Wendel vs Wenonah
American parents have registered 2,147 Wendels since 1880, against 506 Wenonahs. Wendel is still ahead, with 5 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Wendel Wenonah
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 111 years in which either name was published, Wendel for 102 years and Wenonah for 9 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.
Side by side
| Wendel | Wenonah | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,147 | 506 |
| Most in one year | 45 | 26 |
| Babies in 2025 | 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 1,200 | 170 |
| Median age today | 58 | 55 |
| Peak year | 1940 | 1916 |
| Best rank | 952nd boys | 1,445th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 12,008th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1911 | 1903 |
| Girls / boys | 0 / 2,147 | 506 / 0 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Wendels alive today are over 58; half the Wenonahs are over 55. That is 3 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Wendel and Wenonah.