Sanford is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Adam Sanford, Dominican cricketer
Agnes Sanford, American Christian writer
Arlene Sanford, American film and television director
Chance Sanford, American baseball player
Charles S. Sanford, Jr., American businessman
Chris Sanford (born 1968), American retired mixed martial artist
Curtis Sanford, Canadian ice hockey goaltender
Donald Sanford, American-Israeli Olympic sprinter
Edmund Sanford, American psychologist
Edward Sanford, New York politician
Edward Terry Sanford, U.S. Supreme Court justice
Fred Sanford, American baseball player
Fred Sanford, American musician
Garwin Sanford, Canadian actor
Henry Shelton Sanford, American diplomat and businessman, founder of the city of Sanford, Florida.
Isabel Sanford, American actress and comedian
Jack Sanford (1917-2005, first baseman), American baseball player
Jack Sanford (1929-2000), American baseball player
James Sanford (disambiguation), multiple people
John A. Sanford (1929–2005), also known as Jack, American Jungian psychoanalyst and Episcopal priest
John C. Sanford (born 1950), American plant geneticist and advocate of intelligent design and young earth creationism
John E. Sanford (died 1907), U.S. politician in Massachusetts
John Elroy Sanford, birth name of American comedian Redd Foxx
John Langton Sanford (1824–1877), English historical writer
John Sanford (author), American author and screenwriter, born Julian Lawrence Shapiro
John Sanford (governor) (1605–1653), founder of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, USA
John Sanford (1803) (1803–1857), U.S. Representative from New York
John Sanford (1851) (1851–1939), U.S. Representative from New York
John W. A. Sanford (1798–1870), United States Congressional Representative from the state of Georgia
Katherine Sanford (1915-2005), American cancer biologist
Kiki Sanford, American neurophysiologist and science communicator
Leonard Cutler Sanford (1868–1950), American surgeon and ornithologist
Lillias Rumsey Sanford, American school founder
Louis Childs Sanford, American Episcopal bishop
Lucius Sanford, American American football player
Maria L. Sanford, American educator
Mark Sanford (1960– ), American South Carolina politician
Mike Sanford, American college football coach
Mike Sanford Jr., American football coach
Mitchell Sanford (1799–1861), New York politician
Nathan Sanford (1777–1838), New York politician, US Senator
Nehemiah Curtis Sanford, American industrialist and politician
Reuben Sanford (1780–1855), New York politician
Richard K. Sanford (1822–1895), New York politician
Roscoe Frank Sanford, American astronomer
Scott Sanford (born 1963), American politician, accountant, and Baptist clergyman
T. Denny Sanford, American businessman and philanthropist
Taylor Sanford, American baseball player, coach, and college athletics administrator
Terry Sanford, American governor and senator from North Carolina
Thomas Sanford, nuclear physicist at Sandia National Laboratories, awarded the Hannes Alfvén Prize in 2005
William Eli Sanford, Canadian businessman, philanthropist, and politician
Winifred Sanford (1890 - 1983), American writer