Comments for WENDY:

I love this name! It's one of my favorite names ever! Besides Emma, Russell and Julianna this is my FAVORITE name! I recommend it very STRONGLY!

-- scorpio93  5/28/2005

Wendy also has a Biblical meaning: Wanderer in the Footsteps of the Lord.

-- Tbird  6/22/2005

Excuse me, but how can a name which does not occur in the Bible have a "Biblical meaning?" Personally I'm still waiting for the evidence that Wendy was used as a female given name (as opposed to unofficial nickname) before Barrie's play.

-- clevelandkentevans  8/14/2005

Let me clarify the comment above: The Bible is made up of the Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages. Example: although the name "Candace" isn't mentioned in the Bible, it's Latin which traces back to the Bible. Wendy isn't mentioned in the Bible, but what does that matter? The names used in the Bible and what not are translated, and do derive from different names and/or usages.

-- Tbird  8/17/2005

The above comment doesn't make any sense. Candace is in the bible, Wendy is not.

-- Anonymous User  8/22/2005

Maybe Candace is in the Bible; but it is also true that names develop and derive from different names and usages. And the Bible contains Greek, Hebrew and Latin. Example: the Latin name "Quintus" isn't mentioned in the Bible, but it does have a root.

-- Anonymous User  8/22/2005

Wendy is not in the Bible and therefore cannot have a biblical meaning. There is no evidence, furthermore, that the name was used before J.M. Barrie's play was written, except perhaps as a nickname. Names that have "roots" in the Bible are not the same as names that appear in the Bible.

-- tmarie  12/16/2005

Wendy is also the girl in the song "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen.

-- Elphi  12/17/2005

Stephen King used the name Wendy for the wife in "The Shining".

-- Anonymous User  12/17/2005

Dame Wendy Hiller was an English film and stage actress.

-- Anonymous User  12/20/2005

Wendy Testaburger is a South Park character, for a while Stan's girlfriend.

-- Anonymous User  12/22/2005

Well, Casper and Wendy, from the Casper movies, both their names mean "friend"! I think that's clever!

-- rubberduckiiz2  1/4/2006

I like this name. It is short and sweet and uncommon. No horrible nicknames can come from this but only the connection to the fast food restaurant.

-- Anonymous User  2/1/2006

Quite sweet sounding.

-- lindamaree  3/8/2006

Wendy is my name, and I've never overly enjoyed it. It's rather boring, actually. However, it is used for the restaurant, in Peter Pan, in the song of the same title by the Beach Boys (search the album "The Endless Summer" and you'll find it), and by Blink-182 in the title of the song "Wendy Clear." If you name your daughter this, at least give her a more exciting middle name. She'll appreciate it. :)

-- Anonymous User  4/7/2006

My name is Wendy too, and it really is a boring name. Of course, I will probably change it eventually, but I'll always keep it. As for if it was used by anyone before Peter Pan, information shows it as a nickname for anyone named Gwendolyn or Guinevere, so it could have been used for ages! I can't stand the name Gwendolyn, a kid I know used to call me that as a joke. The worst thing about the name Wendy is that it sounds like an old lady name.

-- Talis  9/23/2006

I haven't got any evidence of this, but logic suggests that a girl born or baptised in the parish of a church dedicated to St Wendelin (who was a male) might be given Wendy as a made-up name that was close to the church's name. That's where I would start looking for pre-JM Barrie Wendys.

-- Anneza  10/25/2006

The legendary punk singer, Wendy O. Williams.

-- Anonymous User  11/10/2006

There is an author named Wendy Corsi Staub.

-- Anonymous User  11/28/2006

I do not like this name, it is very common and it is also my mother's name.

-- love_names  12/7/2006

On the contrary, I don't see it as a common name at all. I named my first daughter Wendy -- I was surprised to see that it had such high rankings the year she was born. I LOVE this name! It doesn't sound old to me at all. It has always sounded bright, fresh, youthful, full of energy, and sweet.

-- Anonymous User  12/9/2006

I've loved this name ever since I first watched Peter Pan. It's a very cute little girl name and I believe the name came from a brilliant man. =)

-- alexinwonderland  12/30/2006

I'm sorry, but can you imagine how much the poor thing would be teased going through elementary/junior high school?

-- gracielou16  1/22/2007

There are several references to 'Wendy' as a first name on the LDS Genealogy website, The earliest being from England in 1524. The early references are almost certainly contractions of Gwendoline. There is also a village in Cambridgeshire, England with the name Wendy recorded in Domesday.

-- oleonepace  2/11/2007

In reference to the debate above regarding Biblical names: the Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Though there are Latin names in it, no part of it was originally in Latin.

Regarding the reference to the Domesday Book: you may be right about that but it might depend on who wrote it down and who read it. Some of those names are hard to make out. It's not uncommon even today for something to be mis-spelled or mis-read, or both.

-- Annabeau  2/15/2007

I think it's a rather pretty name. I don't think it's boring at all, and since my name is Martha, I think Wendy is not a name just for old ladies.

