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Wendy
Hi, I've always loved the name Wendy and I might plan on naming a future daughter Wendy. Does Wendy remind you too much of the fast food restaurant?
It wouldn't bother me, I love the fast food restaurant, I just wouldn't want her to be bullied. Should I go for a alternative like Gwendolyn and nickname her Wendy? I don't like Gwendolyn as much, but it would do.
Thank you.
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I have a soft spot for it because of Peter Pan. But the fast food association really bothers me. I dislike fast food in general, one of the reasons why this current generation will probably have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. I don't think she will be bullied. I think you can just use Wendy. But I do like Gwendolyn.
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If you like Wendy then go for it. It has been used as a full name ever since Barrie wrote Peter Pan. I don't think of the chain.I do think it needs a serious sounding name behind it, to give it balance. Wendy May or Wendy Lucy screams "I'm a child".Wendy Caroline
Wendy Maria
Wendy Rosalind
Wendy Miriam
Wendy Olivia
Wendy Alice
Wendy Ruth
Wendy Helen
Wendy Margot
Wendy Cordelia
Wendy Alison
Wendy Victoria
Wendy Esther
Wendy Estelle
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There are no Wendy restaurants where I live, so I wouldn't know.It has lovely Peter Pan associations, but it is dated. I saw a death notice the other day for a woman born in 1944 whose name was Wendy Marilyn, or perhaps Marilyn Wendy; no doubt a very pretty combo in its day.If you like Wendy, then you should test-drive Gwendolen to see if people find Wendy a natural nn. I suspect they'd mostly if not entirely get stuck on Gwen, so you'd lose your fave. I'd love to meet a young Wendy: possibly because of the Peter Pan character, it seems permanently young, though the Wendy character does grow up, unlike Peter!
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I don’t think of Wendy’s and even though I live in the UK I don’y think a lot of people in the US do either. I don’t have a great association with it myself but that’s not a problem for you lol. And if you like Wendy a lot more than Gwendolyn, then use Wendy.
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I like Wendy and Gwendolyn
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I like Wendy. It reminds me more of Peter Pan than Wendy's. Don't use a name you don't like as much, Wendy is fine as a full name. If you had to use it as a nickname...
Wenda
Gwenda
Wendeline (feminized Wendelin)
Wendella (feminized surname)
Chinwendu
Gwendoline

This message was edited 9/19/2020, 10:13 PM

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My first thoughts wasn't Wendy's and I wouldn't have thought it if you didn't point it out (I'm not American tho). My first thoughts were either Wendy Darling of Peter Pan and Wendy the Good Witch of Casper. Both good associations really, nothing negative, but a little dated. It's one of those names I want to like more than I do. Apparently it comes from juvenile "fwendy" which sounds just incredibly American so it really does not make me think it less of a name. Kids don't say "fwendy" here lmao.The problem with names like that is your kids might just end up preferring Gwen and you might just have to live with that. You wanna name her Wendy, name her Wendy. I don't see a problem with it, personally.
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Response to both WinterWonderland and JananAh sorry. I didn't realise. Honestly it sounds American to me only because I have actually heard it in very old cartoons. I'm talking about the 1930s / 1940s era. I can't tell you what cartoons, though. Perhaps Casper was one of them. Either way I have American-accented small children saying "my fwendy" (and similar uses) in my head that I can't pinpoint where from.Though to be fair while that was my initial thoughts on the use of "fwendy", I can probably see a small child of any English-speaking origin try to say "friendly", though they don't usually go for the big words like that. "nice" is the usual go-to.
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As an American who has been around the block a time or two, I have no idea what "fwendy" is. I think we are blameless on this issue. Others, not so much. But that's a different topic.
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Barrie was Scottish and lived in London, so although we can blame lots of things on Americans I don't think we can blame "fwendy" on them. You're correct in that kids don't say it any more, although "fwend" was famously used as an insult in The Inbetweeners.
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