Alec

Alec reaches back to Greek, to the verb alexein, to defend, joined with aner, andros, meaning man. Put together, the name reads as defender of men. That sense is no later gloss. It states the plain content of the word.

In English-speaking countries the name settled into everyday use, worn by bearers who had no reason to think about Greek grammar at all. The meaning held anyway. A boy called Alec carries a claim about protection whether or not anyone explains it to him. Short. Direct.

Imagine a class register in a Polish school, the teacher reading down the column and stopping at an unfamiliar entry. Alec sits among the Aleksanders and Antonis, close kin to the first, shorter by several letters.

The English association is what gives Alec its particular flavour, less formal than its Greek ancestor, quick to say. Four letters, and the meaning underneath stays fixed: defender of men.