- 958
- people in the U.S. have this name Get contact details for people named Wendy White
Meaning & Origins
This name was apparently coined by the playwright J. M. Barrie, who used it for the ‘little mother’ in his play Peter Pan (1904). He took it from the nickname Fwendy-Wendy (i.e. ‘friend’) used for him by a child acquaintance, Margaret Henley. It has also been suggested that this name may have originated as a pet form of Gwendolen. After peaking in the 1960s, use of the name declined quite rapidly.
| 162nd in the U.S. for 2011 |
English, Scottish, and Irish: from Middle English whit ‘white’, hence a nickname for someone with white hair or an unnaturally pale complexion. In some cases it represents a Middle English personal name, from an Old English byname, Hwīt(a), of this origin. As a Scottish and Irish surname it has been widely used as a translation of the many Gaelic names based on bán ‘white’ (see Bain 1) or fionn ‘fair’ (see Finn 1). There has also been some confusion with Wight.
| 19th in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Wendi, Wendie, Wendee, Wende, Wenda, Wendye, Wendey, Wend, Wenddy, Wendu
Whitaker, Whitehead, Whitney, Whitfield, Whitley, Whitman, Whittaker, Whittington, Whitlock, Whiting
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map
