Hector

Hector begins in Greek, in the name Hektōr, built on the verb ekhein, to hold or to hold fast. Its most celebrated bearer defended a city. In Homer's Iliad, Hektor is the Trojan prince who stands against the Greek army until he falls beneath the walls, and the reading of holder or defender suits him. Polish keeps that sense as mocno trzymający, the one who holds firmly.

From the epic the name moved west into French and then English. Medieval writers counted Hector of Troy among the Nine Worthies, and Shakespeare later put him on stage in Troilus and Cressida. English gave it a stranger afterlife. The verb to hector, meaning to bully or browbeat, grew from rowdy London street gangs of the 1600s who borrowed the warrior's name, and dictionaries still record it.

In Poland the spelling settles as Hektor, closer to the Greek. On a school register it stands out, uncommon but not odd. The meaning holds: mocno trzymający, the one who holds fast.