Meaning and background
The story behind Wendell
Wendell reached given-name use through a German or Dutch surname based on Wendel. In America it also appears in the names of writer Oliver Wendell Holmes Senior and his son, the judge, reflecting a family surname used as a middle name. The two syllables have an old-fashioned personal-name sound, but the source does not justify a literal translation such as 'wanderer' for every Wendell.
- Origin
- Given name from a German or Dutch surname derived from the personal name Wendel. Source
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About Wendell
Recorded as a dog’s name
Wendell appears in 3 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/wɛndəl/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the first syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/wɛndəl/ · primary stress on syllable 1W EH1 N D AH0 L
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.