Surname Wendte - Meaning and Origin
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Wendte: What does the surname Wendte mean?
The last name Wendte, also sometimes spelled as “Vendte”, originates from Germany and is a locational surname referring to those who hailed from settlements called Wende or Wenden. These settlements were named after the Wendland region, which is part of Lower Saxony. The name is thought to derive from the Old Germanic word “wenden”, meaning ‘to turn’, such as referring to something used for turning around or an assembly of people turning together.
The Wendte surname likely developed during the 13th-15th century when family names began to become more commonplace. During this time, people were often identified according to the place where they were born, or the area in which their land and home were located. So people began using suffixes such as “-er”, “-hauer”, and “-s” to signify their place of origin, and this is how the Wendte surname began.
Today, the Wendte family is spread throughout Germany and beyond, with descendents living in America, Australia, and more. It remains a popular surname amongst those who originate from Wendland and its surrounding areas. Notable people named Wendte include Johannes Wendte, an 18th century German entomologist, and Georg Wendte, an 18th century German baker who was honored by the local chamber of commerce for his successful business.
Order DNA origin analysisWendte: Where does the name Wendte come from?
The surname Wendte is a found primarily in German-speaking countries today. The name is common in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Poland. Germany is the most populous of these countries, and Palatines who immigrated to the United States from the Palatinate region of Germany in the early 1700s brought the Wendte surname with them.
Most Wendte families today can trace their roots to the the Palatinate region of Germany, where evidence of the name first appeared in the 13th or 14th century. In the 1800s and 1900s, the Wendte name was found in other regions around Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as families with the Wendte surname moved.
Today, the official registry of German names shows that the Wendte surname is amongst the top 40,000 most common names in Germany, and the most common Wendte surname spelling is the same in all German-speaking countries: Wenkte. In Switzerland, the Wendte surname is still relatively common, while in Austria and Luxembourg it ranks in the top 1 million. In Poland, Wendte is a much rarer name but has been growing in popularity over the last several decades.
The Wendte surname is also found among German-American communities in the United States, especially among descendants of the Palatine Germans who arrived in the 1700s.
Variations of the surname Wendte
The surname Wendte has several different variants, spellings, and surnames of the same origin. The most common variant of the surname is Wendt, which is the form that is most frequently found in Germanic countries. This form of the surname is typically spelled Wändt in German-speaking countries such as Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The variant spelled Windte is usually found in Dutch-speaking countries such Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
Other variants of the surname include Wend, Wind, and Winde. The surname Wend is often encountered in areas with German-Jewish populations such as in the United States, Canada and Israel. The spelling Wind is primarily found among Dutch-speaking individuals, while the variant Winde is very rare.
The Swedish cognate of the surname is Wändt. This form of the surname is derived from a farm name located near Visnums Kommun in northern Sweden. The farm was reportedly built by a man by the name of Magnus Wendte sometime prior to the 16th century.
The German language form of the name, Wendte, is also seen as an present day surname. The spelling is quite uncommon however, as most German-speaking individuals prefer to use the variant Wendt. Other language forms, such as Wendtz and Vendte, have been found in some parts of Europe, though these are much more rare.
The surname Wendte is also seen in combination with other surnames, such as “von Wendte”. This form is most often found in Austria and Germany and is used to designate an individual who claimed or descended from a Wendte family.
Famous people with the name Wendte
- Joe Wendte: Former professional baseball player with the Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates.
- Cliff Wendte: Former professional football player with the Green Bay Packers and Los Angeles Rams.
- Wesley Ezekiel Wendte: Composer and arranger of concert music.
- Lisa Wendte: Television news anchor and reporter who works in the Chicago market.
- Robert Wendte: Award-winning actor who starred in films such as Annie Hall and The Godfather Part II.
- William Wendte: American painter from Brooklyn.
- Pete Wendte: Professional skier who has competed in the Olympics.
- Arnold Wendte: German composer and music scholar who wrote the well-known canons "Achtlieder".
- Marilyn Wendte: Award-winning actress who starred in films such as Terms of Endearment and Scarface.
- Marcia Wendte: Award-winning Broadway musical director and choreographer who has worked on shows such as A Chorus Line and Chicago.