Wendy
Girl nameWendy has been given to 263,276 babies in the U.S. since 1918. It peaked in 1967.
Meaning & origin /ˈwɛn.di/
Popularized by the character in J. M. Barrie's play, Peter Pan (1904), though occasionally found earlier; the author explained that he got it from Fwendy-Wendy ("friend"), a nickname given to him by a child. Alternatively, from a diminutive of the Welsh Gwendolen; or from Wendelin, a diminutive of Wendel; therefore a doublet of Gwen. A habitational forename meaning, "island at the river bend", from Old English wende (“watercourse with a bend”) + ēġ (“island”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Popularity over time births per year, 1880–2025
Total babies
263,276
Peak year
1967 (11,259 babies)
Rank in 2025
Below top 1000
First recorded
1918
10-year trend
▼ -43%
Gender split
100% girls / 0% boys
Famous people named Wendy
Wendy Hiller
English film and stage actress (1912-2003)
Wendy Carlos
American composer and electronic musician (born 1939)
Wendie Malick
American film, television and voice actress
Wendy B. Lawrence
US astronaut and Navy Captain
Notability data from Wikidata (CC0).
Names with a similar vibe
Same primary gender, peaked around the same years, and roughly as common as Wendy.
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