Many people think that the name Lionel Messi, the Argentine football legend, is widely used among newborns in his country, but the surprise is that naming children 'Messi' in Argentina is subject to legal restrictions and is not allowed under normal circumstances.

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The reason is that 'Messi' is considered a family name (surname) and not a personal name, as the laws regulating birth registration in Argentina prohibit using surnames as first names if it could cause confusion in official records or civil identity.

Therefore, families can name their children 'Lionel' in honor of the Argentina national team captain, while 'Messi' is usually not allowed to be registered as a first name, except in exceptional cases that obtain special approval from the relevant authorities.

The year 2014 witnessed one of the most famous of these cases, when a father submitted a formal request to name his son 'Messi', and the authorities agreed to grant an exception after studying the request, making it one of the rare cases where a child legally bore this name.

Despite the overwhelming popularity that Messi enjoys inside and outside Argentina, local laws still maintain the rules for name registration, making the name of the 'Tango' national team legend an exception rather than a rule in birth records.