# Wendell (name)

Wendell is an alternate spelling of Wendel, a surname of Germanic origin. It is also a masculine given name in the United States, often given to commemorate poet Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894) or his son Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841–1935), a famous justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Wendell was the maiden name of Sarah Holmes, mother of Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Since about 1970 Wendell is a common given name in Brazil, where it has been borne by famous footballers. In the United States the popularity of the name peaked around 1940, then declined steadily after 1960.
Notable people with the name Wendell include:

## Given name

* Wendell Alexis (born 1964), American basketball player
* Wendell R. Anderson (1933–2016), American politician and ice hockey player
* Wendell Berry (born 1934), American novelist, poet, essayist and farmer
* Wendell Nascimento Borges (born 1993), Brazilian footballer
* Wendell Brown, American computer scientist, entrepreneur, and inventor
* Wendell Bryant (born 1980), American football player
* Wendell Butcher (1914–1988), American football player
* Wendell Burton (1947–2017), American actor and singer
* Wendell Carter Jr. (born 1999), American basketball player
* Wendell Ford (1924–2015), American politician
* Wendell James Franklin (1916–1994) African-American film executive
* Wendell Johnson (1906–1965), American psychologist and author
* Wendell Lawrence (born 1967), Bahamian triple jumper
* Wendell Lucena Ramalho (1947–2022), Brazilian football goalkeeper and coach
* Wendell Moore (footballer) (born 1964), Trinidadian footballer
* Wendell Moore Jr. (born 2001), American basketball player
* Wendell F. Moore (1918–1969), American engineer and inventor
* Wendell H. Murphy, American politician
* Wendell Cushing Neville (1870–1930), American major general, Medal of Honor recipient and Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
* Wendell Phillips (1811–1884), American abolitionist and activist
* Wendell Phillips (archaeologist) (1921–1975), American archaeologist and oil magnate
* Wendell Pierce (born 1963), American actor
* Wendell Pritchett, American lawyer, legal scholar, professor and university administrator
* Wendell Ramos (born 1978), Filipino actor
* Wendell Sailor (born 1974), Australian dual-code rugby international
* Wendell Scott (1921–1990), American NASCAR driver, first African-American driver and team owner to compete and win in all divisions of NASCAR
* Wendell Smith (sportswriter) (1914–1972), African-American sportswriter
* Wendell Meredith Stanley (1904–1971), American Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and virologist
* Wendell Craig Williams, American politician, former Assistant United States Attorney and Marine Corps colonel
* Wendell Willkie (1892–1944), American Republican Party nominee for the 1940 US presidential election

## Surname

* Barrett Wendell (1855–1921), American academic
* David Wendell, American associate professor
* Howard Wendell (1908–1975), American actor
* James Wendell ( 1890–1958), American 1912 Olympic silver medalist in the 110 m hurdles
* James A. Wendell (1869–1922), New York State Comptroller 1921–1922
* Krissy Wendell (born 1981), American ice hockey player
* Marty Wendell (1926–2012), American football player
* Nathan D. Wendell (1835–1886), New York State Treasurer 1880–1881
* Oliver Wendell (1845–1912), American astronomer
* Percy Langdon Wendell (1889–1932), American college football player and coach of college football and basketball
* Turk Wendell (born 1967), American former baseball relief pitcher

## Fictional characters

* Wendell Borton, a recurring character on the television series The Simpsons
* Wendel "Wen" Gifford, in the young adult novel Lemonade Mouth
* Mr. Wendell Hall, a character in the 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy movie Clueless
* Wendell, from the cartoon series Mike, Lu, and Og
* Wendell Fidget, a recurring character on the television series Sofia the First
* Wendell Bray, one of the interns of Temperance Brennan from the series Bones
* Prince Wendell, one of the main characters in a miniseries The 10th Kingdom
* Oliver Wendell Jones, one of the main characters in the comic strip Bloom County
* Wendell, a main character in the Netflix movie Wendell and Wild