Modern invented literary name, coined for the halfling-like race in the Dragonlance fantasy universe.
Kender occupies a fascinating dual identity — part heir to the Old English naming tradition of 'Kendra,' part icon of beloved fantasy fiction. Kendra, the probable root, is often traced to Old Welsh or Old English elements suggesting 'knowledge' or 'high' combined with 'ruler' — a name of subtle authority, related to the masculine Kenneth ('born of fire' in Scottish Gaelic, or possibly 'handsome'). The feminine Kendra gained popularity in the mid-20th century United States, peaking in the 1980s and 1990s as part of a broader cultural appetite for names ending in the soft '-a' sound.
But Kender carries another layer entirely: in the Dragonlance fantasy universe created by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis beginning in 1984, the Kender are a halfling-like race renowned for their boundless curiosity, fearlessness, and cheerful inability to understand the concept of property. Tasslehoff Burrfoot, the most famous Kender character, became one of the most beloved figures in fantasy literature of the 1980s and 1990s, embodying a kind of innocent mischief and radical openness to experience. For a generation raised on those novels, the name carries overtones of adventure and irrepressible spirit.
As a given name, Kender sits comfortably alongside Kendra while carving out its own identity — slightly more unisex in feel, slightly more fantastical in resonance. It is a name for parents who want warmth and curiosity baked into a name from the very beginning.