Family name origins & meanings
- German : nickname for an eccentric or moody person, from Middle High German wunderlīch ‘odd’, ‘capricious’, ‘unpredictable’ (a derivative of wunder, Old High German wundar ‘puzzle’, ‘marvel’).
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : probably an anecdotal nickname from Yiddish vunderlekh ‘wonderful’, ‘marvellous’, based on some now irrecoverable event, but possibly also a descriptive nickname from German wunderlich ‘odd’, ‘strange’.