Fanning is a surname of Irish origin. Notable people with the surname include:
Bede Fanning (1885–1970), Australian public servant
Bernard Fanning (born 1969), Australian musician, best known for his role as the lead singer of the Australian rock band Powderfinger
Buist M. Fanning (born 1949), American biblical Greek scholar
Dakota Fanning (born 1994), American child actress
Dave Fanning, Irish television and radio personality
Detective Fanning (born 1967), character in 2004 film Collateral played by actor Mark Ruffalo
Edmund Fanning (1769–1841), American explorer
Edmund Fanning (colonial administrator) (1739–1818), American-born administrator for the British government in New York and Loyalist; later a governor in Canada
Elle Fanning (born 1998), American child actress and younger sister of Dakota
Eric Kenneth Fanning (born 1968), United States Secretary of the Army
Fred Fanning (1921–1993), Australian rules footballer
Jim Fanning (1927–2015), former catcher, manager and front office executive in Major League Baseball
Jimmy Valiant (born James Harold Fanning, 1942), American retired professional wrestler
Juan Fanning (1824–1881), Peruvian naval officer and war hero
Kay Fanning (1927–2000), American newspaper editor and publisher, first American woman to edit a national newspaper
Ken Fanning (born 1947), American wilderness guide and retired politician
Eugene Michael "Mick" Fanning, Australian professional surfer and two time world champion
Nathaniel Fanning (1755–1804), American naval officer and war hero
Ronan Fanning (1941–2017), Irish historian
Shawn Fanning (born 1980), computer programmer and creator of the original Napster application
Thomas A. Fanning (a.k.a. Tom Fanning), American chief executive.
Vincent Fanning, Irish, first manager of Cork Airport (1961).
