Girls' name · peaked in 1967
Wendy name popularity since 1925
263,255 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Wendy. Half of them were born in 1969 or earlier, so the typical Wendy is about 57 years old in 2026. Wendy peaked in 1967 as the #32 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 263,255
- Named Wendy, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,347 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 262,304 girls · 951 boys
- Most popular in
- Vermont
- 1.89× its national share
Peak year is the year Wendy made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Wendy births per year, 1925–2025
1967 was the biggest year for Wendy both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1944 and 1949, Wendy became 4.5× more common, from 1 in 2,970 baby girls to 1 in 655.
- Steepest fall: Between 1981 and 1986, its share of baby girls fell by 59%, from 1 in 462 to 1 in 1,130.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Wendy's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Wendy.
Decade by decade
Babies named Wendy in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 29 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 583 | 0 | #1,447 |
| 1940s | 8,423 | 5 | #290 |
| 1950s | 42,675 | 111 | #90 |
| 1960s | 88,963 | 249 | #39 |
| 1970s | 74,185 | 296 | #33 |
| 1980s | 22,268 | 158 | #162 |
| 1990s | 11,080 | 92 | #265 |
| 2000s | 9,577 | 35 | #350 |
| 2010s | 3,371 | 5 | #944 |
| 2020–25 | 1,150 | 0 | #1,347 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
49.9% of babies named Wendy from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Wendy is most popular
The index compares Wendy'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 Wendy.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 1.89× | 828 |
| Hawaii | 1.80× | 1,479 |
| Utah | 1.62× | 3,631 |
| Maine | 1.60× | 1,795 |
| Wisconsin | 1.54× | 7,957 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Wendy and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Wendy (this page) | 262,304 | 1967 |
| Wendi | 14,522 | 1971 |
| Wendie | 2,200 | 1970 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Wendy's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Wendy.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Wendy (1967).
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