ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1918 First Year 2026 Last Year 1967 Peak Year #28 Peak Rank 263K Total Count 103 Years Active 🌍 ## 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 ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy) ### Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name) * English [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Wendy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Wendy_Darling_%28cropped%29.PNG/330px-Wendy_Darling_%28cropped%29.PNG)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy) 📖 ## 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 ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🔗 ## 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. * [Wenda](/wenda) * [Wendi](/wendi) 🎶 ## 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. * [Wendi](/wendi) * [Windy](/windy) * [Wandy](/wandy) * [Wenda](/wenda) * Woundy * Window * [Winda](/winda) * [Hendy](/hendy) * Hendi * Hendee * [Wednesday](/wednesday) * [Wanda](/wanda) Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Wendy What does the name Wendy mean? Wendy is a Welsh feminine given name. What is the origin of the name Wendy? Wendy has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: English. How popular is Wendy in 2026? In 2026, Wendy ranks #1,143 among girls' names in the U.S., with 212 babies given the name that year. When was Wendy most popular? Wendy reached its peak popularity in 1967, ranking #28 that year with 11,222 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Wendy most popular? Wendy has historically been most popular in Utah, Wyoming, Maine. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Wendy. Is Wendy a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Wendy is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Wendy? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Wendy include Ann, Zoe, Haley. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. What are nicknames or variants of Wendy? Common variants and related forms of Wendy include Wenda, Wendi. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms. ## Similar Names [👧AnnPeak #28](/ann)[👧ZoePeak #28](/zoe)[👧HaleyPeak #28](/haley)[👧HattiePeak #27](/hattie)[👧EstherPeak #27](/esther)[👧LucillePeak #27](/lucille)[👧MichelePeak #29](/michele)[👧JaimePeak #29](/jaime) ## 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 → ](/year/1967) * [ Names of the 1960s → ](/decade/1960s) * [ Names starting with "W" → ](/letter/w) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). 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 ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). 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.