What or who did Kobe Bryant's parent's name him after?

Kobe Bryant's parents named him after a type of steak: Kobe beef.

According to biographies of Bryant, his father, Joe Bryant, saw Kobe beef listed on a restaurant menu before his son was born and liked the name. Kobe beef is a highly prized form of Japanese beef associated with cattle from Japan's Hyōgo Prefecture, whose capital is Kobe. The name therefore refers to the food and its regional association, not to another athlete or celebrity.

Bryant's full name was Kobe Bean Bryant. His middle name, Bean, came from his father's nickname, "Jellybean" Bryant. Joe Bryant was a former NBA player, so Kobe grew up in a basketball family, but the first name itself came from a culinary reference.

A common mix-up is treating Kobe as merely a Japanese personal name in this context. Bryant's parents specifically connected it with the beef they had encountered on a menu. Later, the name became globally identified with the Los Angeles Lakers star.