Hector

What Hector means

Means “holding fast”

From Latin Hectōr or Ancient Greek Ἕκτωρ (Héktōr), from ἕκτωρ (héktōr, “holding fast”), from ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, hold”), from Proto-Indo-European *seǵʰ- (“to hold; to overpower”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Hector” (revision 92762619), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Hector?

US: Falling: down from #303 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #299 in 2015, #278 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2005, when 2,458 boys got the name (#167 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,193 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,679 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,964 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in AZ (1.22 per 1,000 boys), TX (1.14 per 1,000 boys), CA (0.89 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Hector is #409 in the US and #278 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Hector were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Hektor0 US · 6 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Hectour

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Hector

Boys

• Alex#232Short form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Jason#165“I heal”^*
• Andrew#73“manly”^*
• Nicholas#112“victory + people”^*
• Zachary#216“Yahweh has remembered”^*
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*

For a sister

• Karina#749Form of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*
• Alexis#554“helper, defender”^*
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Angel#546Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2002, with 3,100 babies; 551 in 2025
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Alexandra#237“to defend + man”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Hector’s. Rank is US 2025.