In fact it was a clever pun since 'Porphyry' means 'purple' in Greek and he was given this name since he came from Tyre which was famous for the production of the royal purple dye and his name 'Malchus' meant 'king' = 'royal' = 'purple'.
Sa katunayan, ito ay isang matalino pun dahil 'porpiri' ibig sabihin nito ay 'tao' sa Griyego at siya ay binibigyan ng pangalan na ito dahil siya ang dumating mula sa gulong na kung saan ay bantog na para sa produksyon ng hari o reyna haban tinain at kanyang pangalan 'Malchus' sinadya' king '= 'hari' = 'lila'.