-- Martha Gold  3/27/2007

Well my name is Wendy too, and I like my name. I have always received complements on it. I have never had anyone make fun of my name in school. And I did get my name from the fast food resturant. I think the name is rather soothing. And it's not hard to say. And for you history buffs you might want to look up (Wendi). He was the first emperor of the Chinese Sui Dynasty back in (557-604). =)

-- wendywlw  4/9/2007

Wendy has on rare occasions been used as a male name, where it is a pet form of names such as Wendell. One example is the gospel singer and humorist Wendy Bagwell:
http://www.sgma.org/inductee_bios/Wendy_bagwell.htm

-- clevelandkentevans  4/30/2007

Wendy Testaburger was Stan's girlfriend in the first few seasons of South Park. She is best known as the political, sweet, outspoken and quite revengeful little girl with the beret.

-- Rockos_Modern_Life_1  6/6/2007

Wendy James was the vocalist in the 80's group Transvision Vamp.

-- Anonymous User  9/23/2007

I just searched the British births, marriages and deaths register (which begins in 1837) and found three Wendys born at least forty years before 1904, when Barrie's play was first staged. So clearly it was used as a name before then, though not very often. I'm also inclined to think it's a contraction of Gwendolen - though possibly it's from Anglo-Saxon wendan, 'to make one's way'.

-- Pie  10/22/2007

The son of William Lloyd Garrison, (the noted 19th century American abolitionist) was named Wendell Phillips Garrison after a family friend (also an abolitionist), and affectionately known in childhood as "Wendy". Although a son and not a daughter, it is perhaps worth mentioning. Wendell was born in 1840, graduated from Harvard in 1861, and as literary editor he co-founded the magazine, The Nation. He remained at the magazine from 1865 to 1906, dying in 1907. Attribution for his nickname can be found in the biography of his father, "All on Fire", by Henry Mayer, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1998, page 298.

-- saara  1/23/2008

I don't think James Barrie invented the name per se, I think he just popularised it.

-- Lynsey777  3/9/2008

My name is Wendy and I have never liked it! It is too simple and it is a very BORING name. And I think it's a bit old fashioned.

-- Anonymous User  4/6/2008

It's a pretty name, and even though the name ends in the ''ee'' sound, it doesn't come off as immature and too girly. The problem is that the obnoxious misogynist Wendy Shalit has ruined this name. The more I learn, the more names are ruined. Ah well.

-- slight night shiver  5/13/2008

My sister's name is Wendy, and she doesn't like it because she's only met one other Wendy. Like that's a bad thing. In the meantime, yes, you can get mean names out of this. I call her Windy all the time. I like this name, even if my sister doesn't.

-- welovejamesarness  6/17/2008

This name would be so sweet if you could think of Peter Pan, but when I hear it unfortunately the Peter Pan image gets pushed aside and it just sounds like the fast food chain and some trashy uneducated girl. I wish it didn't have that connection because the Peter Pan image is just so lovely but I always think "trashy" when I hear it especially because someone once decided to come up with "Wendi". Yuck.

-- Lily8  8/1/2008

My name is Wendy, and I love it! Sure, when I was in elementary school some kids called me "Wendy the Pooh" or things like that, but it wasn't that bad. By the time we got to middle and high school, no one made fun of my name. I always liked having a different name--makes me more unique. As for it being an "old lady name," I have to disagree 100%!

-- Anonymous User  10/20/2008

It doesn't seem like a formal name to me.

-- Anonymous User  10/28/2008

I can't seem to get the greasy fast food restaurant out of my head.

-- GunsnRoses8794  11/23/2008

I think it's a really nice name. It would go really well if the child had a 'W' surname. Overall I think it's a really pretty name.

-- walesgal92  2/17/2009

Wendy Richard, MBE (born Wendy Emerton 20 July 1943 – 26 February 2009) was an English actress best known for playing Miss Brahms in Are You Being Served? and Pauline Fowler in EastEnders. Great name, great actress. :)

-- walesgal92  6/26/2009

Yet another famous bearer is Wendy Craig (born 20 June 1934), who is a BAFTA Award winning English actress that is best known for her appearances in the sitcoms Butterflies, ... and Mother Makes Three and ... and Mother Makes Five. She currently plays the recurring role of Matron in popular TV series The Royal. :)

-- walesgal92  6/26/2009

In many first name books, the name Wendy is thought to mean "motherly" or "caring", because in the story of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie, the character Wendy Darling is referred to by the Lost Boys as "Mother", rather than "Wendy", because she is seen by them as the only motherly figure they have ever had. Other sources suggest the name Wendy could have originated as a diminutive of Gwendolen, which means "fair" or "white"; some sources also regard Gwendolen and Wendy to mean "white bow" or "white circle", the latter referring to the moon. Despite this, Wendy was not used as a first name officially until the beginning of the 20th Century, when J. M. Barrie's book Peter Pan was released, so it is more likely that the name was totally invented by J. M. Barrie, but with possible influences from Gwendolen, alternatively, in other sources, the name Wendy is also thought to mean "friend" or "friendly", this meaning originated from Barrie's close young friend, the 4 year-old Margaret Henley, who referred to Barrie as her "friendy-Wendy", which gave Barrie the name Wendy the idea for his main female protagonist in the book, Wendy Darling. :)

-- walesgal92  6/26/2009

I love the name Wendy! It has a nice sound and it isn't popular. I plan on naming one of my daughters Wendy. :)

-- Tessa P.  8/19/2009

Key: Meaning/History Usage Pronunciation Famous Bearer Personal Impression Other

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