How Many People Are Named Wendy?
An estimated 220,971 people in the United States have the first name Wendy. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #240 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 54 years old, and Wendy peaked in popularity in 1967 with 11,258 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Wendy as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Wendy paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Wendy is overwhelmingly female, 951 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Wendy has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
220,971
About 1 in 1,551 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.6% confidence
Average Age
54
years old
Peak Year
1967
11,258 births
Total Registered
263,112
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Wendy
Wendy is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 263,112 total births registered, 99.6% were female.
Wendy as a male name
Ranked #14,239 in 2011
5 male births in 2011
Peak: 1970 (42 births)
Wendy as a female name
Ranked #1,097 in 2024
224 female births in 2024
Peak: 1967 (11,222 births)
Wendy: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Wendy span from the 1910s to the 2020s, covering 12 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 89,213 babies were registered. Wendy has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Wendy by Decade
How has Wendy tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Wendy by State
Birth registrations for Wendy span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Alaska, Wyoming, Delaware. On average, about 5,097 Wendys were registered per state.
Wendy + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Wendy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Wendy
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
Wendy: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wendy?
We estimate approximately 220,971 people named Wendy are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 1,551 Americans share this first name.
Is Wendy a common name?
Wendy is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 263,112 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Wendy most popular?
Wendy reached peak popularity in 1967, when 11,258 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Wendy is approximately 54 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Wendy a female name?
Wendy is predominantly female. 99.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Wendy Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Wendy Smith, Wendy Johnson, Wendy Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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