[3] It is named for Matthew Ector,[4] a Confederate general in the American Civil War.

[5] Ector County has an average rainfall of about 14 in per year and a warm, sunny, semiarid climate.

Most of the county is relatively flat, with small areas of slightly rolling terrain.

As of the census[11] of 2000, 121,123 people, 43,846 households, and 31,700 families resided in the county.

About 24.00% of all households was made up of individuals, and 8.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

It voted against Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson, a Texas native, in his 1964 landslide.