One of the legacies of Ireland's pre-dominantly catholic past, is the enduring phenomenon of the 'confirmation name'. While most of us have adopted pretty banal, run-of-the-mill examples i.e. Joseph, Thomas, Michael, Anthony etc. etc. everyone knows that one person who wanted to mix it up. Through a combination of lax parenting and mild behavioural issues, there are those who walk around with middle names like Ronaldo, or Lancelot ( a legitimate saint).
It's definitely accurate to say that boys tend to choose the more ridiculous confirmation names, - sometimes to impress their mates - more often to impress girls (who unwittingly choose equally ridiculous names because Irish girl/saint names are shit).
It's hard to decide whether the concept of choosing a name at the age of 11 is a blessing or a curse: A dare or an idiotic act of defiance can land you with a middle name like 'Concepta', 'Tron', or 'our Lady Of Knock'. In any case you get to choose; this poor little guy didn't have that privilege....
This young Brazilian is called Zinedine Yazid Zidane Thierry Henry Barthez Eric Felipe Silva Santos, the unfortunate son of a French football enthusiast who chose to name his son after almost the entire French team of 2006.
Thankfully, the kid is known simply as “Zidane” which is good news for him, while he’s got his first three names memorised, he understandably has a bit of trouble remembering the rest.
I don’t know [the rest of my names] yet. I never learned them.
When asked whether or not he liked his name, he grumbled:
No. I would have loved to be named Luiz Gustavo.
