ninan.org

Wendy

Girls' name · Late 20th-century

Living in the US
~239,400 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,341 among girls
Births in 2025
165 263,276 since 1880
Typical age
56 years, median

Wendy popularity over time

Wendy rank by birth year, 1918–2025Wendy ranked #4,809 in 1918 and #1,341 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #28, in 1970.#100#1,000#1,341best #28 in 1970192019401960198020002020
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1918–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1967 is the peak year for Wendy, with 11,259 births. 1918 is the earliest year with at least five recorded births. It has held a top-100 place in 26 separate years.

The 2025 position is #1,341, on 165 births. Over ten years the count has fallen 43%. It slipped 246 places against the previous year.

Babies named Wendy per yearPeaks at 11,259 births in 1967.11,259 in 19670192019401960198020002020
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Wendy?

An estimated 239,400 living Americans are called Wendy. SSA has recorded 263,276 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Wendy?

The typical living Wendy is 56 years old. More of them were born in the 1960s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Wendy a late 20th-century name.

Your Wendy

Ages of living people named WendyHalf of living Wendys are older than 56 and half younger.median 56020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Wendy is most common

California uses the name 1.9× as often as the country as a whole. Utah, Washington and Maryland follow.

Where Wendy is used more than average4 states use the name Wendy more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.4× the national rateWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.9× the national rateCAUtah: 1.5× the national rateUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: 1.3× the national rateMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Wendy is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 464 1.9×
Utah 34 1.5×
Washington 58 1.4×
Maryland 40 1.3×

Wendy in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Wendy ranked #1,809 in 2025 on 16 births. That is 24% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Wendy comes from

Popularized by the character in J. 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.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Wendy

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Wendy Hiller English film and stage actress 1912–2003 47
Wendy Carlos American composer and electronic musician 1939 38
Wendy B. Lawrence US astronaut and Navy Captain 1959 34
Wendy Williams American media personality 1964 34
Wendy Schaal American actress 1954 29
Wendy Holdener Swiss alpine skier 1993 28
Wendy Turnbull Australian tennis player 1952 27
Wendy Crewson Canadian actress 1956 26
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,517 in 1948 to 2,612 in 1949 — 1.7 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Wendy

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/wendy.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).