Boys' name · peaked in 1940
Wendell name popularity since 1925
47,248 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Wendell (1.1% girls, 98.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1956 or earlier, so the typical Wendell is about 70 years old in 2026. Wendell peaked in 1940 as the #114 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 47,248
- Named Wendell, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,165 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.9% boys
- 528 girls · 46,720 boys
- Most popular in
- Hawaii
- 3.95× its national share
Peak year is the year Wendell made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Wendell births per year, 1925–2025
1940 was the biggest year for Wendell both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1935 and 1940, Wendell became 2.2× more common, from 1 in 1,590 baby boys to 1 in 713.
- Steepest fall: Between 1940 and 1945, its share of baby boys fell by 69%, from 1 in 713 to 1 in 2,290.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Wendell's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Wendell.
Decade by decade
Babies named Wendell in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 33 | 3,245 | – |
| 1930s | 49 | 6,217 | #194 |
| 1940s | 120 | 8,378 | #229 |
| 1950s | 134 | 9,904 | #229 |
| 1960s | 141 | 8,968 | #254 |
| 1970s | 26 | 3,714 | #442 |
| 1980s | 20 | 2,615 | #562 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,555 | #859 |
| 2000s | 0 | 904 | #1,634 |
| 2010s | 5 | 731 | #1,929 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 489 | #2,165 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
39.0% of babies named Wendell from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Wendell is most popular
The index compares Wendell's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Wendell.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 3.95× | 534 |
| Kentucky | 3.47× | 2,513 |
| Georgia | 2.27× | 2,718 |
| Oklahoma | 2.20× | 1,244 |
| Alabama | 2.15× | 1,651 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Wendell and were given to at least 1,000 boys from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Boys | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Wendell (this page) | 46,720 | 1940 |
| Wendall | 2,209 | 1904 |
| Wendel | 1,894 | 1940 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Wendell's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Wendell.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Wendell (1940).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data