Diogo Jota's reason for name he uses on Liverpool shirt having already changed once

Liverpool fans will be forgiven for wondering why Diogo Jota had the name "Silva" on the back of his shirt during his first season at Wolves.

The Portuguese ace, 25, donned the name during Wolves Championship-winning campaign in 2017-18, when he scored 17 league goals to fire the West Midlands club to the Premier League. Jota's full name is actually "Diogo Jose Teixeira da Silva".

Jota has used "Diogo J" on his shirt for most of his career, including now at Liverpool. "Jota" - which is actually just a nickname - originates from the Portuguese pronunciation of the letter "J". As such, "Diogo J" is pronounced "Diogo Jota" in Portuguese.

It's unclear why Jota went by his full name during his first year at Wolves. When asked in August 2017, the club's Twitter account replied: "That is part of his surname. Jota is just a nickname he has become known by."

The reason why Jota has referred to himself as "Diogo J" for most of his career is because "Silva" is one of the most common names in Portugal. Current Portugal internationals Bernardo Silva, Rui Silva and Rafa Silva are good examples of this.

Several Portuguese footballers do not go by their full names, such as Real Madrid legend Pepe (Kepler Laveran de Lima Ferreira), Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot (Jose Diogo Dalot Teixeira) and former Wolves midfielder Vitinha (Vitor Machado Ferreira).

It's also a common trait among Brazilian footballers, as the country's primary language is Portuguese. Examples include Ronaldo (Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima), Ronaldinho (Ronaldo de Assis Moreira) and Rivaldo (Rivaldo Vitor Borba Ferreira).

Jota, who's previously played for Pacos de Ferreira, Atletico Madrid and Porto, joined Liverpool from Wolves in the summer of 2020