Wendell
Feminine · “a Wend”
Wendell is given to boys far more often — 53,763 boys against 567 girls since 1880. See Wendell as a boy name
Wendell is an old surname made into a first name, carried in America by an orator who gave up a comfortable law career for abolition and by a farmer-poet who went home to Kentucky. It is two syllables, solid and unhurried.
How old is the name Wendell?
Wendell first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Wendell alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 400 people named Wendell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Wendell most popular?
Wendell peaked in 1940, reaching #1549 nationally. See the whole 1940 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Wendel to Wendell
The story of Wendell
The Wendell family were early Dutch settlers of Albany, and their surname passed into New England families and from there into first names. Wendell Phillips was a young Boston lawyer from a wealthy family when he watched a mob drag the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison through the streets on a rope; he gave up his practice and became the movement's most famous speaker. A century later Wendell Berry left a teaching job in New York to farm the Kentucky land his family had worked for generations, and wrote about it for the rest of his life. The name is recorded for a few girls, but it is overwhelmingly a boy's.
Meaning
a Wend
From the German name Wendel, which referred to the Wends, the Slavic peoples living in eastern Germany. It came into English use as a surname and then as a first name.
How the name formed
- Wendel
- Wendell
Related forms: Wendel · Wendelin
Pronouncing Wendell
WEN-dul
Stress on the first syllable.
Nicknames for Wendell
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1913
- Most girls named
- 194025 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1549reached in 1940
- Change vs 1983
- −37.5%5 in 2019, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Wendell in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Wendel in German — same name
- Wendelin in German — related form
Wendells among us
people named Wendell are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Wendell sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a clear history and admirable American namesakes.
- Dell is a ready short form.
- It sounds traditional without being common among new babies.
- Many people hear it as a grandfather's name.
- A very few girls have been given it; for them it will read as a boy's name everywhere.
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Wendell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Wendells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Wendell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Wendell in 2025?
- Wendell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Wendell with classmates?
- Wendell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More W names
The most-given names starting with W, all years combined.
Wanda#5917 · Wendy#1341 · Willie#10107 · Wilma#3645 · Whitney#1043 · Willow#44 · Winifred#922 · Willa#422
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Wendell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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