There are no specific rules for printing names on football players’ jerseys, and the systems vary from place to place: the Chinese Football League once did not print player names at all, the Russian Super League used Russian Cyrillic letters to print player names, and the five major European leagues used them uniformly. Player names are printed in Latin letters ABCD. The content can be printed according to the player’s personal preference, which can be last name/first name/nickname/abbreviation.
Last name printed on the jersey
This is the most common situation, and most players will print it this way. It can be as short as Brazilian player Jo or Senegalese player Demba Ba, or as long as Lewandowski or Chiellini.
Print name on the jersey
Some players do not like to have their last name printed on the jersey and can choose to print the player’s name. For example, Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets’ name is Sergio on his jersey, and forward Memphis Depay’s jersey is Memphis. In the picture above, Turkish forward Burak Yilmaz, who is playing against Busquets, has Burak printed on his jersey.
Nicknames printed on jerseys
This situation is common among Brazilian/Portuguese players, such as Kaka and Pepe, because their names are too lengthy. Of course, some players from non-Portuguese-speaking countries can also be printed if they have Portuguese nicknames, such as Gervinho.
Print abbreviations on jerseys
Some players like to have their full names printed, but they think their full names are too long, so they print abbreviations instead. For example, Espanyol’s Alex Vidal has “Aleix V.” printed on his jersey.
