Arsen

Arsen begins in Greek, where the adjective arsenios meant male and virile. That meaning sits close to the surface, so the name reads as a plain statement rather than a riddle. From the adjective came Arsenios, and Polish keeps the longer form Arseniusz beside the short one.

The name belongs, above all, to Ukraine, where Arsen stayed common among boys and men. It also belongs to a saint, Arsenius the Great, a hermit of the Egyptian desert in the fourth and fifth centuries. Poland receives Arsen largely through its eastern neighbour, so it can sound Greek in its roots and Ukrainian in daily life at once.

Picture a class register where Arsen and Arseniusz sit as two entries for one word. The claim is old. Underneath both spellings the meaning holds: mężny, męski, virile and male.