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 ...

. The name is derived from the name of

Hektor In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

, a legendary

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

champion who was killed by the Greek

Achilles In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...

. The name ''Hektor'' is probably derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''ékhein'', meaning "to have", "to hold", "to check", "restrain". In Scotland, the name ''Hector'' is sometimes an

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

form of the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

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

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

, is also a variant of the same.

Etymology

In Greek, is a derivative of the verb ἔχειν ''ékhein'', archaic form * grc, ἕχειν, hékhein, label=none ('to have' or 'to hold'), from

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

*'' 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 Anato ...

poetry, is also an epithet of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

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

Cognates

* Irish: ''Eachtar'' *

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''

Ettore Ettore is a given name, the Italian version of Hector. People * Ettore Arrigoni degli Oddi (1867–1942), Italian naturalist * Ettore Bassi (born 1970), Italian actor and television presenter *Ettore Bastianini (1922–1967), Italian opera singer * ...

'' * Portuguese: ''Heitor'' *

: Modern Greek: ''Έκτορας'' (Ectoras), Ancient Greek: ''Ἕκτωρ'' (Hector)

People with the name

Hector Abhayavardhana Hector Abhayavardhana (5 January 1919 – 22 September 2012) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist theoretician, a long-standing member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and a founder-member of the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burm ...

(1919-2012), Sri Lankan Sinhala Trotskyist politician *

Hector Appuhamy Hector Appuhamy is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. He was elected from Puttalam District in 2015. He is a Member of the United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එ� ...

, Member of the

Sri Lanka Parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

for

Puttalam District Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya an ...

Hector Arawwawala Hector Arawwawala was the fifth Governor of North Western Province. He was part of the United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthi ...

, Governor of North Western Province, Sri Lanka from July 1994 - January 1995 * Héctor Ávila, Dominican boxer * Héctor Ballesteros, Colombian weightlifter *

Héctor Bellerín Héctor Bellerín Moruno (born 19 March 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right-back or wing-back for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP and the Spain national team. Bellerín started his career at Barcelona, and moved ...

, 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 Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Abe ...

, a Scottish philosopher and historian *

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

, French composer * Hector (Toe) Blake, Canadian hall of fame hockey player and coach * Hector Luis Bustamante, Colombian actor *

Héctor Carrasco Héctor Pacheco Carrasco (born October 22, 1969) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. He bats and throws right handed. In a twelve-season career, Carrasco has posted a 44–50 record with 19 saves and a 3.99 ERA in 637 relief ap ...

, Dominican baseball player * Héctor Castaño, Colombian road cyclist *

Hector Charlesworth Hector Willoughby Charlesworth (28 September 1872 – 30 December 1945) was a Canadian writer, editor, and critic. Biography Hector Charlesworth was born in Hamilton on 28 September 1872. He married Katherine Ryan on 15 February 1897, and they h ...

, 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 The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka is a post subordinate to the Attorney General of Sri Lanka. The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka assists the Attorney General, and is assisted by four Additional Solicitors General. Note that the post was Solicit ...

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 *

Hector Halsall Hector Halsall (20 August 1900 – October 1966) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s, and coached in the 1930 and 1940s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level fo ...

, English rugby league footballer with Swinton RLFC in the 1920s * Hector A. Hanson, American farmmer and politician *

Hector Hetherington Sir Hector James Wright Hetherington (21 July 1888 – 15 January 1965) was a Scottish philosopher, who was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 1927 to 1936, and Principal of the University of Glasgow until 1961. Early life H ...

, Scottish philosopher * Héctor King, Mexican recording artist * Hector Kobbekaduwa, Sri Lankan Sinhala lawyer and politician *

Héctor Lavoe Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez (30 September 1946 – 29 June 1993), better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe is considered to be possibly the best and most important singer and interpreter in the history of salsa ...

, 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) Héctor Alfredo Moreno Herrera (born 17 January 1988) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga MX club Monterrey and the Mexico national team. Moreno ascended the youth ranks of Club Universidad Nacional, ma ...

, Mexican football (soccer) player * Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar, a Scottish-born British soldier who became the ninth

Commander-in-Chief, India During the period of the Company rule in India and the British Raj, the Commander-in-Chief, India (often "Commander-in-Chief ''in'' or ''of'' India") was the supreme commander of the British Indian Army. The Commander-in-Chief and most of his ...

* Hector Hugh Munro, British writer who used the pseudonym Saki * Héctor Noguera, Chilean television, film and theatre actor *

Héctor Germán Oesterheld Héctor Germán Oesterheld, also known as his common abbreviation HGO (born July 23, 1919; disappeared and presumed dead 1977), was an Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics. He has come to be celebrated as a master in his ...

, Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics *

Hector Ó hEochagáin Shane Ó hEochagáin (; born 17 August 1969), known mononymously as Hector, is an Irish television and radio presenter born in Drogheda, County Louth, and raised in Navan, Co. Meath. He currently presents ''The Tommy and Hector Podcast with La ...

, Irish radio and television presenter * Héctor Palacio, Colombian road racing cyclist *

Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau (June 13, 1912 – October 24, 1943) was a French Canadian poet and painter, who "was posthumously hailed as a herald of the Quebec literary renaissance of the 1950s".Roger Cardinal,Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau, ...

, Canadian poet *

Héctor Soto Héctor Soto (born June 28, 1978 in New York City, New York) is a former volleyball player from Puerto Rico, who was a member of the Men's National Team that ended up in sixth place at the 2007 FIVB Men's World Cup in Japan and received the Best ...

, Puerto Rican volleyball player * Héctor Thomas, Venezuelan decathlete * Héctor Timerman, Argentine foreign minister * Hector Tyndale, American military officer * Héctor Velásquez, Chilean boxer * Héctor Vidal Martínez, Paraguayan football (soccer) midfielder * Héctor Vilches, Uruguayan football (soccer) player * Héctor Yan (born 1999), Dominican Republic professional baseball player

Arthurian legend

* Sir Ector *

Hector de Maris The Knights of the Round Table ( cy, Marchogion y Ford Gron, kw, Marghekyon an Moos Krenn, br, Marc'hegien an Daol Grenn) are the knights of the fellowship of King Arthur in the literary cycle of the Matter of Britain. First appearing in lit ...

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 novels written by American author Daniel Handler under the pen name Lemony Snicket. The books follow the turbulent lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire. After their ...

'' * 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) ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction television series created by Glen A. Larson and starring Lorne Greene, Richard Hatch, and Dirk Benedict. The series follows the surviving humans as they flee in the fictional spacecraft o ...

'' * Hector, the evil robot in the film '' Saturn 3'' * Hector, a character in the film '' Coco'' ;Monomial with descriptor *

Hector the Bulldog Hector the Bulldog is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Hector is a muscle-bound bulldog with gray fur (except in ''A Street Cat Named Sylvester'' and '' Greedy for Twee ...

, in ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

'' 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 ''Hector's House'' (French ''La Maison de Toutou'') is a French children's television series using glove puppets. It was first broadcast in France on 1ère chaine on 27 October 1966 and ran over seven series and 78 episodes. It was re-voiced in ...

'' ;Binomial characters * Hector Alembick, character from '' King Ottokar's Sceptre'' *

Hector Barbossa Captain Hector Barbossa is a fictional character of the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' franchise, appearing in all five films in the series. Starting out as a villainous undead pirate in '' The Curse of the Black Pearl'' (2003), the character dies ...

, in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film series * Hector Bowen, aka Prospero the Enchanter, from the novel The Night Circus * Hector Ruiz, from the American television series

The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...

* Hector Cruz, from the American animated television series '' Ozzy & Drix'' * Hector "Hec" Faulkner, a character from the film ''

Hunt for the Wilderpeople ''Hunt for the Wilderpeople'' is a 2016 New Zealand adventure comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, whose screenplay was based on the book ''Wild Pork and Watercress'' by Barry Crump. Sam Neill and Julian Dennison play "Uncle ...

'' * Hector Garcia, a character from '' Zits'' * Hector Gonzales, in the film ''For Your Eyes Only'' *

Hector Hall Hector Hall is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in DC Comics's '' Infinity, Inc.'', '' Sandman'' and '' JSA''. He has gone by the names Silver Scarab, Sandman, and Doctor Fate. Publication history Hector Hall first appeared in '' All ...

, a DC Comics character *

Hector Hammond Hector Hammond is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics who is primarily an enemy of Green Lantern. Peter Sarsgaard played the role of Hammond in the 2011 film ''Green Lantern''. Publication history Hector Hamm ...

, a DC Comics supervillain. * Hector "High Five" Nieves, one of the two main characters in the animated web television series ''

Glitch Techs ''Glitch Techs'' is an American animated streaming television series created by Eric Robles and Dan Milano for Nickelodeon and Netflix. The series premiered on Netflix on February 21, 2020, with a second season premiering on August 17 of the s ...

''. * 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. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston), an underpaid, overqualified, and dispirited h ...

'' and ''

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

'' * Hector Williams, one of the main characters in the American television show ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled ...

'' * Hector "Zero" Zeroni, a character in the novel '' Holes'' and its

film adaption A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

;Polynomial characters * Hector Con Carne, the main character from the American animated series ''

Evil Con Carne ''Evil Con Carne'' is an American animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms for Cartoon Network. The series centers on wealthy crime lord Hector Con Carne, who is reduced to his brain and stomach after an assassination attempt and subseq ...

References