Wendel
A German and broader European surname ultimately tied to the old name Wendel, often linked by early scholars to the Vandals or to a root meaning “turn” or “change.”
The #6,149 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 55,410 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually traced to the old personal name Wendel, which appears in several medieval Germanic naming traditions. Earlier writers connected Wendel with the Vandals, treating it as an ethnic name; others suggested a Germanic root related to “turning,” “change,” or a boundary/mark. In English records, related forms such as Windel or Wendel were also treated as personal-name based surnames.
History
The name is well attested in medieval Europe, and one source notes it in France from the 11th century in forms such as Wendelin. English surname collections also connect it with medieval place-name and personal-name forms like Windlesora (later Windsor), though that history is not the same as every modern Wendel family line. In German-speaking areas, Wendel and related forms remained established as hereditary surnames.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early surname writers sometimes grouped Wendel with names like Wendelin and even with the ethnonym “Vandal,” showing how medieval name origins were often interpreted through older historical legends as much as language.
From the historical record
“(rarely) 2 f. the A.-Sax. pers. name Wenda (llie form Wendel — with dim. suff. -el — was commoner, esp. compounded) [the ethnic name : prob. f. an O.Teut. word seen in O.H.Ger. wentt, a bovmdary, turning (Mod. Ger. wende, a turning, turning-point); hence the Mark or March”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)