# Wendy (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/wendy/  
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 | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “friend”, “island at the river bend”, “watercourse with a bend”, “island” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈwɛn.di/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Wenda |
| US babies named this | 263,276 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 951 / 262,325 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 525, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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”).

## What it means

Wendy is grouped under friend.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 419 | 676 |
| 2012 | 359 | 769 |
| 2013 | 395 | 708 |
| 2014 | 359 | 782 |
| 2015 | 288 | 944 |
| 2016 | 328 | 860 |
| 2017 | 230 | 1,101 |
| 2018 | 273 | 970 |
| 2019 | 222 | 1,107 |
| 2020 | 196 | 1,188 |
| 2021 | 196 | 1,214 |
| 2022 | 192 | 1,255 |
| 2023 | 176 | 1,301 |
| 2024 | 225 | 1,097 |
| 2025 | 165 | 1,347 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 18 | 3,323 |
| 1990 | 16 | 3,770 |
| 1991 | 24 | 2,824 |
| 1993 | 14 | 4,440 |
| 1994 | 8 | 6,948 |
| 1995 | 8 | 6,968 |
| 1996 | 10 | 5,966 |
| 1997 | 6 | 9,219 |
| 1999 | 6 | 9,860 |
| 2000 | 9 | 7,382 |
| 2001 | 8 | 8,307 |
| 2003 | 6 | 10,841 |
| 2004 | 7 | 9,897 |
| 2006 | 5 | 13,937 |
| 2011 | 5 | 14,239 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 18 | 1,608 |
| 2012 | 16 | 1,809 |
| 2013 | 16 | 1,774 |
| 2014 | 11 | 2,314 |
| 2015 | 26 | 1,279 |
| 2016 | 16 | 1,834 |
| 2017 | 11 | 2,341 |
| 2018 | 15 | 1,887 |
| 2019 | 13 | 2,040 |
| 2020 | 21 | 1,449 |
| 2021 | 12 | 2,201 |
| 2022 | 16 | 1,767 |
| 2023 | 15 | 1,863 |
| 2024 | 9 | 2,771 |
| 2025 | 16 | 1,809 |

## In other languages

- Dutch: Wendi
- French: Wendy
- Greek: Γουέντι
- Italian: Wendy
- Japanese: ウェンディ
- Portuguese: Wendy

## People named Wendy

- Wendy Hiller, English film and stage actress (1912-2003)
- Wendy Carlos, American composer and electronic musician (born 1939)
- Wendy Williams, American media personality (born 1964)
- Wendy Schaal, American actress
- Wendy Brown, American political theorist
- Wendy Turnbull, Australian tennis player
- Wendy Crewson, Canadian actress
- Wendy Freedman, Canadian-American astronomer
- Wendy Barrie, British actress
- Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright (1950–2006)
- Wendy O. Williams, American singer (1949–1998)
- Wendy Houvenaghel, British racing cyclist

## 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.