Wendel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine given name of Germanic origin, used mainly in German-speaking countries and in parts of North America
2. A male first name of German origin that is also found as a surname in several European and English-speaking countries
3. A personal name of Germanic origin given chiefly to boys, and sometimes carried as a family surname

Etymology: Wendel is a given name rooted in the Germanic people known as the Vandals, whose name was originally tied to "Wends" and the wider Slavic or Germanic "Vinidae" peoples. Its basic form is the Old High German "Wentil" or "Wandalo," a personal name built from an ethnic label that later became a diminutive-style byname in medieval Germany and the Low Countries. The name was used across the Holy Roman Empire, and it gained a lasting profile through Saint Wendelin, a seventh-century Frankish or Scottish-born hermit venerated as the patron of shepherds and herdsmen. His cult spread widely in southern Germany, which helped keep the name in use among ordinary families there for centuries. In modern German the name is familiar as a boy's name, and its variant forms, such as Wendelin, show the same root with a diminutive ending. The name is not commonly used in English-speaking countries outside German-speaking communities.