Wendel
A masculine given name of Germanic origin meaning "wanderer" or "pilgrim".
Name Census estimates that about 1,238 living Americans carry the first name Wendel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Wendel today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wendel births was 1940 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wendel. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 276,861 Americans
Peak year
1940
45 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,791
Tracked since 1911
Census
Wendel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,487 people with the first name Wendel, which placed it at #9,370 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
#9,370
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,487 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wendel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wendel is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Wendel 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 Wendel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.1% · 909
- Black or African American23.4% · 348
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 101
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 74
- Two or more races2.2% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 22
Popularity
Wendel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wendel from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 344 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wendel 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 Wendel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wendels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Wendel, while Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wendel
The name Wendel has its origins in the Germanic language family, derived from the Old High German word "wandil," which means "to wander" or "to roam." It is believed to have emerged as a personal name during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions of present-day Germany and the Low Countries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wendel can be found in the 9th century, when it was mentioned in the Codex Laureshamensis, a medieval manuscript from the Lorsch Abbey in Germany. This document contains a list of landowners and tenants, including individuals with the name Wendel.
In the 12th century, a Benedictine monk named Wendel (or Wendelinus) lived in the region of Trier, Germany. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, and his feast day is celebrated on October 20th. According to legend, Wendel was known for his piety and his ability to perform miracles, particularly related to the protection of crops and livestock.
Another notable figure with the name Wendel was Wendel Hipler (1465-1526), a German humanist and theologian from Strasbourg. He was a prominent figure in the early years of the Protestant Reformation and a close associate of Martin Luther.
In the 17th century, Wendel Dietrich (1623-1689) was a German architect and military engineer who worked for various princes and nobility in the Holy Roman Empire. He is particularly known for his contributions to the design and fortification of cities and castles.
During the 19th century, Wendel Hibler (1811-1881) was a German-American pioneer and carpenter who settled in Wisconsin. He is credited with building one of the first frame houses in the city of Milwaukee and played a significant role in the early development of the area.
As the name Wendel spread throughout Europe and beyond, it has taken on various spellings and variations, such as Wendell, Wendelin, and Wendelinus. However, its underlying meaning and association with wandering or roaming have remained consistent throughout its historical usage.
People
Wendel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wendel 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
Wendel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wendel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wendel 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 276,861 US residents.
Is Wendel a common name?
We classify Wendel as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wendel most popular?
The single biggest year for Wendel was 1940, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wendel is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wendel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,487 people with the name Wendel, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,370 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 Wendel 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 Wendel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wendel leans strongly male. 1,440 people counted with this name were male (97.1%), compared with 43 female bearers (2.9%). 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 Wendel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wendel is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are Black (23.4%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Wendel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wendel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.1% (909 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 Wendel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wendel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wendel in the SSA data are male. 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 Wendel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wendel 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 Wendel 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 Wendel as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Wendel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.