Thumper

4 7.1

A cheerful young rabbit in the movie Bambi who hits the ground with his back foot when excited

proper noun
/ˈθʌmpər/

: Tambor

In the movie Bambi, Thumper is known for his cheerful personality and habit of thumping his hind foot.
Thumper and Bambi
Thumper the rabbit

Examples

I see you've met my friends, Bambi and Thumper.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
That's why they call me Thumper.

Bambi (1942)
Hey, Thumper, do you know what time it is, man?

The Butterfly Effect (2004)
What would poor Bambi and Thumper do?

Battle of the Damned (2013)
Thumper the Rabbit's parents always taught him, "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

Blog text (31)
As a young rabbit, Thumper quickly became a favorite character among children watching Disney's Bambi.
Everyone loves Thumper for his playful nature and the way he helps Bambi throughout the film.

Compounds

Bible thumper

Slur

5 9.6

A person who loudly tells others to follow Christian beliefs

Koran thumper

Slur

1 9.9

A person who loudly and strongly tells others to follow Islamic beliefs

tub-thumper

Offensive

1 9.8

A person who shouts about a cause to get people to agree

ivory-thumper

Slang

9.9

A pianist who often plays with energy and style in jazz

Surface Forms

Thumper main

Morphology

Thumper = thump (transparent) = thump + er

The formation 'thump' + '-er' yields 'one who thumps', which is a clear agentive nickname formation.

Etymology

Thumper is a name made from the simple word thump, which means 'to hit' or 'to stamp', plus -er meaning 'one who does it'. So the rabbit is called Thumper because he often thumps his hind foot, and the name reminds you of that playful habit.