Wenda
Feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Old English name Wendeberia.
Name Census estimates that about 696 living Americans carry the first name Wenda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wenda today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wenda births was 1956 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wenda. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Wenda is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wendas were born before 1970.
People living today
696
~ 1 in 492,463 Americans
Peak year
1956
43 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1982 SSA rank
#12,284
Tracked since 1935
Census
Wenda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,051 people with the first name Wenda, which placed it at #12,003 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,003
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,051 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wenda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wenda is White at 61.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.6%) and Black (15.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Wenda described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Wenda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.7% · 648
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.6% · 164
- Black or African American15.5% · 163
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 43
- Two or more races3.0% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Wenda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wenda from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 343 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wenda by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Wenda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wendas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Pennsylvania, California, New York recorded the most babies named Wenda, while Michigan, Illinois, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wenda
The name Wenda is believed to have its origins in Old English, tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain. It is thought to be derived from the Old English word "windan," meaning "to wind" or "to turn." This could suggest a connection to the winding paths or roads in certain areas, or perhaps a reference to the twisting and turning movements associated with certain professions or activities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wenda can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and property in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Wenda" in various entries, indicating its usage at the time.
Wenda was also the name of a 9th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who lived during the reign of King Egbert of Wessex. She is mentioned in several historical chronicles from that period, though details about her life are scarce.
In the 12th century, a nun named Wenda is recorded as being part of the religious community at the Benedictine abbey in Wilton, Wiltshire. Her name appears in the abbey's records, providing evidence of the name's continued use in medieval England.
During the Renaissance period, Wenda Loxley was a notable English poet and writer born in 1542. Her works included a collection of sonnets and a philosophical treatise on the nature of love, which earned her recognition among contemporary literary circles.
Another notable figure bearing the name Wenda was Wenda Parkinson, a British botanist and explorer born in 1845. She was renowned for her expeditions to the Amazon rainforest, where she discovered and cataloged numerous new plant species, contributing significantly to the field of botany.
It is worth noting that while the name Wenda has its roots in Old English, it has been less commonly used in recent times compared to its earlier historical presence. However, its unique and intriguing origins continue to make it a distinctive choice for those seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Wenda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wenda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wenda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wenda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wenda going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 492,463 US residents.
Is Wenda a common name?
We classify Wenda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,001 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wenda most popular?
The single biggest year for Wenda was 1956, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wenda is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wenda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,051 people with the name Wenda, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,003 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Wenda in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Wenda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wenda leans strongly female. 955 people counted with this name were female (90.7%), compared with 98 male bearers (9.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Wenda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wenda is White at 61.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.6%) and Black (15.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Wenda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wenda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.7% (648 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Wenda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wenda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wenda in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Wenda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wenda in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Wenda can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Wenda?
You can see how many Americans are named Wenda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.