Wendi is a modern English spelling of Wendy, a name popularized in literature and often linked to 'friend.'
Wendi is a variant spelling of one of the most charming origin stories in English onomastics. M. Barrie for his 1904 stage play Peter Pan — and then the 1911 novel.
E. Henley. Margaret, who died at age five, used to call Barrie her "friendy-wendy," a toddler's mispronunciation that Barrie immortalized.
Before Peter Pan, Wendy was vanishingly rare; after it, the name spread across the English-speaking world. Some etymologists have attempted to find deeper roots, pointing to a Welsh word "gwen" meaning white or fair, suggesting Wendy could be a variant of Gwendolyn or Guinevere. Whether or not this etymology is authentic, it gives the name a Celtic underpinning that parents of Welsh heritage have been happy to embrace.
Wendy Darling herself — practical, maternal, imaginative, the girl who wanted to be a mother to lost boys — shaped the name's personality: nurturing but spirited, grounded but drawn to wonder. The Wendi spelling, which emerged primarily in the mid-twentieth century as American parents began personalizing traditional spellings, gives the name a slightly more modern feel without altering its sound. It enjoyed popularity through the 1960s and 1970s and now sits in the vintage register, poised for the kind of quiet rediscovery that cycles through every generation.