Wainwright is an Anglo-Saxon occupational surname derived from the pre-7th century Old English word waegnwyrhta. The prefix, "waeg(e)n/waen, refers to a vehicle/wagon, common in its time as being horse-driven and four-wheeled. The suffix, wyrhta/wright, refers to a maker/builder. The earliest public record of the name dates to 1237 in Essex. Variations include Wainewright, Wainright, Waynewright, Wainwrigt and Winwright.^[1] Notable people with the surname include:

• Aaron Wainwright (born 1997), Welsh rugby union player.
• Adam Wainwright (born 1981), American baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
• Alfred Wainwright (1907–1991), writer of guide books to the fells of the English Lake District, including List of Wainwrights
• Alfred Wainwright (cricketer) (1883–1971), South African cricketer
• Alisha Wainwright (born 1989), American actress
• Arthur Wainwright, English footballer
• Charles S. Wainwright (1826–1907), American artillery officer during the American Civil War
• Edgar Thomas Wainwright (1868–?), Scottish sculptor
• George L. Wainwright, Jr. (born 1943), American judge, Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
• Geoffrey Wainwright (1939–2020), British Methodist theologian
• Harriet Wainwright (1766–1843), British composer, singer, writer, and entrepreneur
• Harry Wainwright, locomotive, carriage and wagon superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway
• Helen Wainwright, American diver and freestyle swimmer
• Henry Wainwright (died 1875), English brushmaker and murderer
• Hilary Wainwright (born 1949), British socialist and feminist
• Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (bishop) (1792–1854), b. Liverpool, England, Americal Episcopal Bishop and father of Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II
• Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II (1821–1863), Lieutenant in the United States Navy during the US Civil War, grandfather of Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV.
• Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV (1883–1953), United States Army general during World War II, recipient of the Medal of Honor, Japanese Prisoner of War, and the last "fighting general."
• Loudon Wainwright Jr. (1924–1988), American columnist and editor.
• Loudon Wainwright III (born 1946), American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, actor, father of Martha and Rufus Wainwright
• Louie L. Wainwright, Secretary of Florida Division of Corrections; respondent in Gideon v. Wainwright and other famous Supreme Court cases
• Lyndon Wainwright (1919–2018), English ballroom and Latin exhibition dancer.
• Mark Wainwright, Australian academic
• Martha Wainwright (born 1976), Canadian-American singer-songwriter, daughter of Loudon Wainwright III
• Martin Wainwright, British journalist
• Michael Wainwright (musician), Canadian musician
• Richard Wainwright (politician) (1918–2003), British Liberal politician
• Richard Wainwright (Civil War naval officer) (1817–1862), United States Navy Commander, father of Admiral Richard Wainwright
• Richard Wainwright (Spanish-American War naval officer) (1849–1926), United States Navy Admiral, son of Commander Richard Wainwright
• Richard Wainwright (World War I naval officer) (1881–1944), United States Navy Commander, son of Admiral Richard Wainwright
• Rob Wainwright (rugby union) (born 1965), rugby union player, capped 37 times for Scotland (captain 16 times) and once for the British Lions
• Rufus Wainwright (born 1973), Canadian-American singer-songwriter, son of Loudon Wainwright III
• Sally Wainwright (born 1963), English dramatist and television writer
• Ted Wainwright (1865–1919), English cricketer
• Thomas Wainwright (cricketer) (1940–2019), English cricketer
• Victor Wainwright (born 1981), American blues and boogie-woogie singer, songwriter, and pianist
• William Wainwright, British musician better known under his artist name William Orbit. Other aliases include Wayne Wright
• William Edward Wainwright (1873–1959), mine manager in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia
• William L. Wainwright, American politician, member of the North Carolina General Assembly

• Justice Wainwright (disambiguation)