Fred: Can He Live Up to That Name?

Anew soccer star from Brazil is coming to D.C. United. His name is Helbert Frederico Carreiro da Silva. But like many Brazilian soccer players, he is known by one name -- Fred.

I think I like this guy already.

Fred, who played last year for the Melbourne Victory and was the most valuable player in the Australian League, is a very good player. But I am wondering if he will become a real "one-name" superstar. You see, some athletes are so fabulous and famous they are known by a single name -- like artists Rembrandt (real name: Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn) and Picasso (Pablo Ruiz Picasso).

Soccer already has several one-name international players, including Ronaldo (Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima) and Ronaldinho (Ronaldo de Assis Moreira).

Probably the greatest soccer star ever was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known around the world as Pelé. He scored more than 1,200 goals in his career from 1956 to 1977. But Pelé does not hold the record for most goals in international competition. That one belongs to Mia -- America's own Mariel Margret Hamm, that is.

Other sports also have some one-name stars. When the Professional Golfers' Association announced a couple of weeks ago that Tiger would be starting a tournament in the Washington area this summer, no one asked "Tiger who?" Everyone knows Tiger (Eldrick Woods) because he has won 55 PGA events, including 12 major titles.

Annika is another golfer known by a single name. Maybe that's because Annika Sörenstam has won even more professional events (69) than Tiger has.

It helps to have an unusual name if an athlete wants to be known by a single name. Tennis star Roger Federer might be the greatest athlete playing any sport right now, but no one knows him as simply "Roger." At age 19, Sidney Crosby is leading the National Hockey League in scoring. No one calls him "Sid."

Still, when Gatorade ads encouraged everyone to "Be Like Mike" a few years ago, folks everywhere knew they were talking about Michael Jordan.

These days in hoops, Shaq (Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal), LeBron (LeBron Raymone James) and Kobe (Kobe Bean Bryant) are the one-name guys, even though Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade might be more valuable players. It helps that Shaq has four championship rings, LeBron has those cool TV ads and Kobe plays in star-studded Los Angeles, California.

So, like these guys, will D.C. United's Fred become a sports superstar? I don't know, but at least he has a cool name.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's Friday sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.