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The sci-fi novel is a 20th century classic, but is this one too far out for a son?
Thanks to Alyssa for suggesting the intriguing Ender as our Baby Name of the Day.
Ender sounds like a name. There’s Anders and Anderson and Andre, all related to the timeless, buttoned-down Andrew.
The most famous Ender was actually born Andrew in a galaxy far, far away. The protagonist of Orson Scott Card’s award-winning series is a fictional figure who was leading battalions by the age of twelve, so he never had to navigate a modern-day middle school lunchroom with an unusual appellation.
Ender Wiggin gets his name because his beloved big sis Valentine can’t pronounce Andrew properly, and it sticks. Card originally published a short story in 1977, and expanded the idea into a novel in 1985. The novel was revised in 1991, but the bones of the story remain unchanged.
The world is roiled by intergalactic warfare and deprivation. Despite a strict two-child policy, Ender is a third-born, destined for Battle School. (Think Hogwarts, but with far more deadly intent.) Ender turns out to be a modern-day mix of Sun Tzu and Alexander the Great.
The school exists because mankind is locked in conflict with an insect-like race called the Buggers. The school’s games are prep for real-life confrontations, and Ender’s final exam turns out to be the real deal. Ender breaks the rules and unknowingly annihilates the entire Bugger race. This makes him a hero, but ultimately he’s conflicted about the destruction and dedicates his life to making amends. Unlike some of more problematic fictional figures – Draco, say, or Bellatrix from the Harry Potter series – Ender’s character might seem less controversial. (The author of the series, however, has been a lightning rod.)
There are a few other possible origins for Ender:
- Ender is in use in Turkey. Look it up in a Turkish dictionary and it means extremely rare;
- Endre is a Hungarian version of Andrew, pronounced YEN dre;
- It’s possible to get to Endre from the Old Norse name Eindride, meaning solo rider, and also referring to Thor – but see Dearest’s comment below, and tread lightly if you’re thinking of use Ender in Norway;
- There are about a dozen female Enders in US Census records. I’m without a good theory for their origin!
Whether it is the novel or another source, Nancy tells us that 40 boys born in 2009 were given the name.
If it were nearly any other fictional name, I’d say that Ender was a contender. He has the -er ending of popular picks like Tyler and up-and-comers like Archer. His nickname-free, masculine style would appeal to many parents, as would his word-name status. On sound alone, he meshes with a host of E- names that are under consideration for both genders: Ember, Ever, Embry.
But “end” is not exactly on par with more uplifting, vaguely new age spiritual word names like Journey. In our culture, end implies destruction, finality, death. There’s something vaguely threatening about it, too – think of a bad guy shouting “end him” in a fight scene. That negative undercurrent seems likely to keep Ender from catching on.
File Ender with Anakin – no matter how appealing the sound, the fictional figure makes names like these tough to wear.
Ender’s character reminds me of Noble. Weird but true. Alfred Noble invented dynamite and felt awful about it. Ender destroys the Buggers accidentally and feels pretty awful himself.
It’s not something that appeals to me, despite Andrew being my Gagi’s middle (that infamous Joszef) and having a smattering of Andrew cousins. I might suggest Ender as a cool nickname for Andrew to my cousin Alicia (who got married last year to Wayne! and is expecting their first in February). Me? I’d use Noble first (that’s a family name too: Royal’s kid brother).
All in all, not entirely unusable!
I am the one that suggested Ender. Thank you so much for the informative post. We found out Monday that we are having a boy, and this will be his name!
Congratulations, Alyssa!
This has been on our list since before I got married — Ender’s Game is my favorite book, and I think he is a rather noble character. I also love the sound. However, now that we’re really, truly, expecting our first (a boy!) in June, I’m having trouble committing to the name, because of all the reasons you’ve listed above. It’s still on the list, so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see what we finally decide…
Kylie – what else is on the list? If you just can’t commit to Ender, what about moving him to the middle spot? Congratulations on the upcoming arrival!
Sarah,
Thanks! I believe pretty strongly in having family names in the middle, so we’ll be sticking with something more traditional there. Our list is short – the ones I love, he doesn’t, the ones he loves, I don’t. We’re basically down to Ender, Peter, and Finn.
Kylie,
I feel the same way about middle names too. From your list I would definitely vote for Ender. I think the pros outweigh the cons. Ender is distinctive without being unknown and the character is so noble. Peter is nice but nms and I feel like Finn is going to explode along with Flynn. Good luck and congrats again!
This name sounds tragic to me. I’m not familiar with the sci-fi reference, so it sounds like The End. Or, the End Of Times. Definite connotations of death.
A baby is at the sweet beginning of life. Ender sounds so…fatal. I’m sorry to be so harsh, Alyssa, truly. I just have a very strong reaction to this name.
