Why is Cristiano Ronaldo known as “C罗” in Chinese?

Question

I see Cristiano Ronaldo is often referred as C罗 in Chinese. I find it curious because:

This is not a nickname pattern followed in any other player name, and
罗 isn't even part of the full name transliteration 基斯坦奴·朗拿度, which would have led to a shorter name.

How did C罗 originated or why it is called like this?

基斯坦奴·朗拿度 is the Hong Kong transliteration, We do call him C.朗 — Tang Ho, Jul 5, 2018 at 18:19
We now have James Rodriguez as J.罗, following the same pattern — jf328, Jul 9, 2018 at 11:02
C罗 once called 小小罗 and 迷你罗， and 迷你罗 is given to C罗‘s son. — sfy, Jul 10, 2018 at 11:56

Mou某 · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-07 02:57:20Z

10

Apparently before him:

So, with big (大) and little (小) already taken, the first letter of his first name was given to him instead.

As for 朗 vs. 罗:

It seems that 朗 is Cantonese (Hong Kong, Macao) while 罗 is Mandarin (Mainland, Singapore, Taiwan).

answered Jul 5, 2018 at 18:08

Mou某♦

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Do you know why there are two versions of his surname? 罗纳尔多 and 朗拿度?
– marcanuy
Jul 5, 2018 at 18:12
In Hong Kong, Ronaldo (朗拿度) is nicknamed '大哨' and Ronaldinho(朗拿甸奴 ) is nicknamed '細哨' because both of them has 哨牙 cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/48091
– Tang Ho ♦
Jul 5, 2018 at 18:24
@TangHo How bizarre. Is it just a coincidence that both Mandarin & Cantonese split them as 大/小 but for different reasons? 大朗 and 小朗 don't seem to be things.
– Mou某 ♦
Jul 5, 2018 at 18:28
While we are at it, the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena ) are nicknamed 大威 and 細威 respectively because Williams is transliterated as 威廉斯 in Cantonese
– Tang Ho ♦
Jul 5, 2018 at 18:32
2

I suggest to use "big" and "little", not "small", to translate 大 and 小 when you mention 大罗 and 小罗.
– Bruce Huang
Jul 5, 2018 at 18:38

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