Disney star Selena Gomez is proud to have been named after Latina legend Selena Quintanilla-Perez - and hopes to emulate the late singer in her own career.

The 16-year-old was honoured to have recently met the family of the Dreaming Of You hitmaker, whose short life was depicted by Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 film Selena.

She says, "It was very emotional when he (Quintanilla-Perez's brother) came up to me and said my sister was named Selena and I said I was named after her. It was a really powerful moment."

"I called my family afterwards and said it's really a big deal that I'm named after such a wonderful person."

"I would love to bring back that person to life and educate people on her because a lot of people don't know who she is and I think she's wonderful."