⚽️ World's Most Popular Soccer Names!

General Name Discussion
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In honor of the FIFA World Cup 2023, and inspired by the USA having two Alyssas and two Sophia/Sofias on the pitch at the same time vs Vietnam, I decided to look at every player ever capped for the USWNT to determine the most popular USA soccer names!

What I discovered were 5 distinct groups of popular names, which I will share below, along with the most interesting names to ever wear a USA jersey. These are not all of the names that repeated, just the ones I could neatly group together. [name_m]Feel[/name_m] free to comment your thoughts, favorites, and if you’d like me to do your country (or another country) next, please comment!!

Group 1: the Chrises

Not [name_m]Evans[/name_m], Hemsworth, [name_m]Pratt[/name_m], and [name_u]Pine[/name_u], not in this thread, at least.

[name_u]Chris[/name_u] (Tomek)
[name_f]Christina[/name_f] (Kaufman)
[name_f]Crystal[/name_f] (Dunn)
[name_f]Kristen[/name_f] (Hamilton, Weiss) / [name_f]Kristin[/name_f] (Luckenbill) / [name_f]Christen[/name_f] (Press)
[name_f]Kristi[/name_f] (DeVert) / [name_f]Kristie[/name_f] (Mewis) / [name_u]Christie[/name_u] (Pearce-Rampone, Welsh) / [name_u]Christy[/name_u] (Rowe Estlund)
[name_f]Kristine[/name_f] (Lilly) / [name_f]Christine[/name_f] (Nairn)

That’s 1 [name_u]Chris[/name_u], 1 [name_f]Christina[/name_f], 1 [name_f]Crystal[/name_f], 2 [name_f]Kristen[/name_f], 1 [name_f]Kristin[/name_f], 1 [name_f]Christen[/name_f], 1 [name_f]Kristi[/name_f], 1 [name_f]Kristie[/name_f], 2 [name_u]Christie[/name_u], 1 [name_u]Christy[/name_u], 1 [name_f]Kristine[/name_f], and 1 [name_f]Christine[/name_f], totaling

14 Chrises

Group 2: the Allies

It’s Barbenheimer weekend, what else was I supposed to call this group?

These players reflect the trend of Alexandras, Allysons, and Alyssas, some who chose to go by a nickname, and some who chose their full name.

[name_u]Ali[/name_u] (Krieger) / [name_u]Allie[/name_u] (Long) / [name_f]Ally[/name_f] (Marquand) / [name_f]Aly[/name_f] (Wagner)
[name_u]Alex[/name_u] (Morgan)
[name_f]Alyssa[/name_f] (Naeher, [name_m]Thompson[/name_m], Ramsey)
[name_f]Alana[/name_f] (Cook)
[name_f]Aleisha[/name_f] (Cramer)

Sub-group: the 2-syllable A names/nicknames
[name_u]Abby[/name_u] (Wambach, Dahlkemper)
[name_f]Amy[/name_f] (Griffin, LePeilbet, [name_m]Rodriguez[/name_m], Steadman)
[name_u]Andi[/name_u] (Sullivan)
[name_u]Angie[/name_u] (Kerr)
[name_u]Ashley[/name_u] (Hatch, Sanchez)
[name_u]Aubrey[/name_u] (Kingsbury)

Group 3: the myths, the legends, the Lores

All of the names starting with Lor:
[name_f]Laura[/name_f] (Jones, Schott)
[name_u]Lauren[/name_u] (Holiday, [name_m]Gregg[/name_m], Hanson)
[name_f]Lori[/name_f] (Chalupny, [name_u]Henry[/name_u], [name_u]Lindsey[/name_u], Sweeney) / [name_u]Lorrie[/name_u] (Fair) / [name_u]Laurie[/name_u] (Schwoy)
[name_f]Lorraine[/name_f] (Fitzhugh)
Louellen (Poore) - it’s close enough, I’m counting it

Group 4: the meg-GOATS

No explanation needed, I think.

[name_f]Meghan[/name_f] (Schnur, Klingenburg) / [name_f]Megan[/name_f] (Rapinoe, Montefusco, McCarthy)
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f] (Purce)
[name_u]Morgan[/name_u] (Weaver, Gautrat)

Group 5: the K-Ys

I’m out of cool nicknames, I’m sorry. These are names that start with C/K and end with the -ee sound.

