Bancroft is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
The Bancroft family, previous owners of Dow Jones & CompanyAaron Bancroft (1755–1839), Colonial American clergyman and Revolutionary War soldierAnn Bancroft (born 1955), American explorerAnne Bancroft (1931–2005), American actressBilly Bancroft (1871–1959), Welsh international rugby union player and county cricketerCam Bancroft (born 1992), Australian cricketerCameron Bancroft (born 1967), Canadian actorDave Bancroft (1891–1972), American baseball player and member of the Baseball Hall of FameEdward Bancroft (1744–1821), American double agent in the American Revolutionary WarEffie Bancroft (1839-1921), English actress and theatre managerFrederick Bancroft (1855–1929), Canadian educatorGeorge Bancroft (1800–1891), American historian, statesman, and Secretary of the Navy (1845–1846)George Bancroft (actor) (1882–1956), American actorH. Hugh Bancroft (1904–1988), British organist and composerHubert Howe Bancroft (1832–1918), American historian and ethnologistIan Bancroft, Baron Bancroft (1922-1996), British civil servantJack Bancroft (1879–1942), Welsh international rugby union player and county cricketerJessie Hubbell Bancroft (1867-1952), American educator, a pioneer of physical educationJohn Bancroft (bishop) (1574–1640), bishop of OxfordJohn Bancroft (dramatist) (died 1696), English dramatistJohn Bancroft (architect) (1928–2011), British architectJohn Bancroft (sexologist) (born 1936), American physicianJohn Bancroft (businessman) (21st century), British businessmanJoseph Bancroft (1836-1894), English-born Australian surgeon and parasitologistMary Bancroft (1903-1997), American novelist and spyG. Michael Bancroft (born 1942), Canadian chemist and synchrotron scientistNatalie 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 managerStephen H. Bancroft, American theologian and educatorThomas Bancroft (poet) (c. 1596–1658), a 17th-century English poet.Thomas Bancroft (MP) (died 1636), English MP for Castle RisingThomas Bancroft (priest) (1756–1811), English Anglican vicar of Bolton-le-MoorsTom Bancroft (born 1967), British jazz drummer and composerWilder Dwight Bancroft (1867–1953), American physical chemist