Hector () is an English, French, Scottish, and Spanish

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

. The name is derived from the name of Hektor, a legendary Trojan champion who was killed by the Greek

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. The central character in Homer's ''Iliad'', he was the son of the Nereids, Nereid Thetis and Peleus, ...

. The name ''Hektor'' is probably derived from the Greek ''ékhein'', meaning "to have", "to hold", "to check", "restrain". In Scotland, the name ''Hector'' is sometimes an

anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

form of the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

'' Eachann'', and the pet form ''Heckie'' is sometimes used. The name of Sir Ector, the foster father of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

, is also a variant of the same.

Etymology

In Greek, is a derivative of the verb ἔχειν ''ékhein'', archaic form * ('to have' or 'to hold'), from

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...

*'' seɡ́ʰ-'' ('to hold'). , or as found in

Aeolic In linguistics, Aeolic Greek (), also known as Aeolian (), Lesbian or Lesbic dialect, is the set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia; in Thessaly; in the Aegean island of Lesbos; and in the Greek colonies of Aeolis in Anat ...

poetry, is also an epithet of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

in his capacity as 'he who holds verything together. Hector's name could thus be taken to mean 'holding fast'.

Cognates

* Irish: ''Eachtar'' * Italian: '' Ettore'' * Portuguese: Heitor * Greek: Modern Greek: ''Έκτορας'' (Ectoras), Ancient Greek: ''Ἕκτωρ'' (Hector)

People with the name

* Hector Gottfried Masius (1653–1709), German Lutheran theologian * Hector Abhayavardhana (1919–2012), Sri Lankan Sinhala Trotskyist politician * Hector Appuhamy, Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament for

Puttalam District Puttalam is a district of Sri Lanka situated near the west coast of the country. The district has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it forms the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which border ...

* Hector Arawwawala, Governor of North Western Province, Sri Lanka from July 1994–January 1995 * Héctor Ávila, Dominican boxer * Héctor Ballesteros, Colombian weightlifter * Héctor Bellerín, Spanish football (soccer) player *

Hector Boece Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Ancient university governance in Scotland, Principal of King's College, Aberdeen, ...

, a Scottish philosopher and historian *

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

, French composer * Hector (Toe) Blake, Canadian hall of fame hockey player and coach * Hector Luis Bustamante, Colombian actor * Héctor Carrasco, Dominican baseball player * Héctor Castaño, Colombian road cyclist * Hector Charlesworth, Canadian writer, editor and critic * Hector Crawford, Australian radio and television producer * Hector de Zayas, U.S. Marine Corps officer and Navy Cross recipient * Hector Deheragoda, Solicitor General of Sri Lanka from 1970-1972 * Héctor del Curto, Argentine tango bandoneon player * Héctor Delgado, reggaeton artist * Héctor Elizondo, Puerto Rican-American actor * Héctor Ferri, Ecuadorian football (soccer) player * Héctor Fresina, Argentine politician * Hector Halsall, English rugby league footballer with Swinton RLFC in the 1920s * Hector A. Hanson, American farmer and politician * Hector Hetherington, Scottish philosopher * Héctor King, Mexican recording artist * Hector Kobbekaduwa, Sri Lankan Sinhala lawyer and politician * Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican salsa singer * Hector Lombard, Cuban-Australian mixed martial artist * Hector Munro Macdonald, Scottish mathematician * Hector Carsewell Macpherson, Scottish writer and journalist * Héctor Moreno (footballer), Mexican football (soccer) player * Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar, a Scottish-born British soldier who became the ninth Commander-in-Chief, India * Hector Hugh Munro, British writer who used the pseudonym Saki * Héctor Noguera, Chilean television, film and theatre actor * Héctor Germán Oesterheld, Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics * Hector Ó hEochagáin, Irish radio and television presenter * Héctor Palacio, Colombian road racing cyclist * Hector Rosales (born 1958), Uruguayan poet and writer * Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, Canadian poet * Héctor Soto, Puerto Rican volleyball player * Héctor Thomas, Venezuelan decathlete * Héctor Timerman, Argentine foreign minister * Hector Tyndale, American military officer * Héctor Velásquez, Chilean boxer * Héctor Vilches, Uruguayan football (soccer) player * Hector Andre, Guatemalan artist known for his "Sneaky Snitch" series

Arthurian legend

* Sir Ector * Hector de Maris

Fictional characters

;Monomial characters * Hector, minor character in the book series ''

A Series of Unfortunate Events ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' is a series of thirteen Children's literature, children's novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of orphaned siblings List of A ...

'' * Hector (Ambrosia Mascot), parrot, unofficial mascot of games company Ambrosia Software * Hector (Castlevania), from ''Castlevania: Curse of Darkness'' * Hector (Fire Emblem), from the ''Fire Emblem'' video game franchise * Hector (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics superhero * Hector: Fat Arse of the Law, in the adventure video game ''Hector: Badge of Carnage'' * Hector, a polite robot of the father and son android pair Hector and Vector in "Greetings from Earth" (1979), an episode of the '' Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series)'' * Hector, the evil robot in the film '' Saturn 3'' ;Monomial with descriptor * Hector the Bulldog, in ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' cartoons * Hector the Cat, a mascot for the teaching of road safety to children in Australia * Hector the Dog, in the British children's television series '' Hector's House'' ;Binomial characters * Hector Alembick, character from '' King Ottokar's Sceptre'' * Hector Barbossa, in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series * Hector Bowen, aka Prospero the Enchanter, from the novel The Night Circus * Hector Casagrande, a character from the American animated series The Casagrandes and The Loud House * Hector Doyle from the manga and anime series Baki * Hector Cruz, from the American animated television series '' Ozzy & Drix'' * Hector "Hec" Faulkner, a character from the film '' Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' * Hector Flanagan, a character from the American animated series '' Sanjay and Craig'' * Hector Garcia, a character from '' Zits'' * Hector Gonzales, in the film ''For Your Eyes Only'' * Hector Hall, a DC Comics character * Hector Hammond, a DC Comics supervillain. * Hector "High Five" Nieves, one of the two main characters in the animated web television series '' Glitch Techs''. * Hector Ricardo, a minor character in the Lorien Legacies series * Hector Salamanca, a character in ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'' and ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–201 ...

'' * Héctor Rivera, a character in the film '' Coco'' * Hector Ruiz, from the American television series '' The Electric Company'' * Hector Williams, one of the main characters in the American television show '' The Unit'' * Hector "Zero" Zeroni, a character in the novel '' Holes'' and its film adaption ;Polynomial characters * Hector Con Carne, the main character from the American animated series '' Evil Con Carne''

References