The brother of Pope Leo XIV revealed that he warned the newly-elected pontiff not to use the Italian name because it could be an unlucky choice.

The man once known as Cardinal Robert Prevost is the first American-born pontiff, having grown up in the suburbs of Chicago.

The pope’s brother, John Prevost, has provided insight into his newly-famous sibling’s inner life, which took him all the way to Peru before serving under Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Since the sixth century, popes have taken on a new name, that of one of the Catholic saints, upon election.

Prevost – a retired Catholic school principal – admitted that his brother had spoken to him prior to the conclave and asked him what his name should be.

‘We started rattling off names just to rattle off names,’ he said, before his brother made a now-hilarious suggestion.

‘I told him it shouldn’t be Leo because it will be the 13th,’ Prevost said, suggesting it was an unlucky number.

However, as both the pope and Prevost realized, the most recent Pope Leo was, in fact, the 13th, making this Pope Leo the 14th.