Bancroft is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Bancroft family, previous owners of Dow Jones & Company
Aaron Bancroft (1755–1839), Colonial American clergyman and Revolutionary War soldier
Ann Bancroft (born 1955), American explorer
Anne Bancroft (1931–2005), American actress
Billy Bancroft (1871–1959), Welsh international rugby union player and county cricketer
Cam Bancroft (born 1992), Australian cricketer
Cameron Bancroft (born 1967), Canadian actor
Dave Bancroft (1891–1972), American baseball player and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame
Edward Bancroft (1744–1821), American double agent in the American Revolutionary War
Effie Bancroft (1839-1921), English actress and theatre manager
Frederick Bancroft (1855–1929), Canadian educator
George Bancroft (1800–1891), American historian, statesman, and Secretary of the Navy (1845–1846)
George Bancroft (actor) (1882–1956), American actor
H. Hugh Bancroft (1904–1988), British organist and composer
Hubert Howe Bancroft (1832–1918), American historian and ethnologist
Ian Bancroft, Baron Bancroft (1922-1996), British civil servant
Jack Bancroft (1879–1942), Welsh international rugby union player and county cricketer
Jessie Hubbell Bancroft (1867-1952), American educator, a pioneer of physical education
John Bancroft (bishop) (1574–1640), bishop of Oxford
John Bancroft (dramatist) (died 1696), English dramatist
John Bancroft (architect) (1928–2011), British architect
John Bancroft (sexologist) (born 1936), American physician
John Bancroft (businessman) (21st century), British businessman
Joseph Bancroft (1836-1894), English-born Australian surgeon and parasitologist
Mary Bancroft (1903-1997), American novelist and spy
G. Michael Bancroft (born 1942), Canadian chemist and synchrotron scientist
Natalie Bancroft (born circa 1980), American businesswoman.
Richard Bancroft (1544–1610), English clergyman and Archbishop of Canterbury (1604–1610)
Squire Bancroft (1841–1926), English actor and manager
Stephen H. Bancroft, American theologian and educator
Thomas Bancroft (poet) (c. 1596–1658), a 17th-century English poet.
Thomas Bancroft (MP) (died 1636), English MP for Castle Rising
Thomas Bancroft (priest) (1756–1811), English Anglican vicar of Bolton-le-Moors
Tom Bancroft (born 1967), British jazz drummer and composer
Wilder Dwight Bancroft (1867–1953), American physical chemist
