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Josimar is a nickname of José María, a very usual msculine compound name in Spanish; it is not the most usual nickname for this name but it is not unknown at all (a variant more usual of Josimar is Josmar). That is also true for the use in Portuguese.

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A lot of masculine compound names in Spanish and Portuguese (and in other languages from Catholic cultures) have Maria as second element, so the ending -mar is not completely unusual, even the ending -ma is prefered (Juan María > Juanma, e.g.).

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That has conflued with the trend (very popular in some American countries, as Brazil and Venezuela, for instance) of make up names with parents' names parts, as you said for the footballer Josimar, who has popularised the form also as independent name.

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But the name was used even as independent name before the footballer Josimar was born (1961): the wellknown gastronomic journalist Josimar Melo was born in 1954.

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Lumia
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