[name_f]Carli[/name_f] (Lloyd)
[name_u]Casey[/name_u] (Krueger, [name_m]Loyd[/name_m], Murphy) / [name_u]Kacey[/name_u] (White)
[name_f]Cindy[/name_f] (Gordon, [name_u]Mosley[/name_u], Parlow Cone)
[name_f]Kathy[/name_f] (Ridgewell-Williams)
[name_u]Kelly[/name_u] (Cagle, [name_u]Lindsey[/name_u], Schmedes) / [name_u]Kelley[/name_u] (O’Hara)
[name_f]Keri[/name_f] (Sanchez) / [name_u]Kerry[/name_u] (Connors)
[name_f]Kylie[/name_f] (Bivens)

And now…

The Fun Names!

[name_f]Catarina[/name_f] (Macario)
Devvyn (Hawkins)
[name_f]Hailie[/name_f] (Mace)
[name_u]Imani[/name_u] (Dorsey)
[name_f]India[/name_f] (Trotter)
Jaelene (Daniels)
[name_m]Jaelin[/name_m] (Howell)
Justi (Baumgardt)
Kealia (Watt)
LaKeysia (Beene)
McCall (Zerboni)
[name_u]Merritt[/name_u] (Mathias)
[name_f]Nandi[/name_f] (Pryce)
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] (Lavelle)
[name_f]Saskia[/name_f] (Webber)
[name_f]Siri[/name_f] (Mullinix)
[name_u]Tegan[/name_u] (McGrady)
Thori (Staples Brian)
Tierna (Davidson)
[name_u]Tobin[/name_u] (Heath)
Tucka (Healy)
[name_u]Yael[/name_u] (Averbuch West)
[name_u]Zola[/name_u] (Springer)

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This was interesting - kind of fascinating how they could be grouped like that

So many Chrises :grin:
Many Lores!

Of the fun ones, I’m intrigued by: Kealia, [name_m]Jaelin[/name_m], Devvyn (why do I like this spelling), McCall (okay, this is growing on me!), [name_u]Merritt[/name_u], [name_f]Nandi[/name_f], [name_f]Saskia[/name_f], [name_u]Tobin[/name_u] (ooh!), Thori!, [name_u]Zola[/name_u], [name_u]Yael[/name_u]!

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Very cool! All 5 groups seem to make sense based on what’s been popular in the US.

From the fun names, [name_u]Merritt[/name_u], [name_u]Tegan[/name_u], [name_u]Tobin[/name_u], [name_u]Yael[/name_u], and [name_u]Zola[/name_u] are my favorites! I actually know a little [name_u]Tobin[/name_u] who was named after [name_u]Tobin[/name_u] [name_m]Heath[/name_m], too.

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This is really cool! [name_f]My[/name_f] favourites are [name_u]Aubrey[/name_u], [name_u]Imani[/name_u], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Siri[/name_f], Thori and [name_u]Yael[/name_u].
If you have the time, I’d love to see this for Australia!

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@LeafTree
Australia :australia:

To avoid repeating myself too much, we will first look at the names fitting into the USA groups:

Group 1: USA overlaps

The Chrises
[name_f]Kristen[/name_f] (Theile) / [name_f]Kristyn[/name_f] (Swaffer)
[name_f]Kristine[/name_f] (James) / [name_f]Christine[/name_f] (Walters)
[name_f]Kristy[/name_f] (Moore)

The Allies
[name_f]Alanna[/name_f] (Kennedy)
[name_u]Alex[/name_u] (Chidiac)
[name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] (Huynh)
[name_f]Alicia[/name_f] (Ferguson)
[name_f]Alison[/name_f] (Forman)

the K-Ys
[name_u]Casey[/name_u] (Dumont)
[name_f]Chloe[/name_f] (Logarzo)
[name_f]Cindy[/name_f] (Heydon)
[name_u]Courtney[/name_u] (Nevin) / [name_f]Cortnee[/name_f] (Vine)
[name_f]Karly[/name_f] (Pumpa, Roestbakken)
[name_u]Kelly[/name_u] (Golebiowski)
[name_u]Kerry[/name_u] (Millman)

As for the other two, there was a [name_f]Laura[/name_f] (Brock), a [name_u]Lauren[/name_u] (Colthorpe), and a [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] (Petrov), but neither of those were enough to warrant their own “group,” imo

Group 2: the seeing Doubles

These names are either smoosh names or double names in their own right.

