8 Best Athlete Known by Different Names

8 Best Athletes Known by Different Names

It’s uncommon for athletes to acquire multiple monikers over their playing careers. Few athletes are more well-known by their nicknames than by their full names.

For instance, Diego Maradona was referred to as the golden boy, and Kobe Bryant was known by the nickname “Black Mamba” in the public eye.

Few athletes, though, formally altered their names.

Instead of being known by their birth names, these sportsmen are well-known by the names they legally changed to.

What’s in a name, you might ask? Of course, when you are famous, people take this a little more seriously.

Some people changed their names for religious reasons, while others did so to become more well-known.

Similar to this, hardly many athletes changed their names because they liked the name.

Whatever the cause, we have produced a list of the best athlete names today, including some who have altered their names.

8 Best Athletes Known by Different Names

8. World B. Free

World B. Free, who ranks eighth on our list of the top athlete names, is at the top of our list.

He was Lloyd Bernard Free when he was born on December 9th, 1953.

He was a former NBA basketball player who is now retired.

Throughout his career, Free also went by the names “All-World” and “Prince of Mid-Air.”

In 1975, he joined the Philadelphia 76ers to begin his NBA career.

After that, he played for clubs like the Atlanta Eagles, Miami Tropics, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Diego Clippers, and Golden State Warriors. He played in the NBA until 1988.

Free legally changed his first name to World on December 8, 1981, the day before he turned 28.

The player claimed that when he was in junior high school in Brownville, he received the name.

All-city and all-country were not good enough, so they came up with the moniker “World,” which is why they called him that.

With this name, Free rose to fame.

The “All-World” joined the Philadelphia 76ers as their director of player development and community ambassador after quitting playing professionally.

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7. Wonderful Marvin Hagler

Marvelous Marvin Hagler takes the seventh spot on our list of the finest athletic names.

was Marvin Nathaniel Hagler were an American actor and professional boxer.

After being beaten up by a local fighter on the street, Hagler started boxing in 1969.

Because he had to be 16 years old to compete in amateur events, the athlete was forced to lie about his age, claiming to have been born in 1952 rather than 1954.

Hagler went under the moniker “Marvelous.”

He was irritated, though, because the broadcasters frequently failed to use his name while referring to him.

So in 1982, he changed his name to “Marvelous Marvin Hagler” legally.

Since then, the supporter has remembered Hagler by name. He has the best knockout percentage of any undisputed middleweight champion during his whole career, which lasted from 1973 to 1987.

The Marvelous is the middleweight champion with the sixth-longest reign in history.

He was also a member of both the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Hagler was twice nominated Fighter of the Year by numerous sports artists and publications, including the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Marvelous Marvin Hagler, a brilliant boxer with brilliance and one of the biggest chins in boxing history, passed away on March 13, 2021, at the age of 66.

6. Sugar Ray Robinson

On our list of the six best athlete names, we have Sugar Ray Robinson, who was born Walker Smith Jr.

His birthday is May 3, 1921. Former American professional boxer Robinson.

In his first fight in 1936, he went by the name Ray Robinson because he had stolen another boxer’s Amateur Athletic Union card.

He entered the ring under the name of that boxer. Gainford then gave Robinson the moniker “Sugar” after describing him as “sweet as sugar.”

The athlete thought Sugar Ray Robinson’s name had a good sound to it.

It follows that for the remainder of his career, he never utilized his birth name.

Robinson is thought to be the greatest boxer of all time.

He worked professionally between 1940 and 1965. He held onto the World Welterweight title throughout his career, from 1946 to 1951.

In 1958, he also made history by being the first boxer to win the Divisional World Championship five times.

In his professional career, he has 175 victories, 110 knockouts, and only 19 losses.

Robinson was well-known for living a stylish and extravagant lifestyle outside of the ring in addition to having a distinctive name.

On April 12, 1989, the renowned boxer sadly passed away at the age of 67.

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5. Bo Jackson

Bo Jackson played football and baseball professionally in the past.

He is the lone professional athlete in sports history to have made both the baseball and the football All-Star teams.

On November 30, 1962, Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson was born.

Jackson participated in both football and baseball. He also earned numerous accolades and rose to fame in both sports.

Thanks to a tremendously successful national commercial campaign with Nike, Jackson became well-known as “Bo.”

Jackson appeared in the advertising with the slogan “Bo Knows.”

