# Wainwright (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/wainwright/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

An English surname originating as an occupation

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,114 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,948 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 43,400 people |
| Change since 2000 | +4.2% (6,824 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈweɪnɹaɪt/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Old English wægnwyrhta, equivalent to wain (“large wagon for farm use”) + wright (“worker; maker”). The Canadian town is named after William Wainwright, the second vice-president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway along which the town was built.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Wainwright in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 77% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 18% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 2.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Wainwright in the United States and Canada.

## People named Wainwright

- Rufus Wainwright, American-Canadian singer-songwriter and composer
- Loudon Wainwright III, American singer-songwriter, humorist, and actor
- Helen Wainwright, American swimmer, diver, Olympic silver medalist, former world record-holder
- Adam Wainwright, American baseball player
- Alisha Wainwright, American actress

## Similar surnames

Wenrich.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.