Suddenly Yorvit Torrealba's Name Makes Sense To Me

From Sunday's New York Times (registration required):

Venezuelan Parents Love A Famous Name

Apparently there is a long tradition of Venezuelan parents bestowing, shall we say, unusual names upon their children:

"A glance through a phone book or the government’s voter registry reveals names like Taj-Mahal Sánchez, Elvis Presley Gomez Morillo, Darwin Lenin Jimenez, even Hitler Eufemio Mayora. Other Venezuelan first names, which roll off the tongue about as easily in Spanish as in English, include Yusmairobis, Nefertitis, Yaxilany, Riubalkis, Debraska, as well as Yesaidú and Juan Jondre — transliterations of 'Yes, I do' and 'One hundred.'"

Further down in the article is this:

"Some parents relish the challenge. Gilberto Vargas named his daughters, ages 10, 7, 4 and 2, Yusmary Shuain, Yusmery Sailing, Yusneidi Alicia and Yureimi Klaymar. His sons, one 9 years old and the other 9 months, are Kleiderman Jesús and Kleiderson Klarth."

Are Yorman Barzado and Yusmiero Petit their long-lost brothers? And of course no baseball namephreak post would be complete without mentioning Ugueth Urtain Urbina, currently in jail for his involvement in a shooting in his native Venezuela.

Perhaps the Venezuelan practice of unusual names has spread a bit throughout the rest of Latin America, particularly to the Dominican Republic, which has given baseball not only the well-known Vladimir Guerrero, but also Ubaldo Jimenez, Edinson Volquez, Yhency Brazoban, Merkin Valdez, Runelvys Hernandez, and my personal favorite, Ambiorix Burgos.