Erycius

This given name originates from the Dutch humanist and philologist Erycius Puteanus (1574-1646). He had latinized his entire name: his original given name was either Eric/Erik or Hendrik and his original surname has variously been listed as Van de Putte, Van den Putte, Van der Put, Van der Putte, Van der Putten and Van Putten. Clearly, sources differ on what the right given name and surname are. That is probably partly due to the fact that the writers of the surviving documents about Erycius had varying degrees of literacy, and partly because the Dutch language was not yet standardized to the degree that it is today. But at least we can say with certainty that Erycius' original given name was ultimately Germanic in origin, and that one element of that name was derived from Germanic ric meaning "power, ruler".