I’m not familiar with the sci-fi character. The name makes me think of Ember (which I like as a girl’s name) and also Bender – either the word or the robot from Futurama.
Congratulations on your son, Alyssa.
You’re not far off on Bender — one of the Futurama movies was actually called “Bender’s Game,” as a pun on the book title.
As a closeted sci-fi nerd, I applaud the bravery of anyone who would use a name like this. Congrats, Alyssa.
I’ve heard the title before but have not read the book, I’m just cracking up at there being an alien race dubbed The Buggers. Hahaha. I assume the author is American, yes? Wiki says yes.
I’m on the fence with Ender. I can’t summon the effort to go either way.
Oh – wow.
Yes, the author is American. As I am, obviously, because I read the book without thinking of that twice. Heck, so did my baby brother and he was probably 16 when he borrowed my copy.
Ah, I presumed that was intentional about ‘The Buggers’.
Ooops!
Maybe it is …
I LOVE the book Ender’s Game and when I read it in high school I thought it would be a great name for a boy.
I personally don’t see a huge problem with the connotations of ‘the end’ etc. I do think it’s more appropriate for a last born child, but I’m just nit picky like that
I actually prefer Ender to names like Journey or Destiny (which I actually hate) because of the amazing character from the books. He’s got literary cred that the others don’t. I think Ender will fit right in with Hunter, Archer, Ever, and Ember.
Congratulations Alyssa!
On the flip side, there is “the be-all, end-all,” and the concept of end as achievement – so yes, Ender fits with Journey and Destiny, but does have something extra, thanks to the character.
And you can’t argue with ends-in-er names. They’re quite stylish.
I knew a boy about 10 years ago named Ender. And it fit, it was his name. I too loved “Ender’s Game”, and had entertained the name for my own son. I felt like I had to repronounce the name several times to get people to understand what I’d said, in the end deciding it sounds too similar to too many other names as you’ve mentioned. But I still like it:)
I really dig this as a nickname, though not so keen on it as the given name. Silly, I know. It’s probably just because I find Andrew quite handsome. In fact, after reading the books I really wanted to call my brother Ender, but he smacked down that idea. (He’s always and forever been only Andrew, no nickname)
I just have to correct you on Eindirde/Einride. The short form is Endre, not Ender. Ender is the Norwegian word for ‘ducks’ but is also used for something that ends obviously and ‘ende’ can be used as a polite way of saying butt…
From what I can tell, Eindride is the gothic form and Einride is the Norse form. It’s one of Thor/Tor’s bynames and it does mean ‘solo rider’ but can also be interpreted as ‘sole/only ruler’ (we have a lovely Norwegian word here that you just don’t have a fitting English equivalent of, and it makes me kind of proud since it’s usually the other way around!)
It’s a lovely name, and somewhere high up on my list of favourite Norse names, even though I do prefer the Gothic spelling (D’s are often silent in Norwegian names)
It’s rather uncommon here in Norway, I think it might have something to do with it being very word-y, word names are much rarer in Norway then they are in English-speaking countries. Ein is the Norwegian word for ‘one’ and ‘ride’ is the Norwegian wird for riding (that’s not too hard I think!) PRonuciation would be approximately ein-REE-duh or en-REE-duh
And I’m all for Ender and other book related names as long as it’s not the villain. ^^
Dearest, thank you so much! I though it was something of a stretch to get to Ender from Eindride. I can’t decide if I’m thrilled to know that I wasn’t all that far off, or absolutely horrified to realize that I suggested naming a child Ducks. Ah, the pitfalls of dabbling in languages I understand poorly …
I’m correcting the original post with credit to you.
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I’m pregnant with my second. (Daughter is named Acadia) Don’t know the gender yet, but if it’s a boy we are leaning strongly towards Ender. Our last name is Blizard, like the snowstorm, so I’m a little concerned how the names will sound together. No middle names picked out yet. Suggestions?
Acadia and Ender sound like siblings, but I’m not sure about Ender Blizard. Beyond the vaguely sentence-like quality of the name, I’m stuck on the repetition of the er/ar sound. Anderson Blizard doesn’t have it, but I’m guessing Anderson isn’t your style at all! A middle name would soften it, but only when you say the full name together – not something that happens so very much.
Hmmm … were there any other names on your short list, or is your heart set on Ender? Acadia is gorgeous, and I can see you’d want something equally distinctive, but not completely out there, either.
I dont know what I am having yet but am due on spet 1st and if its a girl i decided dad picks her name…but if its a boy I get to pick I am using Lennon Alexander and Ender for everyday use to call him by. For the strange looks I am sure to get I am just going to tell them to go read a book.
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