Indiah-Paige (Riley)
Peita-Clare (Hepperlin)
[name_f]Joanne[/name_f] (Millman, Butland, [name_m]Burgess[/name_m], Peters)
[name_f]Leanne[/name_f] (Priestley, Trimboli)

Bonus:
[name_f]Dianne[/name_f] (Alagich)

Group 3: the not-Elizabeths

Australia has had no players named [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] who go by [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], but lots of nicknames or variations of [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]!

[name_f]Elise[/name_f] (Kellond-Knight) / [name_f]Ellyse[/name_f] (Perry)
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f] (Campbell)
[name_f]Ella[/name_f] (Mastrantonio)
[name_f]Ellie[/name_f] (Brush, Carpenter)
[name_u]Lisa[/name_u] (Dunne, [name_m]Rader[/name_m], Casagrande, De Vanna)
[name_f]Lizzy[/name_f] (Claydon)

Group 4: the 4s and 5s

So the “groups” weren’t as well defined in Australia, so here are all the names repeated four or even five times!

[name_f]Amy[/name_f] (Wilson, [name_u]Taylor[/name_u], [name_m]Chapman[/name_m], [name_m]Harrison[/name_m], Sayer)
[name_f]Claire[/name_f] (Nichols) / [name_u]Clare[/name_u] (Polkinghorne, [name_m]Wheeler[/name_m], Hunt)
[name_u]Julie[/name_u] (Dolan, [name_u]Clayton[/name_u], [name_u]Porter[/name_u], Murray)
[name_u]Kim[/name_u] (Lembryk, Dunlop, [name_u]Carroll[/name_u], Revell, Coates)
[name_f]Michelle[/name_f] (Sawyers, Prouten, [name_u]Watson[/name_u], Heyman)
[name_f]Sharon[/name_f] (Mateljan, Wass, [name_u]Read[/name_u], [name_m]Young[/name_m], Black)
[name_u]Tracey[/name_u] (Singleton, [name_m]Wheeler[/name_m], Jenkins) / [name_f]Traci[/name_f] (Bartlett) / [name_f]Tracie[/name_f] (McGovern)

the Fun Names!

[name_f]Aivi[/name_f] (Luik)
Beattie (Goad)
[name_f]Belinda[/name_f] (Kitching)
Bryleeh (Henry)
[name_f]Bryony[/name_f] (Duus)
Dalys (Carmody)
[name_u]Dylan[/name_u] (Holmes)
[name_f]Fiona[/name_f] (McKenzie)
[name_f]Jamilla[/name_f] (Rankin)
[name_f]Kaylene[/name_f] (Janssen)
[name_f]Kyah[/name_f] (Simon)
[name_u]Lyndsay[/name_u] (Glohe)
[name_f]Mariana[/name_f] (Milanovic)
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f] (McNamara)
[name_f]Moya[/name_f] (Dodd)
[name_f]Princess[/name_f] (Ibini)
Renaye (Iserief)
Rhali (Dobson)
[name_u]Rhian[/name_u] (Davies)
[name_f]Sabine[/name_f] (Buschmann)
[name_f]Selin[/name_f] (Kuralay)
Servet (Uzunlar)
[name_f]Sunni[/name_f] (Hughes)
[name_u]Tal[/name_u] (Karp)
[name_f]Tameka[/name_f] (Yallop)
[name_f]Taryn[/name_f] (Rockall)
[name_f]Teigen[/name_f] (Allen)
[name_f]Thea[/name_f] (Slatyer)
Vedrana (Popovic)

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Sorry for the late reply, this is super cool!! Thanks for doing this! I love how you group the names. [name_f]Aivi[/name_f] is super cool, definitely going on my list. I also like [name_f]Sunni[/name_f] and [name_f]Thea[/name_f].

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