Humanverse

Wendie vs Wenford

American parents have registered 2,200 Wendies since 1880, against 12 Wenfords. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Wendie against Wenford, 1880 to 2025 0 25 50 75 100 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Wendie Wenford

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 63 years in which either name was published, Wendie for 62 years and Wenford for 1 year. The lead changed hands once.

Side by side

  Wendie Wenford
Total US births 2,20012
Most in one year 897
Babies in 2025 under 5under 5
Estimated living today 1,9002
Median age today 5783
Peak year 19701932
Best rank 1,247th girls3,092nd boys
Rank in 2025 unrankedunranked
First recorded 19381932
Girls / boys 2,200 / 00 / 12

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 Wenfords alive today are over 83; half the Wendies are over 57. That is 26 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: Wendie and Wenford.