How Many People Are Named Wendell Smith?
There are approximately 243 people named Wendell Smith living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,410,512 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Wendell with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Smith. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
243
1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Combination Rarity
Uncommon
First Name
View full profileWendell
Last Name
View full profileSmith
Wendell: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Wendell. The peak year was 1940 with 1,650 births. The average person named Wendell today is 61 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Wendell
In the 2020 Census, the first name Wendell was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (60.13%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (30.89%) and Two or More Races (2.92%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Wendell in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Wendell rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Smith Surname
The surname Smith was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Smith in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Wendell" has an estimated frequency of < 0.0001% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Smith" appears at a rate of 792.79 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Wendell are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 243 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Wendell
Other people with the surname Smith
Wendell Smith: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Wendell Smith?
We estimate approximately 243 people named Wendell Smith are alive in the United States today. The first name Wendell is shared by 30,632 Americans, and the surname Smith is shared by 2,717,332.
How rare is the name Wendell Smith?
This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,410,512 Americans. The first name Wendell is uncommon and the surname Smith is very common.
Is Wendell a male or female name?
Wendell is predominantly male, with 99.0% of bearers being male and 1.0% female. It peaked in popularity in 1940 and the average bearer today is 61 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Wendell?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Wendell was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (60.13%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (30.89%) and Two or More Races (2.92%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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