Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity in Britain as a feminine name is owed to the character Wendy Darling from the 1904 play '' Peter Pan'' and its 1911 novelisation '' Peter and Wendy'' by J. M. Barrie. Its popularity reached a peak in the 1960s, and subsequently declined. The name was inspired by young Margaret Henley, daughter of Barrie's poet friend W. E. Henley. With the common childhood difficulty pronouncing ''R''s, Margaret reportedly used to call him "my fwiendy-wendy". In Germany after 1986, the name Wendy became popular because it is the name of a

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

(targeted specifically at young girls) about horses and horse riding.

People

Business and politics

* Wendy Davis, American politician * Wendi Deng, Chinese-born American businesswoman * Wendy Morgan, Guernsey politician * Wendy Thomas (born 1961), daughter of fast food chain Wendy's founder Dave Thomas and the company's namesake * Wendy Thomas (politician) (born 1958 or 1959), New Hampshire state representative

Film, theatre, television, and radio

* Wendy Beckett (1930–2018), British religious sister and art historian *

Wendy Bergen Wendy Anne Bergen (January 3, 1956 – April 26, 2017) was a double Emmy award-winning television journalist. Bergen was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, and graduated from the University of Utah. She began her television career as a weather r ...

(1956–2017), American television journalist * Wendy Craig (born 1934), English actress * Wendy Davis (born 1966), American actress * Wendy Greengross (1925–2012), English general practitioner and broadcaster * Wendy Hiller (1912–2003), English actress * Wendy Hoopes (born 1972), Malaysian American voice actress * Wendy Kaufman (born 1958), American television personality * Wendie Malick (born 1950), American actress and former fashion model * Wendy Mesley (born 1957), Canadian television journalist and reporter * Wendy Morgan, English actress * Wendy Morgan, Canadian film director * Wendy Padbury (born 1947), English actress * Wendi Peters (born 1968), English actress * Wendy Phillips (born 1952), American actress * Wendy Richard (1943–2009), English actress * Wendy Robie (born 1953), American actress * Wendy Raquel Robinson (born 1967), American actress * Wendie Jo Sperber (1958–2005), American actress *

Wendy Schaal Wendy Schaal (born July 2, 1954) is an American actress known for her work in Joe Dante films such as '' Innerspace'', ''The 'Burbs'', and '' Small Soldiers''. Her other film credits include starring in films such as ''Where the Boys Are '84'', ...

(born 1954), American actress * Wendy Stites (born 1949), Australian production and costume designer *

Wendy Tilby Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis are a Canadian animation duo. On January 24, 2012, they received their second Oscar nomination, for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animated short film, '' Wild Life'' (2011). With their latest film, ''The ...

(born 1960), Canadian animator and director * Wendy Toye (1917–2010), English director and actress * Wendy Williams (1934–2019), English actress * Wendy Williams (born 1964), American television and radio presenter, businesswoman, author, actress and media personality *

Wendy O. Williams Wendy Orlean Williams (May 28, 1949 – April 6, 1998) was an American singer, best known as the lead singer of the punk rock band Plasmatics. She was noted for her onstage theatrics, which included partial nudity, exploding equipment, firing ...

(1949-1998), American singer and former member of Plasmatics.

Sports

Wendy Brown (heptathlete) Wendy Renee Brown (born January 28, 1966) is a retired heptathlete and triple jumper from the United States. She competed in the heptathlon at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, finishing in 18th place behind teammate Jackie Joyner K ...

, American heptathlete *

Wendy Cruz Wendy Ramón Cruz Martínez (born 7 March 1976 in Santiago de los Caballeros) is a former professional cyclist from the Dominican Republic. Nicknamed ''El Ciclon'' he won the gold medal in the men's individual road race at the 2007 Pan American ...

, Dominican Republic cyclist * Wendy Fuller, Canadian diver * Wendy Holdener, Swiss alpine skier *

Wendy Lucero Wendy Lucero-Schayes (born June 26, 1963 in Denver, Colorado) is a retired female diver from the United States, who competed for her native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics. A native of Denver, CO who attended Southern Illinois University, ...

, American diver * Wendie Renard, French football player * Wendy Richter, American wrestler *

Wendy Vereen Wenda "Wendy" Vereen (born April 24, 1966) is an American former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. She was the top ranked national runner in high school in 1983 and 1984. She set personal records of 11.17 ...

(born 1966), American former sprinter *

Wendy Weinberg Wendy Weinberg (now Wendy Weinberg Weil; born June 27, 1958) is an American former competition swimmer who was an Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and Maccabiah Games medalist. Swimming career At the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel, she won a ...

, American Olympic medalist swimmer * Wendy Wyland (1964-2003), American diver

Arts

Wendy Bagwell Wendell Lee "Wendy" Bagwell (May 16, 1925 – June 13, 1996) was the founding member and leader of the Southern gospel music and comedy trio Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters. Early years The son of Cajer and Arza Bagwell, Bagwell was born in Cha ...

