A male baby giraffe at a zoo in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, has been named after rugby star Ayumu Goromaru.

The Hamamatsu Zoological Gardens announced Sunday that it had named the giraffe, born in September, "Goromaru," taking the family name of the fullback who played a prominent role in the Japanese team's recent performance in Rugby World Cup 2015, in which it scored three victories.

Goromaru plays for the Yamaha Motor Co. team based in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Visitors to the zoo voted to choose the name from among four candidates. The others were "Kei," "Yuzuru" and "Kiryu," presumably deriving from tennis player Kei Nishikori, figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu and sprinter Yoshihide Kiryu.

Goromaru got 773 votes out the more than 2,000 that were cast, the zoo said.

"We want the animal to grow soundly into a strong adult like Mr. Goromaru," a zoo representative said.

Hamamatsu Zoological Gardens has proposed names deriving from Japanese athletes and invited visitors to vote in the past. The father of the newborn giraffe is named Ryo, after golfer Ryo Ishikawa. The mother, named Shiun, came to the zoo from Kyoto City Zoo.