Wendy

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Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries.

The name is found in United States records from the 19th century; the name Wendy appeared over twenty times in the U.S. Census of 1880. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a name for both women and men in the 1881 census of England, and was occasionally used as a diminutive for the Welsh Gwendolyn. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. However, its existence in Britain as a feminine name is owed to the character Wendy Darling from the 1904 play Peter Pan and its 1911 novelization Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie. Its popularity reached a peak in the 1960s but 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 Rs, Margaret reportedly used to call him "my fwiendy-wendy".

The name Wendy is sometimes considered a variation of the (originally Polish) name Wanda.

The name Wendy in Dutch is either of Anglo-Saxon origin or an abbreviation of names such as Wendela (an old-fashioned name which probably means related to the Vandals).

Chinese women with the same or similar-sounding characters as their given names often anglicise their names as Wendi or Wendy (e.g. Wendi Deng, Wendy Kweh).

In Germany, after 1986, the name Wendy became popular because it is the name of a magazine (targeted specifically at young girls) about horses and horse riding.

Video Wendy

People

In film, television, and radio

Wendy Beckett, nun and TV presenter on art history
Wendy Calio (born 1977), American actress
Wendy Craig (born 1934), British actress
Wendy Greengross (1925-2012), British general practitioner and broadcaster
Wendy Hiller, English film and stage actress
Wendy Hurrell (born 1982), British weather presenter
Wendy Kaufman, television personality and Snapple spokesperson
Wendie Malick, born Wendy Malick, American actress and fashion model
Wendy Mesley, host and reporter for CBC Television's consumer investigation series Marketplace
Wendy Padbury (born 1947), British actress
Wendy Richard (1943-2009), British actress
Wendy Toye (1917-2010), British actress and filmmaker
Wendy Williams, radio host, media personality and author

In sports

Wendy Brown (heptathlete), American heptathlete
Wendy Cruz, Dominican Republic cyclist
Wendy Fuller, Canadian diver
Wendy Lucero, American diver
Wendy Richter, American wrestler
Wendy Wyland (1964-2003), American diver

In the arts

Wendy Carlos, American composer
Wendy Chung, Hong Kong pop and C-Pop lyricist
Wendy J. Fox, American author
Wendy Holden (born 1961), British journalist and author
Wendy Holden (born 1965), British chick-lit novelist
Wendy James, Transvision Vamp's singer
Wendy Melvoin, musician and composer and twin sister of Susannah Melvoin
Wendy Pepper, 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, New York City Ballet principal dancer
Wendy O. Williams, stripper turned punk rocker and leader of the Plasmatics
Wendy Wilson, pop singer and daughter of The Beach Boys singer, Brian Wilson
Wendy Rose (born May 8, 1948) is a Hopi/Miwok writer.

Other

Wendy Chung, geneticist
Wendy Fitzwilliam, Miss Universe 1998 from Trinidad and Tobago
Wendy M. Masiello, United States Air Force officer
Melinda Lou "Wendy" Morse, daughter of businessman Dave Thomas, founder of the Wendy's fast food chain

Maps Wendy

Fictional characters

Wendy Darling, in Peter Pan
Wendy the Good Little Witch, a character in Harvey Comics
Wendy Harris (Super Friends), in the Super Friends cartoon and comic book
Wendy O. Koopa, one of Bowser's Koopalings introduced in the video game Super Mario Bros. 3
The first name of Agent Pleakley, a male alien character from Lilo & Stitch
Wendy Peffercorn, from The Sandlot
Wendy Testaburger, from South Park
Wendy Winkle, from The Cramp Twins
Wendy Wu, the titular character of Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior
Wendy, a character in Bob the Builder
Wendy Corduroy, from Gravity Falls
Wendy Marvell, from Fairy Tail
Wendy Peyser, from American Horror Story: Asylum
Wendy Torrance, from Stephen King's The Shining