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Wendy was created by J.M. Barrie for Peter Pan (1904) from the expression my friendy pronounced as my fwendy by his little friend Margaret Henley (who died c. 1895 at age six) or, as variation, from the expression fwendy-wendy (from friendy pronounced as fwendy and a rhyming word) that Margaret used to refer to Barrie.

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But an independent use of Wendy, for boys and girls, was known in the middle 19th c., probably originated as nickname of Welsh names starting with Gwen- or as nickname of Anglicizations of these names. For example, a genealogical researcher has found examples of use since the end of the 18th c.:

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"I must admit to being annoyed when I tell people my name. They always insist on mentioning Peter Pan. During my family reseach I have come across the name Wendy twice in the 1881 census of England, one born 1840, and one born in 1880. The magazine Family History also states that Wendy, along with the names Marian and Shirley were once boys names, and that in 1797 a boy named Wendy was apprenticed to some one in Glos."

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http://www.wendy.com/wendyweb/history.html

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Lumia
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