1
Bill Russell
American basketball center who won 11 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics, the most of any player in league history.
Looking for 3-syllable athletes? Here are 37 athletes that fit — each linked to a full profile.
Syllables are counted across the whole name (multi-word names sum). "Apple" is 2 syllables; "Macaroni and Cheese" is 6.
Table of contents
List of 3-syllable Athletes
2
Carl Lewis
American track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals across four Games in sprints and the long jump.
3
Chris Evert
American tennis player who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and reached at least the semifinals of 52 consecutive majors.
4
Dwight Howard
American basketball center and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, 2020 NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers.
5
Gareth Bale
Welsh football winger known for powerful left-footed strikes and five UEFA Champions League titles with Real Madrid.
6
Garrincha
Brazilian winger who won two FIFA World Cups and was known for dribbling skill despite a leg deformity from birth.
7
Hank Aaron
American Major League Baseball outfielder who broke the all-time career home-run record in 1974 and held it for over three decades.
8
Imran Khan
Pakistani fast bowler and all-rounder who captained Pakistan to its first Cricket World Cup title in 1992.
9
Jimmie Foxx
American baseball first baseman who won the 1933 American League Triple Crown and three consecutive MVP awards in the 1930s.
10
Joe Louis
American boxer who held the world heavyweight championship from 1937 to 1949, the longest unbroken reign in the division's history.
11
Johan Cruyff
Dutch forward and manager who won three Ballon d'Or awards and shaped the philosophy known as Total Football at Ajax and Barcelona.
12
Karrie Webb
Australian professional golfer and seven-time major champion who completed the LPGA Career Grand Slam at the youngest age in tour history.
13
Kevin Trapp
German football goalkeeper with European trophy success at Eintracht Frankfurt and Paris Saint-Germain.
14
Kobe Bryant
American basketball guard who won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers across two decades.
15
Larry Bird
American basketball forward who won three NBA championships with the Boston Celtics during the 1980s.
16
LeBron James
American basketball forward, four-time NBA champion, and the league's all-time leading scorer.
17
Mia Hamm
American forward and two-time FIFA World Cup winner who helped popularize women's football in the United States.
18
Michael Phelps
American swimmer who won 23 Olympic gold medals, the most by any Olympic athlete in history.
19
Mike Tyson
American boxer who became the youngest undisputed heavyweight champion in history at age 20 in 1986.
20
Nick Faldo
English golfer and six-time major champion, dominant in the late 1980s and early 1990s with a methodical short game and remodeled swing.
21
Pete Sampras
American tennis player who won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, including seven Wimbledon championships.
22
Prithvi Shaw
Indian cricket batter who became the youngest Indian to score a Test century on debut and captained India's 2018 Under-19 World Cup-winning team.
23
Roy Jones Jr.
American boxer who won world titles in four weight classes from middleweight to heavyweight.
24
Steffi Graf
German tennis player who won 22 Grand Slam singles titles and the only Golden Slam (all four majors plus Olympic gold) in a single calendar year.
25
Tiger Woods
American golfer with 15 major championships, second on the all-time list, and a record-tying 82 PGA Tour victories.
26
Tim Duncan
American basketball power forward who won five NBA championships with the San Antonio Spurs across nearly two decades.
27
Tom Brady
American football quarterback who won seven Super Bowls, more than any player in NFL history, across stints with the Patriots and Buccaneers.
28
Toto Wolff
Austrian Formula 1 executive and former driver who led Mercedes to eight consecutive Constructors' Championships from 2014 to 2021.
29
Usain Bolt
Jamaican sprinter who set world records in the 100 metres and 200 metres and won eight Olympic gold medals.
30
Vince Carter
American basketball wing whose 22-season NBA career was the longest by a single player and who became known for spectacular dunks.
31
Vlade Divac
Serbian basketball center and NBA All-Star, the first international NBA player to record over 13000 career points and 9000 rebounds.
32
Wayne Gretzky
Canadian ice hockey center widely considered the greatest player in NHL history, holding more than 60 league records when he retired.
33
Wayne Rooney
English football forward and Manchester United all-time top scorer who also held the England national team scoring record on his retirement.
34
Willie Mays
American baseball center fielder, 24-time MLB All-Star and 1954 World Series winner, regarded as one of the greatest all-around players in baseball history.
35
Yannick Noah
French tennis player who won the 1983 French Open men's singles title, the last French champion at Roland Garros in the men's draw.
36
Yu Darvish
Japanese-Iranian pitcher who set Nippon Professional Baseball strikeout records before joining MLB, where he became a multi-time All-Star.
37
Zola Budd
South African long-distance runner who set a women's 5000m world record at age 17 and competed barefoot for Great Britain at the 1984 Olympics.
About 3-syllable athletes
That's our current list of athletes pronounced in 3 syllables. Want to combine with a starting letter? Try 3-syllable athletes that start with A.