Joss Whedon’s Names: The Deeper Meanings behind Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Cabin in the Woods, The Avengers, Doctor Horrible, In Your Eyes, Comics and More
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Scoobies
Alexander “Xander” Lavelle Harris
Alexander is a popular American name, reminiscent of the great conqueror of worlds (who was also known for being unsubtle). This foreshadows a great future for Xander someday. His name means “defending men,” and indeed, he’s Buffy’s defender and “cavalry” on occasion. Xander turns into a soldier in “Halloween” (B2.6), showing that he truly does have a tough guy inside him. He retains the training and power of command, which he uses on occasion thereafter.
According to Greek legend, the first Alexander was Paris, who absconded with Helen of Troy and destroyed all his family and friends with his love. Xander’s romantic selfishness certainly throws his friends into chaos and creates the conflict of several episodes. Thanks to his betrayals, Buffy transforms into a rat while women fight over him, Buffy nearly kills Angel, Cordelia wishes Buffy had never come to Sunnydale, and Anya turns vengeance demon once more. If anyone is the Paris of the series, it’s him.
At the same time, he calls himself Xander, an esoteric, even geeky version of the grandiose name, with the science-fiction “X” starting it off. Thus he sets himself up as described in the script: He is “bright, funny, and will one day be suave and handsome. Till that day arrives, he’ll do the best he can with bright and funny” (Buffy: The Script Book). The first time we meet him, he’s falling off his skateboard, and he goes through much of the series as comic relief, absent of the powers the other characters boast. Over time Xander “gradually acquires a sense of his own worth,” Roz Kaveney explains in her essays (“She Saved the World, a Lot” 11). At the same time, he’s the most “human” of the characters – someone for the audience to identify with, who strengthens his friends in times of emotional torment.
“Xander stands for Joss Whedon – and, again, for every normal person lost in a mad, mad world” (Wilcox, Why Buffy Matters 141). Whedon is known for creating stand-ins for himself, geeky goofy boys who are the immature best friend to the story’s powerful women. He’s the ordinary teen, the science fiction fan with a crush on Buffy – he’s us. When Xander asks for an explanation “for those of us in our… audience who are me,” he provides a bridge to understanding for us, the audience who are him.
“Xander is another name clearly launched by Whedon. When the series debuted in 1997, Xander was a rarity. By 1999, he was in the US Top 100, and he’s gained quickly since” (appellationmountain). On the show, Xander’s name stands out as unusual – when the team lose their memories in “Tabula Rasa” (B6.8), Willow calls him the standard “Alex.” Xander wants to be called the more impressive and daring “Nighthawk” in “Dead Man’s Party” (B3.2) and Sergeant Fury in the comics, but is always simply Xander (though by season seven, sometimes “Mr. Harris”). If a cool nickname is his goal, he never truly acquires one.
Like Xander, Lavelle is an unusual name. Meanings and uses vary widely, from a kingly household of Ireland to a surname and girl’s name. Xander too is struggling for his place as he decides which identity he wishes for himself. The Irish meaning of Lavelle is “fond of movement or travel,” while the French name comes from Laval, from Old French for “valley.” So Xander is “from the valley” (or rather the dale, specifically Sunnydale) and also eager to go travel (as seen when he decides to backpack around the world, drifts through jobs, and finally joins Buffy in Scotland during the comics).
Harris, from “son of Harry,” is one of the most common surnames in Britain. Thus he comes from traditional roots, even as he struggles to reinvent himself . It’s a soundalike for the Arabic Haris, which means “Lion” or “Guardian” and heir, hinting that he is an heir to the Slayer legacy as well as Buffy’s soldier and guardian. In Greek “alexo” means “to protect” or “to help,” and he is Buffy’s perpetual right hand, no matter the difficulty.
