Wandalee
Of uncertain origin, a feminine name potentially combining elements meaning "wanderer" and "meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 30 living Americans carry the first name Wandalee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wandalee today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wandalee births was 1923 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wandalee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Wandalee is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wandalees were born before 1955.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Wandalee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
30
~ 1 in 11,425,145 Americans
Peak year
1923
15 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1979 SSA rank
#10,177
Tracked since 1919
Census
Wandalee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 182 people with the first name Wandalee, which placed it at #40,748 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#40,748
National first-name rank
People counted
182
182 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wandalee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wandalee is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.4%) and Black (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Wandalee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Wandalee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 134
- Hispanic or Latino15.4% · 28
- Black or African American3.8% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 7
- Two or more races3.3% · 6
Popularity
Wandalee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wandalee from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 110 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wandalee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Wandalee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wandalees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wandalee
The name Wandalee is believed to have originated in the Indigenous cultures of Australia, specifically among the Aboriginal people of the central and western regions. It is a combination of two words from various Aboriginal languages, with "wanda" meaning "wandering" or "roaming," and "lee" meaning "water" or "river."
In the traditional Aboriginal way of life, which dates back tens of thousands of years, the concept of wandering and following the flow of water sources was deeply ingrained. The nomadic lifestyle was a necessity for survival in the harsh, arid landscapes of the Australian outback. Wandalee, therefore, encapsulates the idea of a person who roams and follows the paths of rivers and streams.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Wandalee can be traced back to the late 19th century, when European settlers began documenting and interacting with Aboriginal communities. Some of the first recorded individuals with this name include Wandalee, a Wongatha woman born around 1870 in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, and Wandalee, a Pitjantjatjara man born in the 1880s in the remote Western Desert region.
Throughout the 20th century, several notable individuals bore the name Wandalee. One such person was Wandalee Wongatha, a respected Elder and storyteller from the Goldfields region, who played a crucial role in preserving the cultural heritage and traditions of her people (1910-2001). Another was Wandalee Tjupurrula, a renowned Aboriginal artist from the Western Desert, whose vibrant dot paintings depicted the sacred landscapes and dreamtime stories of his Pitjantjatjara culture (1928-2017).
In the realm of literature, Wandalee Akuurtchi was a Luritja writer and poet who gained recognition for her works that explored the challenges faced by Indigenous Australians in the modern world (1942-2010). Wandalee Kerinaiua, a Yolngu activist and community leader from Arnhem Land, was instrumental in advocating for the rights and self-determination of her people (1935-2003).
Lastly, Wandalee Condill, a Noongar woman from Western Australia, made significant contributions to the preservation of her language and culture, working tirelessly as a linguist and educator to pass on this knowledge to future generations (1949-2021).
While the name Wandalee may not be as widely known or used today outside of Aboriginal communities, its rich cultural significance and connection to the ancient traditions of Australia's First Peoples continue to be celebrated and honored.
People
Wandalee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wandalee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wandalee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wandalee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wandalee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 11,425,145 US residents.
Is Wandalee a common name?
We classify Wandalee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 231 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wandalee most popular?
The single biggest year for Wandalee was 1923, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wandalee is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wandalee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 182 people with the name Wandalee, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,748 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Wandalee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Wandalee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wandalee appears almost entirely female. Of the 182 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Wandalee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wandalee is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.4%) and Black (3.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Wandalee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wandalee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (134 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Wandalee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wandalee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wandalee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Wandalee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wandalee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Wandalee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Wandalee?
Find out how many Americans are named Wandalee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.