Three names have been shortlisted for the mascot - which is a female red howler monkey.

Mona, the Spanish word for a female monkey, is one of the contenders, along with Mina, which is a São Paulo slang word meaning girls.

Sampa, the nickname of São Paulo, is the third possibility.

The vote will take place on the Brazilian Paralympic Committee's (CPB) Facebook page here, beginning today and finishing on November 20.

The winning name will then be revealed on November 21.

Howler monkeys frequent Brazil's Atlantic Forest, with one protected area located near to the Brazilian Paralympic Centre in São Paulo, where competition at the Games will take place between March 20 and 25 next year.

"I want to personally invite everybody to vote and get involved in choosing the name of the São Paulo 2017 Youth Parapan American Games' mascot," said CPB President and International Paralympic Committee vice-president Andrew Parsons.

"People's cooperation is essential since the mascot aims at winning everyone’s sympathy and is pivotal to the competition's identity."

Around 1,000 athletes aged between 12 and 21 are expected for the Youth Games, from more than 20 countries.

Twelve sports will be contested: athletics, boccia, football five-a-side, football seven-a-side, goalball, judo, powerlifting, sitting volleyball, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair tennis.

The last edition of the Games was held in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires in 2013.

Brazil topped the medals table and 15 countries reached the podium at least once.