Meaning & Origin
A surname originating as a patronymic.
Wendell is a boy's and girl's baby name of Germanic origin, from the Old High German tribal name Wandal, meaning 'wanderer' or referring to the Vandal people of central Europe. It became an English surname before transitioning to a given name, carried by figures like poet Oliver Wendell Holmes.
With over 53,700 U.S. births, Wendell has a long American history — it carries the slightly bookish, distinguished quality of an older American gentleman's name, now feeling fresh and distinctive after decades of rest.