# Wendell (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/wendell/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “a wend” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 54,330 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 53,763 / 567 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

Short form of Germanic compound names beginning with the tribal name Wendel-, "a Wend".

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1963 | 13 | 3,798 |
| 1964 | 20 | 2,912 |
| 1965 | 10 | 4,486 |
| 1966 | 7 | 5,803 |
| 1967 | 15 | 3,478 |
| 1968 | 15 | 3,606 |
| 1969 | 15 | 3,772 |
| 1972 | 9 | 5,950 |
| 1975 | 6 | 9,043 |
| 1977 | 5 | 11,301 |
| 1978 | 6 | 9,728 |
| 1980 | 5 | 12,116 |
| 1982 | 7 | 9,218 |
| 1983 | 8 | 8,033 |
| 2019 | 5 | 17,847 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 52 | 2,436 |
| 2012 | 72 | 1,981 |
| 2013 | 71 | 1,963 |
| 2014 | 79 | 1,872 |
| 2015 | 76 | 1,929 |
| 2016 | 90 | 1,738 |
| 2017 | 76 | 1,916 |
| 2018 | 76 | 1,958 |
| 2019 | 78 | 1,914 |
| 2020 | 67 | 2,112 |
| 2021 | 84 | 1,852 |
| 2022 | 96 | 1,749 |
| 2023 | 101 | 1,692 |
| 2024 | 74 | 2,056 |
| 2025 | 67 | 2,165 |

## People named Wendell

- Wendell Meredith Stanley, American biochemist and virologist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1946)
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, American poet and physician (1809–1894)
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, American jurist (1841–1935); US Supreme Court justice from 1902 to 1932
- Wendell Willkie, American lawyer and corporate executive (1892–1944)
- Wendell Berry, American writer, activist, and poet from Kentucky (1934-2026)
- Wendell Nascimento Borges, Brazilian footballer
- Wendell Pierce, American actor and businessman
- Wendell Phillips, American abolitionist, advocate for Native Americans, orator and lawyer (1811-1884)
- Wendell Corey, American actor (1914–1968)
- Wendell Ford, American politician (1924–2015)
- Wendell R. Anderson, American politician (1933-2016)
- Wendell Carter Jr., American basketball player (born 1999)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.