Wendy
Wendy is a Welsh feminine given name.
- English
Meaning & Origin of Wendy
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Wendy is a Welsh feminine given name.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- English
The Story of Wendy
Wendy first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1918, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1967: 11,222 births, good for #32 nationwide. About 34% of every Wendy on record arrived during the 1960s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Wendy ranks #1,143 for baby girls with 212 births, gradually falling (-9%). All told, over 263K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Wendy
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Wendy. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Wendy
Phonetically similar names — useful when Wendy is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Wendy
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About the name Wendy
Wendy is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1918 and has accumulated 263K births in the dataset. Wendy's peak popularity came in 1967 when it ranked #28. Use the chart and map above to compare Wendy's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1967 →
- Names of the 1960s →
- Names starting with "W" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.