Where does "tico" come from?

"Big" Dick Sambora, even moreso.

"-ico" can be added to a name in Spanish in much the same way that "-y" or "-ie" is added to a name in english. Hector becomes Hectico which becomes Tico like John becomes Johnny or Richard becomes Richie. I was paying attention in Spanish class that day.

Basically what Chica said

OK, this is NOT correct. First of all, -ico is mostly used only in Costa Rica, Venezuela and Cuba instead of the usual Spanish -ito diminutive. -ico is only used in words that have letter t in the last syllable. Quite clearly, Héctor doesn't have it and thus the -ico ending is not used with this name.

Tico is a nickname for Costa Ricans and they got the nickname because of the way they use diminutives: instead of only using -ico or -ito, they use -tico. For example, the word pequeño (small) would be pequeñito would be pequeñitico in Costa Rica. Hence, Ticos.

Spanish-speaking world also has a pretty fixed system of nicknames for names and the nickname for Héctor is Tito. There is no particular logic or rule regarding the nicknames.

No DICK is short for Richard.

OHHH BALLS!!!!!! This must have been posted already!