Meaning & History
First seen in the Dutch naming statistics in 1993 (when 16 baby boys were given this name), the name Fender has since enjoyed a stable presence in the naming statistics (with 16 births each year) until a sudden increase in popularity in 2008 (20 births), which it has maintained so far. The meaning of the name is unknown; one Dutch celebrity (the musician and television host Eddy Zoëy) who gave his son (born in 2006) this name, once said in an interview with a Dutch magazine that he had named him after the Fender brand of guitars. However, in a different interview years later, he suddenly claimed to have named his son after the character of Fender from the 2005 American computer-animated film "Robots", which he had voiced in the Dutch dubbed version of the film.The etymology of the name of the robot is uncertain, but it might possibly be related to the English word fender or even the slang term fender-bender. But in the case of the guitar brand, there is more certainty. The brand derives its name from the surname of its founder, Leo Fender (1909-1991), which is said to be an occupational surname that refers to a town guard (from Anglo-French defendre meaning "to defend").