Hornby is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
A. N. Hornby (1847–1925), English sportsman excelling in both rugby and cricket
A. S. Hornby (1898–1978), English grammarian, lexicographer, and pioneer in the field of English language learning and teaching (ELT)
Andy Hornby (born 1967), English businessman, chief executive of Alliance Boots
Anna Hornby, N.E.A.C (1914–1996), English painter, calligrapher and member of the New English Art Club
Ben Hornby (born 1980), Australian rugby league player
Clive Hornby (1944–2008), English actor
D. Brock Hornby (born 1944), United States federal judge
Sir Edmund Grimani Hornby (1825-1896), Chief Judge of the British Supreme Consular Court in Constantinople and the British Supreme Court for China and Japan
Edmund Phipps-Hornby VC, CB, CMG, DL (1857–1947), English recipient of the Victoria Cross
Edward Kenworthy Hornby (1839–1887), Member of Parliament for Blackburn
Frank Hornby (1863–1936), inventor of Meccano and Hornby Trains
Geoffrey Thomas Phipps Hornby (1825–1895), British admiral of the fleet
Hugh Leycester Hornby (1888–1965), Anglican clergyman
James John Hornby (1826–1909), headmaster and, later, provost of Eton
John Hornby (1880–1927), Canadian explorer
Lesley Hornby (born 1949), birth name of English model, actress, and singer better known as "Twiggy"
Nick Hornby (born 1957), author
Nick Hornby (artist) (born 1980), British artist
Phil Hornby, British news reporter, working for ITV Meridian
Phipps Hornby (1785–1867), British naval officer
Phipps Hornby (cricketer) (1820–1848), English cricketer
Richard Hornby (1922–2007), British Conservative Party politician and businessman
Robert William Bilton Hornby (1821–1888), priest, antiquarian and lord of the manor from the City of York
Ron Hornby (1914–1962), a British professional footballer
Ross Hornby, Canada's current Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the European Union
Warwick Hornby, Australian musician in the band The Whitlams
Wilfrid Bird Hornby (born 1851), an Anglican Colonial Bishop
William Hornby (governor) (c. 1723–1803), Governor of Bombay
Sir William Hornby, 1st Baronet (1841–1928), son of William Henry Hornby, also an industrialist and politician
William Henry Hornby (1805–1884) (1805–1884), English industrialist and politician