Pelé was born on October 23, 1940, in Três Coraçes, Minas Gerais, Brazil, to Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born Joo Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes.
He was the eldest of two siblings named after the American inventor Thomas Edison. His parents opted to drop the I and call him “Edson,” but there was an error on the birth certificate, so many records reflect his name as “Edison,” rather than “Edson,” as he is.
His family first gave him the moniker “Dico.” His mispronunciation of the name of his favorite player, the local Vasco da Gama goalkeeper Bilé, is said to have earned him the moniker “Pelé” when he was at school.
The more he protested, though, the more it is believed to have stayed. Both Pelé and his former companions claimed in his autobiography to be unaware of the meaning of the moniker.
The word’s Portuguese meaning is unknown, with the exception of the claim that it is a variant of “Bilé” and that “miracle” is its Hebrew equivalent.
Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died on December 29th at the age of 82 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after a protracted fight with cancer that had spread to various organs in his body.
