How common is the name Wendy?

257,751 people in the United States have the first name Wendy, about 1 in 1,172. It ranks #208 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

WENDY

#208

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
257,751
About
1 in 1,172
This common or more
42.3%
Who bears it

Of the 257,751 people named Wendy, 72.7% reported their origin as White, 16.4% as Hispanic or Latino and 4.4% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Wendy peaked in 1967, when 11,259 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19182025
Peak year
1967
Births that year
11,259
In 2025*
165 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 263,276 babies have been given the name since 1918. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Wendy by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1970s, when it ranked #83. The largest share of babies named Wendy, 49.9%, were born between 1965 and 1980, Generation X's birth years.

1910s#11,6155
1920s#7,86345
1930s#1,671583
1940s#4388,428
1950s#19142,786
1960s#9189,212
1970s#8374,481
1980s#26522,426
1990s#51411,172
2000s#6519,612
2010s#1,5273,376
2020s#2,3001,150
Greatest Generation 1901–270%
Silent Generation 1928–451.2%
Baby boom 1946–6432.3%
Generation X 1965–8049.9%
Millennials 1981–9610.2%
Generation Z 1997–125.2%
2013 and later1.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Wendy is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Wendy has been most common in Hawaii (1.8×), Vermont (1.8×), and Utah (1.7×), and least common in Oklahoma (0.41×).

260,031 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Wendy

#206 Steve · 262,435#207 Gerald · 258,431#209 Ava · 257,513#210 Paula · 256,421

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Wendy, most common first.

#2,051 Wendi · 13,242#9,884 Wende · 1,377#11,985 Wenda · 1,053#52,900 Wendye · 104

Compare