with a popular Argentine radio show.
There are many ways Argentines can celebrate Lionel Messi's age-defying goal-scoring performance at this summer's World Cup. The peerless 39-year-old has already piled up a tournament-best eight goals, one more than Norway's Erling Haaland and France's Kylian Mbappé. He rescued Argentina from elimination in the Round of 16 against Egypt on Tuesday, reviving hope with a pinpoint cross to set up Christian Romero in the 79th minute before leveling the score with a goal of his own four minutes later.
They discovered that the name they had chosen in honor of Lionel Messi violated an obscure 1969 Argentina statute prohibiting the use of surnames as first names.
Messi David Varela won the right to keep his distinctive first name after his parents petitioned for and received an exemption from the civil registry office in the Río Negro province. Hector Varela and his wife, Lorena Sanchez, preferred "Messi" as a first name for their newborn son because there were already so many Lionels and Leos named after the beloved No. 10 on the Argentine national team.
"This was more of a statement," Hector Varela said during a September 2014 interview with a popular Argentine radio show.
There are many ways Argentines can celebrate Lionel Messi's age-defying goal-scoring performance at this summer's World Cup. The peerless 39-year-old has already piled up a tournament-best eight goals, one more than Norway's Erling Haaland and France's Kylian Mbappé. He rescued Argentina from elimination in the Round of 16 against Egypt on Tuesday, reviving hope with a pinpoint cross to set up Christian Romero in the 79th minute before leveling the score with a goal of his own four minutes later.
22 days ago
