Ender
Masculine · “rare”
Ender is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 1,857 boys against 19 girls since 1880.
Ender is Turkish for rare — and it is separately the name of a 1985 science-fiction hero, which is why most American bearers have it.
How old is the name Ender?
Ender first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Ender is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,800 people named Ender are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ender most popular?
Ender peaked in 2022, reaching #1264 nationally. Today it ranks #1743, 479 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Ender appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From andar to Ender
The story of Ender
Ender is a genuine and long-used Turkish name. Separately, Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, published as a novel in 1985, gave the name to its child protagonist — a nickname his sister makes of Andrew. American families began registering Ender in the 2000s, and it is in current use.
Meaning
rare, infrequent
From the Turkish ender, 'rare' or 'seldom', which is a borrowing from the Persian andar. It is an ordinary Turkish given name for both sexes. The English 'end' is unrelated. The Turkish word's meaning is undisputed.
How the name formed
- andar
- ender
- Ender
Related forms: Ender · Andar
Pronouncing Ender
EN-dur
Two syllables, stress on the first. Turkish says it the same way with a fuller final vowel.
Nicknames for Ender
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1991
- Most boys named
- 2022153 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1264reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −16.2%93 in 2025, from 111
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ender in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ender in Turkish — same name
- Andar in Persian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Washington.
Enders among us
people named Ender are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 18,366 born in 2025 was named Ender
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Micaiah test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ender's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Micaiah climbed just as high around 2001, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Micaiah's path sketches the road Ender is walking now.
Ender sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ender is headed
Ender should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ender beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ender in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The rare meaning is transparent and the Turkish name is genuine and long-used.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It is distinctive without being difficult to say.
- The novel association is strong for readers, and the book's ending is dark.
- It contains the English word 'end', which will be noticed.
- It is thoroughly unisex in Turkish.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Ender
Masculine · #1743 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Enders are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Ender are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ender in 2025?
- Ender ranks #1743 among US boy names in 2025, with 93 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ender?
- About 1 in every 18,366 US boys born in 2025 was named Ender — 93 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ender with classmates?
- Ender will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ender
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Augustin#1743 · Nyaire#1743 · Deion#1743 · Rain#1743 · Laurence#1743 · Nate#1743 · Jovan#1743 · Oskar#1743
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ender? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ender and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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