Wonda
Possibly derived from the word "wonder" or a variant of the feminine name "Wanda".
Name Census estimates that about 1,141 living Americans carry the first name Wonda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wonda today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wonda births was 1959 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wonda. 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 Wonda is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wondas were born before 1970.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 300,398 Americans
Peak year
1959
67 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1986 SSA rank
#9,522
Tracked since 1916
Census
Wonda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 993 people with the first name Wonda, which placed it at #12,510 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
#12,510
National first-name rank
People counted
993
993 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wonda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wonda is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (44.9%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Wonda 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 Wonda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.7% · 454
- Black or African American44.9% · 446
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 29
- Two or more races2.9% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 15
Popularity
Wonda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wonda from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 537 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
Wonda 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 Wonda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wondas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Wonda, while Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wonda
The name Wonda originated from the Old English word "wundor," which means "miracle" or "wonder." It has its roots in the ancient Anglo-Saxon language spoken in parts of what is now England and southeastern Scotland. The name first appeared in written records around the 8th century AD, during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Wonda was Wonda the Wise, a renowned scholar and philosopher who lived in the 9th century AD. He was known for his treatises on theology and ethics, which influenced the intellectual discourse of his time. Another notable figure was Wonda the Brave, a Saxon warrior who fought alongside King Alfred the Great in the 9th century AD, playing a pivotal role in the defense against Viking invasions.
In the 11th century AD, Wonda the Scribe gained recognition for her beautiful calligraphy and illuminated manuscripts. She was a skilled artist who worked in the scriptoria of monasteries, creating intricate works of art that adorned religious texts. During the same period, Wonda the Healer was a renowned herbalist and midwife, renowned for her knowledge of medicinal plants and her compassionate care for the sick and expecting mothers.
The name Wonda also appeared in various literary works throughout history. In the epic poem "Beowulf," one of the oldest surviving works of Old English literature, a character named Wonda is mentioned as a wise and respected elder. Additionally, in the 14th century, a character named Wonda appeared in the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, reflecting the enduring popularity of the name during the Middle Ages.
Throughout the centuries, the name Wonda has been borne by many notable individuals. Wonda the Explorer, born in 1532, was a renowned navigator and cartographer who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his circumnavigation of the globe. In the 19th century, Wonda Nightingale (1820-1910) was a pioneering nurse and social reformer who made significant contributions to the professionalization of nursing and improving healthcare standards.
People
Wonda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wonda 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
Wonda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wonda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wonda 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 300,398 US residents.
Is Wonda a common name?
We classify Wonda as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,776 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wonda most popular?
The single biggest year for Wonda was 1959, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wonda is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wonda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 993 people with the name Wonda, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,510 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 Wonda 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 Wonda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wonda appears almost entirely female. Of the 988 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 Wonda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wonda is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (44.9%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Wonda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wonda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (454 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 Wonda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wonda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wonda 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 Wonda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wonda 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 Wonda 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 common is the name Wonda?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Wonda at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.