Bo Jackson, 2011 NCAA Honors Celebration, San Antonio Bo Jackson played baseball for a number of MLB teams, including the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels.

He also participated in NFL games for the Los Angeles Raiders.

Jackson’s football career was interrupted in 1991 by a hip injury.

His baseball career likewise came to an end later, in 1994. After his sporting career, Bo had a few brief TV show appearances.

One of the most well-known athletes of all time is Jackson. He ranks fifth on our list of the finest athlete names and is known as “Bo Jackson” throughout the world.

4. Mark Super Duper

Nobody considers Super Duper to be someone’s legal name when they hear it.

However, a former football wide receiver called Mark Super Duper is included as the number 4 best athlete name on our list.

On January 25, 1959, Mark Kirby Duper was born.

He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 1982 NFL draft, and he played in the league from 1982 to 1992.

Duper had a total of 11 NFL seasons, all of which he spent with the Dolphins.

Then, in 1994, he signed a one-year contract with the Arena Football League’s Miami Hooter (now known as the Florida Bobcats).

Duper officially changed his name to Mark Super Duper in 1985.

Because of his extraordinary abilities, he acquired the moniker “Super Duper” from his friends.

In connection with being chosen for the Pro Bowl, he legally changed his name.

Throughout his career, Super Duper was named to the Pro Bowl three times and the All-Pro two times. Mark Super Duper’s name is also one of the most distinctive among athletes known by other names.

Duper was added to the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll in 2003.

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. was the father of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

He is hailed as one of the greatest basketball players of all time and among the greatest NBA players ever.

Before beginning his NBA career, Abdul-Jabbar legally changed his name.

The athlete was attending UCLA during the summer of 1968. Alcindor Jr. changed his religion to Islam there.

He then adopted the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Arabic.

The meaning of his name is “the noble one, servant of the Almighty.

However, Abdul-Jabbar did not immediately go by his new name and was still recognized by it during his rookie season.

Kareem-Abdul-Jabbar-playing-for-Milwaukee
Milwaukee basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabbar (Instagram as a source)
In a news conference during his second NBA season, Abdul-Jabbar revealed his identity. At the time, Abdul-Jabbar was a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Even after the news spread, his supporters continued to stand by him. He was a Buck until 1975 when he left to join the Los Angeles Laker.

Despite leaving the NBA in 1989, he still owns a lot of records.

Abdul-Jabbar moved to teach after ending his playing career. His induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame occurred in 1995.

2. Pele

Pele is the second-best athlete name on our list. On October 23, 1940, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born.

He is a retired soccer player from Brazil who is recognized as one of the best ever.

Electricity had barely been installed in Pele’s hometown when he was born.

He was so given the name Thomas Edison. Prior to being well-known under this identity, he went by the nickname Pele.

The moniker, according to folklore, is derived from his father’s Vasco de Sao Lourenco teammate goalie Bile.

Due to Pele’s slightly incorrect pronunciation, Bile appeared to be Pile when he said it.

Then it changed into Pele. He didn’t like the name at first, but he came to love it.

One of the most prominent and well-liked sports figures of the 20th century is Pele.

He began playing soccer with the Santos sports team in Brazil when he was 15 years old.

In the same vein, he debuted for the national team at the age of 16.

In his career, Pele has accumulated a number of accomplishments.

The Guinness World Record is his 1,279 goals in 1,363 games.

With a moniker he initially detested, he rose to fame.

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1. Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is a legendary figure in sports history and a well-known athlete around the world.

The boxer is at our top rank because he is one of the most important and well-known sports figures of the 20th century.

Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on January 17, 1942.

In 1954, he began boxing as an amateur, and against Tunney Hunsaker in 1960, he made his professional debut.

Ali changed his name and his religion to Islam in 1961.

America was plagued by racism at the time. The artwork depicting Christianity being imposed on slaves by the white elite caught the boxer’s attention.

Ali changed his religion as a result of realizing that he had not chosen Christianity on his own.

The boxer gave up using his birth name, which was a slave name.

Ali’s career and legacy were profoundly impacted by the shift in his religion in a variety of ways.

After winning the heavyweight title, he immediately made the changing public.

He also issued a declaration of independence for himself.

Throughout his career, Ali participated in numerous notable matches.

He rose to fame as a representative of American Muslims. He transitioned to activism and philanthropy after retiring.

Sadly, on June 3, 2016, this renowned figure passed away at the age of 74.