(1925–1996), founding member and leader of the Southern gospel music and comedy trio Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters * Wendy Carlos, American composer * Wendy Chung, Hong Kong pop and C-Pop lyricist * Wendy Cope, English poet * Wendy Davies, British professor of history * Wendy J. Fox, American author * Wendy Holden (author, born 1961), British journalist and author * Wendy Holden (author, born 1965), British chick-lit novelist * Wendy James, Transvision Vamp's singer *

Wendy Mass Wendy Mass (born April 22, 1967) is an author of young adult novels and children's books. Her 2003 novel, '' A Mango-Shaped Space'' won the American Library Association (ALA) Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School in 2004. Her other no ...

(born 1967), American author especially of young adult and children's novels * Wendy Melvoin, musician and composer and twin sister of Susannah Melvoin * Wendy Partridge, costume designer *

Wendy Pepper Anne Eustis Pepper Stewart (August 23, 1964 – November 12, 2017), known as Wendy Pepper, was a fashion designer who appeared on the first season of the reality television show ''Project Runway'', which aired on Bravo from December 2004 throu ...

, fashion designer * Wendy Pini, creator, artist and writer of the fantasy comic book universe '' Elfquest'' * Wendy Shon, Korean singer and member of Red Velvet * Wendy Sulca, Peruvian singer * Wendy Wasserstein, American playwright *

Wendy Whelan Wendy Whelan (; born May 7, 1967) is an American ballet dancer. She was principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and performed with the company for 30 years, and toured in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Whelan has also been an influential gue ...

, American ballet dancer and associate artistic director of New York City Ballet *

, stripper turned punk rocker and leader of the Plasmatics * Wendy Wilson, pop singer of Wilson Phillips fame and daughter of The Beach Boys singer,

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

Wendy Rose Wendy Rose (born May 8, 1948) is a Hopi/Miwok writer. Having grown up in an environment which placed little emphasis on both her Native American and white background, much of her verse deals with her search for her personal identity. She is als ...

(born 1948), Hopi/Miwok writer.

Science and engineering

* Wendy Chung, geneticist * Wendy Gibson, British professor in protozoology * Wendy Lou (born 1962), Canadian statistician *

Wendy L. Martinez Wendy L. Martinez (née Poston) is an American statistician. She directs the Mathematical Statistics Research Center of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and is the coordinating editor of the journal ''Statistics Surveys'' (jointly sponsored by four ...

, American statistician * Wendy Lee Queen (born 1981), American chemist and material scientist

Other

* Wendy Albano (died 2012), American woman who was murdered in Bangkok * Wendy Fitzwilliam, Miss Universe 1998 from Trinidad and Tobago * Wendy M. Masiello, United States Air Force officer *

Wendy Metcalfe Wendy Metcalfe (born 1975 or 1976) is a Canadian journalist, editor and news executive who served as the first female editor-in-chief of the ''Toronto Sun'' newspaper between 2013 and 2015, and of the ''Ottawa Sun'' newspaper from 2014 to 2015. Si ...

, Canadian journalist, editor and news executive * Wendi Michelle Scott (born 1975), American criminal convicted of abusing her daughter in a case of Münchausen syndrome by proxy * Wendy Osefo, Academic and The Real Housewives of Potomac cast member

Fictional characters

Wendy Corduroy The Disney Channel television series ''Gravity Falls'' created by Alex Hirsch features an extensive cast of characters. All of the characters listed have appeared in the first and second seasons. Overview Main * Dipper Pines (voiced by Ja ...

in '' Gravity Falls'' * Wendy Harris in the ''Super Friends'' cartoon and comic book * Wendy Johnson in '' My Parents are Aliens'' * Wendy O. Koopa, one of the Koopalings in ''Mario'' franchise * Wendy Marvell in '' Fairy Tail'' *

Wendy Peyser The second season of the American horror anthology television series ''American Horror Story'', subtitled ''Asylum'', takes place in 1964 and follows the stories of the staff and inmates who occupy the fictional mental institution Briarcliff Mano ...

in '' American Horror Story: Asylum'' * Wendy Testaburger in ''

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

'' * Wendy Rhoades, wife of Chuck Rhoades and a psychiatrist/performance coach at Axe Capital in '' Showtime'' series ''Billions'' * Winnifred "Wendy" Torrance, one of the main characters in Stephen King's '' The Shining'' * Wendy Wu, the titular character of '' Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior'' *

Wendy the Good Little Witch Wendy the Good Little Witch is a fictional comic book character from Harvey Comics. Like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Wendy is an opposite-type character, a girl witch who does good deeds. Publication history Wendy ...

in Harvey Comics * Wendy, a character in '' Bob the Builder'' * Wendy Wolf, a character in '' Peppa Pig'' series * Wendy, a playable character in the indie survival game '' Don't Starve'' and its sequel ''Don't Starve Together'' * Wendy in ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...

'' * Wendy in French animated series ''Les Sisters'' * Wendy Darling in '' Peter Pan''

References

{{given name English feminine given names English given names invented by fiction writers