My family name is Wendlinger. I've traced it to the mid-19th century
in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the part that became Austria. I'd
like to know the meaning of the name in German. (There are Wendlingers
and Wendlings in Munich and Prague, I believe.

Dear triggers1337,

The family name Wendlinger refers to the southern German or Austrian
place of origin of a family. I consulted encyclopedias on the
etymology of German family names, and these are the results:


WENDLING(ER)
Derivation from the place names Wendling (several places in the
Federal State of Bavaria) and Wendlingen (Federal State of
Baden-Württemberg). In 1279, one Wendelingarius, house owner in
Esslingen, relates to Wendlingen in Nürtingen County,
Baden-Württemberg.
The shorter Wendling is usually derived from the first name Wendelin,
for example in the case of Wendling Zimmermann of Hagenau (Alsace),
1518.

Source:
Professor Josef Karlmann Brechenmacher, "Etymologisches Wörterbuch der
deutschen Familiennamen", vol. 2. Published by C. A. Starke, 1957


WENDLING(ER)
Provenance name relating to the place names Wendling (Bavaria and
Austria) and Wendlingen (Federal States of Baden-Württemberg and
Rhineland-Palatinate).
The family name Wendling can be a patronymical creation with the
"-ing" suffix, based on "Wendel" or a variant of "Wendelin".
"Wendel" is a family name derived from shortforms of both male and
female first names including the word "wandal" (for example from
Wandelbert, wandal + beraht; Wandelgard, wandal + gart).
"Wendelin" is a family name derived from an affectionate form of the
name Wendel by adding the diminutive suffix "-lin".

Source:
Duden Familiennamen. Published by Dudenverlag, 2000. ISBN 3-411-70851-4


So your family name "Wendlinger" means "from Wendling", or "from
Wendlingen". Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to say which
Wendling/Wendlingen is the particular one your name refers to. There
are four places of the name Wendlingen in Germany today (one in
Rhineland-Palatinate, three in Baden-Württemberg), four places of the
name Wendling (all of them in Bavaria), and one Wendling in Austria
(Grieskirchen District, State of Oberösterreich). There may have been
even more villages and hamlets of those names which have disappeared
over the centuries.


Hope this answers your question!
Regards,
Scriptor