Wendee
A feminine name of American origin meaning "to pursue, wander".
Name Census estimates that about 666 living Americans carry the first name Wendee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wendee today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wendee births was 1971 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wendee. 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.
People living today
666
~ 1 in 514,646 Americans
Peak year
1971
49 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1993 SSA rank
#15,726
Tracked since 1948
Popularity
Wendee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wendee from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 308 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wendee 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 Wendee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wendees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Michigan, Utah recorded the most babies named Wendee, while Wisconsin, Washington, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wendee
The name Wendee is a modern English spelling variation of the Old English name Wenda or Wende. It is derived from the Germanic root "wend," meaning "to go" or "to journey." This root is also found in the Old English word "wendan," meaning "to turn" or "to change direction."
The earliest known record of the name Wenda dates back to the 9th century in Anglo-Saxon England. It was initially a masculine name, but over time, it also became used as a feminine name. The name Wenda was particularly popular among the Anglo-Saxon nobility and aristocracy during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Wenda was Wenda, a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman and abbess of the monastery at Ely in East Anglia, England. She lived during the reign of King Egbert of Wessex and was known for her piety and dedication to religious life.
In the 11th century, the name Wenda appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings and households in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was still in use among the English population at that time.
During the Middle Ages, the name Wenda was also found in various chronicles and historical records, such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and the works of the Venerable Bede. However, it gradually fell out of common use by the late medieval period.
Notable historical figures with the name Wenda or its variations include:
1. Wenda, 9th-century Anglo-Saxon abbess of Ely (mentioned above).
2. Wenda of Warenne, a 12th-century Norman noblewoman and wife of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey.
3. Wende von Brabant, a 13th-century German noblewoman and wife of Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV.
4. Wendelin von Trier, a 7th-century Frankish abbot and saint, known as the patron saint of shepherds and herdsmen.
5. Wende Capstick, a 20th-century American artist and illustrator known for her work in the field of children's literature.
The modern spelling variation "Wendee" emerged in the 20th century, likely as a feminized form of the name Wendell, which itself is derived from the Old English "Wendhyll" meaning "winding hill." While not as common as some other names, Wendee has remained a unique and distinctive name choice for girls throughout the English-speaking world.
People
Wendee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wendee 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
Wendee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wendee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 666 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wendee 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 514,646 US residents.
Is Wendee a common name?
We classify Wendee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wendee most popular?
The single biggest year for Wendee was 1971, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wendee is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Wendee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wendee 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.
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.