Wanda is a female given name of Polish origin. It probably derives from the tribal name of the Wends. The name has long been popular in Poland where the legend of Princess Wanda has been circulating since at least the 12th century. In 1947, Wanda was cited as the second most popular name, after Mary, for Polish girls, and the most popular from Polish secular history. The name was made familiar in the English-speaking world by the 1883 novel Wanda, written by Ouida, the story line of which is based on the last years of the Hechingen branch of the Swabian House of Hohenzollern. In the United States, Wanda attained its highest popularity in the year 1934, peaking then at No. 47 on the list of names most frequently given to female infants. The name is popularly misinterpreted as meaning "wanderer."
Contents
Namesakes
Wanda Barfield, American pediatrician
Wanda Barzee (born 1945), American criminal convicted of the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart
Wanda Coleman (1946–2013), American poet
Wanda Cowley (1924–2017), New Zealand children's writer
Wanda Ford, American former basketball player
Wanda Hazel Gág (1893–1946), American author and illustrator of the children's book Millions of Cats
Wanda Gertz (1896–1958)
Wanda Gołkowska (1925–2013), Polish artist
Wanda Guenette (born 1962), Canadian volleyball player
Wanda Hatfield, Cherokee politician
Wanda Hawley (1895–1963), American silent film-era actress
Wanda Hendrix (1928–1981), American film actress
Wanda Hutchinson (born 1951), American R&B singer (the Emotions)
Wanda Jackson (born 1937), American rockabilly singer
Wanda Jakubowska (1907–1998)
Maria Wanda Jastrzębska (1924–1988), Polish electronics engineer and academic
Wanda John-Kehewin, Cree-Métis author and poet
Wanda Józefa Maria Kirchmayer (1901–1944), Polish engineer and resistance fighter
Wanda Klaff (1922–1946), German Nazi concentration camp overseer executed for war crimes
Wanda Kosakiewicz (1917–1989), French stage actress and love interest of both Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Sartre dedicated his The Roads to Freedom trilogy to her.
Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz (1886–1968), World War II anti-Nazi Polish leader
Wanda Lyzwinska (born 1953)
Wanda Landowska (1877–1959)
Wanda Malecka (1800–1860)
Wanda Panfil (born 1959)
Wanda Perdelwitz (1984–2025), German actress
Wanda Piłsudska (1918–2001)
Wanda Rewieńska (1897–1942), Polish geographer, executed by Nazi occupying forces
Wanda Rijo (born 1979), Dominican Republic weightlifter
Wanda Rutkiewicz (1943–1992), Polish mountain climber
Wanda dos Santos (1932–2025), Brazilian hurdler
Wanda Soto Tolentino, Puerto Rican politician
Wanda Stopa (1900–1924), Polish-American attorney and murderer
Wanda Sykes (born 1962), American actress, comedian, and writer.
Wanda Tinasky (pseudonym)
Wanda Toscanini Horowitz (1907–1998)
Wanda Vazquez Garced (born 1960), Governor of Puerto Rico
Wanda Ventham (born 1935), English actress
Wanda Warska (1930–2019), Polish jazz singer and composer
Wanda Wasilewska (1905–1964)
Wanda Wiley (1901–1987), American actress in silent films
Wanda Wiłkomirska (1929–2018)
Wanda Young (1943–2021), American R&B singer (the Marvelettes)
Fictional characters
Princess Wanda, legendary heroine in Polish folk mythology
Wanda Maximoff, alter-ego of the Avengers comic-book character Scarlet Witch (1964–continuing)
Wanda Maximoff, a film character based on Scarlet Witch.
Wanda, protagonist of the 1970 movie of the same name, written, directed and starring Barbara Loden
Wanda Firebaugh, character from the webcomic Erfworld (2007–continuing)
Wanda Seldon, key character in the 1993 novel Forward the Foundation, part of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series
Wanda, the protagonist of the 1809 stage play Wanda written by German poet Zacharias Werner and directed by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Wanda, heroine of the 1840 narrative poem Wanda by the Polish poet C. K. Norwid
Wanda, subject of the 1868 play Wanda, the Polish Queen by the Croatian dramatist Matija Ban
Music
Wanda (band) an Austrian Indie pop band
Kinda Fonda Wanda a song by Neil Young on his 1983 album Everybody's Rockin'