Wendy Thomas Morse has always been “proud” to represent the brand, but it came with some pressure.

Why Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas apologized to daughter for naming restaurant after her

Wendy Thomas Morse has always been "proud" to represent the brand, but it came with some pressure.

By Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino

Daysia Tolentino is a writer at *. *She has written for * *since 2025. Her work has appeared in NBC News, Vulture, GQ, and InStyle.

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December 25, 2025 11:00 p.m. ET

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Wendy Morse, daughter of Wendy's fast-food chain founder Dave Thomas, posing under her namesake restaurant. Credit:

Will And Deni McIntyre/Getty

Wendy Thomas Morse, the namesake of Wendy's fast food restaurants recently opened up about becoming the face of a nationwide burger chain at such a young age.

Opened in 1969, Wendy's started as a humble hamburger joint in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Founder Dave Thomas decided to name his restaurant after one of his five children, eventually landing on his daughter Melinda Lou's nickname Wendy.

Wendy Morse posing with the Wendy's restaurant logo of her as a child.

Will And Deni McIntyre/Getty

Morse was 8 when she became the official face of Wendy's, which grew into an international fast food chain with thousands of locations. While her father could not have anticipated the global expansion of his local eatery in 1969, Morse said he apologized for using her name when she was an adult.

"Probably 10 years before my dad passed, we talked about my name and namesake, and he just goes, 'I'm really sorry I did that to you,' which was really... to hear your father say, 'Probably should just named it Dave's and that'd been a lot easier,' was a lot," Morse told PEOPLE.

While the businesswoman said she was "proud" to have inspired the restaurant's name, Morse admitted that it felt like a big responsibility when she was younger.

"It was just nice to hear that he felt for me a little bit, like the pressure and the responsibility of being the namesake of a restaurant," she added.

Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, died in 2002.

Peter Power/Toronto Star via Getty

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Dave Thomas died in 2002 at the age of 69. While Wendy's is a public company, Morse and her siblings still own quite a few franchises. She said people often incorrectly assume that she has made a lot of money by being the face of the brand.

"They think that there's a pot of gold behind that," she said. "It's a public company, of course, but I'm honored that I represent the brand and I try to represent it well."

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