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Argentine parents get special permission to name their son 'Messi,' deluge of Messis feared

Dirty Tackle

A couple in southern Argentina have been given special permission to circumvent the country's strict baby naming laws and register their son as Messi Daniel Varela. Though many Argentine children have been named Lionel after the four-time Ballon d'Or winner, this is the first that a baby has been allowed to have the national team captain's surname as its first name. And now the director of the civil register in Lionel Messi's home province fears that a legal precedent has been set that could lead to a whole lot of Messis.

In Argentina the civil registry maintains a list of only a few hundred names and approved spellings that parents can use for their children. According to the AP, "names will be unacceptable if they are extravagant, ridiculous, contrary to Argentine customs or ideology or could cause confusion about a person's sex." Surnames as first names are not permitted ("Evita" is also specifically banned), but the Varelas somehow got the necessary permission to name their son Messi.

From Marca:

Messi fan Héctor Varela persisted until the Río Negro Civil Register accepted "Messi" as his son's first name only two weeks after the boy was born. The father requested special permission from the authorities, unaware that his son was to be Argentina's first and that such a fuss was about to be kicked up.

"I am Messi's father", Varela proudly declared. "Many people chose Lionel as a name for their sons after Messi, but this is more obvious", said the player's fan. Finally, his son has been registered as 'Messi Daniel Varela'.

Gonzalo Carillo, the director of the civil register for Santa Fe (which included Leo Messi's hometown of Rosario), maintains that use of Messi's surname as a first name is "against the law," but concedes that Rio Negro might now be used as a legal precedent. And so the race to the first Argentine child named "Messi Maradona" begins...

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Brooks Peck

is the editor of Dirty Tackle on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him or follow on Twitter!