Mario Lemieux’s name translates literally as “the best”.
I can’t believe that no one has mentioned Lance Armstrong. Now there’s a super hero name for ya.
It’s not just a social disease!
As a rotund vegetarian comedian once confessed to Jay Leno, “There’s no meat in doughnuts, Jay.”
Oh, and considering that one of an NFL cornerback’s responsibilities is jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage, “Quentin Jammer” of the San Diego Chargers has a pretty appropriate name.
Former Iowa and Detroit Lions quarterback Chuck Long.
Also, there is a major league baseball player named Homer Bailey.
Unfortunately, he’s a pitcher.
Gal Friedman, the Israeli 2004 windsurfing gold medalist - “gal” is Hebrew for “wave”.
Bob Walk and Cecil/Prince Fielder were my nominations but I’ll add Kyuuji Fujikawa, the star closer for the Hanshin Tigers (and currently on the Japanese Olympic baseball team.) Kyuuji, in Japanese, means baseball-playing kid.
I’m more inclined to think that it was a nickname given to him later, not a birth name. Unless people in Japan are actually given names like “baseball playing kid” at birth. Are they?
No, it’s not a nickname, although it’s far from being a “normal” name. His father played amateur baseball and he threw a no-hitter a few days before Kyuuji was born, which is what prompted him to attempt to cover his newborn son with ridicule.
In MLB, there’s former Cy Young reliever Eric Gagné, whose name in French literally means “(has) won”.
On the less apropros name list for relievers would be Braden Looper. (A “looper” is a ball softly hit with backspin to the outfield that falls in for a hit by dint of hooking away from the fielder.)
Or J.J. Putz as a closer for the Mariners. The first time I heard of him was while looking over the box scores and saw him listed as the losing pitcher with a blown save. “L: Putz (BS)”. I now know it’s pronounced “Pyoots”. But all the same, it’s a good thing he’s not blowing saves while playing for a NY team.
As for Prince Fielder, at least his name is appropriate in that he plays in the National League and hence does in fact take to the field defensively, as opposed to his father Cecil Fielder, who played for many years in the American League as a DH.
And isn’t there a tennis player named Smashnova? Though perhaps her true calling is in Demolition Derby.
My favorite is the swimmer Misty Hyman.
For awhile I wondered if the phrase “you don’t know bupkis” was a polite way of saying “You don’t know D***”.
The Philadelphia Eagles used to have a very good wide receiver named Mike Quick.
I went to school with a 7-foot-plus basketball player named Rafal Bigus. Looking him up online, it looks like he’s playing in a European league now.
James Worthy was very worthy
From hockey…
Lindy Ruff (he was)
Jack Skille (he is)
Larry Playfair (he didn’t)
Major Applewhite was a pretty good name for playing a position often referred to as the “Field General.”