occupational surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
derived from the pre-7th century
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
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
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
Adam Wainwright
Adam Parrish Wainwright (born August 30, 1981), nicknamed "Waino" and "Uncle Charlie", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB).
The Atlanta Braves selected him 29th overall in th ...
(born 1981), American baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals
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Alfred Wainwright
Alfred Wainwright MBE (17 January 1907 – 20 January 1991), who preferred to be known as A. Wainwright or A.W., was a British fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator. His seven-volume '' Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells'', publis ...
(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
* Brooks Wainwright, (born 1990) American electrician, son of Scott Wainwright Sr.
* Charles S. Wainwright (1826–1907), American artillery officer during the American Civil War
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Edgar Thomas Wainwright
Edgar Thomas Wainwright was a sculptor born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1868 before emigrating to the United States. He moved to New York City in 1889 and to New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,George L. Wainwright, Jr. (born 1943), American judge, Associate Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court
* Graison Wainwright (born 1942), American mechanic, son of Chester Wainwright, and father of Scott Wainwright Sr. and Troy Wainwright
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Geoffrey Wainwright
Geoffrey Wainwright (1939 – 17 March 2020) was an English theologian. He spent much of his career in the United States and taught at Duke Divinity School. Wainwright made major contributions to modern Methodist theology and Christian liturgy, ...
(born 1939), British Methodist theologian
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Harry Wainwright
Harry Smith Wainwright (16 November 1864 – 19 September 1925) was an English railway engineer, and was the Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway from 1899 to 1913. He is best known for a se ...
Locomotive, Carriage and Wagon Superintendent of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway
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Helen Wainwright
Helen E. Wainwright (March 15, 1906 – October 11, 1965), also known by her married name Helen Stelling, was a competition diver and swimmer who represented the United States at the 1920 Summer Olympics and 1924 Summer Olympics. She remains th ...
, American diver and freestyle swimmer
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Henry Wainwright
Henry Wainwright (12 July 1832 – 21 December 1875) was an English murderer.
Wainwright was a brushmaker who murdered his mistress Harriet Louisa Lane in September 1874 and buried her body in a warehouse he owned. When he was declared bankrupt ...
(died 1875), English brushmaker and murderer
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Hilary Wainwright
Hilary Wainwright (born 1949) is a British sociologist, political activist and socialist feminist, best known for being a co-editor of '' Red Pepper'' magazine.
Early life and education
Wainwright's father was the Liberal MP Richard Wainwr ...
(born 1949), British socialist and feminist
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Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (bishop)
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright I (February 24, 1792 – September 21, 1854) was a provisional Episcopal bishop in Manhattan, New York City.
Early life
Wainwright was born in Liverpool, England on February 24, 1792. He was the son of Peter Wainwrig ...
(1792–1854), b. Liverpool, England, Americal Episcopal Bishop and father of Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II
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Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright II (July 27, 1821 – January 1, 1863) was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War, who was killed in action during the Battle of Galveston.
Early life
Wainwright was born on July 27, 1821, i ...
(1821–1863), Lieutenant in the United States Navy during the US Civil War, grandfather of Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV.
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Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV
Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV (August 23, 1883 – September 2, 1953) was a career American army officer and the Commander of Allied forces in the Philippines at the time Japan surrendered to the United States, during World War II. Wainwright ...
(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.
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Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III (born September 5, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He has released twenty-six studio albums, four live albums, and six compilations. Some of his best-known songs include "The Swimmin ...
(born 1946), American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, actor, father of Martha and Rufus Wainwright
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Louie L. Wainwright
Louie Lee Wainwright (September 11, 1923 – December 23, 2021) was an American corrections administrator who served as Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections from 1962 to 1987. He is known for having been the named respondent in two ...
, 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
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Martin Wainwright
Martin Wainwright MBE is a British journalist and author. He left ''The Guardian'' after 37 years at the end of March 2013.Martin Wainwrigh"The Northerner - into 2013" ''The Guardian'' (blog), 31 December 2012
Early life
He was born in Leeds, ...
Richard Wainwright (politician)
Richard Scurrah Wainwright (11 April 1918 – 16 January 2003) was a British politician of the Liberal Party. He was the MP for Colne Valley from 1966 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1987.
Early life and education
Wainwright was born in Lee ...
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...
(born 1973), Canadian-American singer-songwriter, son of Loudon Wainwright III
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Sally Wainwright
Sally Anne Wainwright (born 1963) is an English television writer, producer, and director from Yorkshire. Early in her career, Wainwright worked as a playwright, and as a scriptwriter on the long-running radio serial drama ''The Archers''. In t ...
, English dramatist and television writer
* Scott Wainwright Sr., (born 1964), Retired American mechanic and electrician. Son of Graison Wainwright and father of Scott Wainwright Jr. and Brooks Wainwright
* Scott Wainwright Jr., (born 1985), American contractor, son of Scott Wainwright Sr, and father of Scott Wainwright III, and his three younger sisters.
* Scott Wainwright III, (born 2009), American citizen, son of Scott Wainwright Jr.
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Ted Wainwright
Ted Wainwright (8 April 1865 – 28 October 1919) was an English first-class cricketer, who played in 352 first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1888 and 1902. An all-rounder, Wainwright helped to establish the county at ...
Victor Wainwright
Victor Lawton Wainwright, Jr. (born February 4, 1981) is an American blues and boogie-woogie singer, songwriter, and pianist. Wainwright's musical style was described by the American Blues Scene magazine in 2013 as "honky-tonk and boogie, with ...
(born 1981), American blues and boogie-woogie singer, songwriter, and pianist
*William Wainwright, British musician better known under his artist name
William Orbit
William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 7 May 2017. Available onlinvia ''Encyclopedia.com'' known ...
. 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