It’s not uncommon for Mexican parents to give their children unique, extravagant names, but even by these standards, the name Zero Zero Three stood out like a sore thumb, making its bearer an overnight internet celebrity.

It all started when Casera Pizza, a well-known pizzeria based in Merida, the capital of Mexico’s Yucatan State, announced a contest for weird names, with the winner eligible to benefit from of its enticing promotions. People named Vercingetoriz, Nivea, or Bahtzibadi all made the final list, but none could hope to win against a young man named “Cero Cero Tres”, Spanish for ‘Zero Zero Three”. He won the coveted prize – two large pepperoni pizzas for just 49 pesos – and became an instant online sensation.

Photo: Casera Pizza/Facebook

At first people though his name was a joke, or that he had had it legally changed, as many people around the world do, but the young man actually came out and said that this was the name his parents gave him as a baby. He was the third of four children, so they decided to name him Zero Zero Three. Actually his full name is Cero Cero Tres Miller Santos Chablé, but he only learned that when he was 15-year-old.

Growing up in the United States, Zero Zero Three never knew his real name, because his parents and all his friends called him “Bambino”. But after returning to Mexico, his family decided that it was time for him to know his legal name and handed him his birth certificate. That’s when he asked his parents what the “Zero Zero Three” stood for, and they answered “that is your name”. Obviously, his reply was “WHAT?”.

Miller calmed down a bit when he learned that things could have been worse. His parents originally registered him as 003, as in the actual number, but their request was denied because figures weren’t acceptable as names, so they switched to letters. He does admit that he faced some bullying because of his name at school, but claims that he still wouldn’t change it for the world.

“I did feel that I was being bullied by my name, but over time I really learned that it is part of my identity, it has given me so many anecdotes and such good friends, that I am not ashamed to say that this is my name,” the Mexican youth said.

Interestingly, Zero Zero Three was also mentioned in a 2011 interview with the director of the Mexican Civil Registry, Fermín García, in which he mentions that the rarest name of which there is a record is that of “Zero Zero Three Miller”.