Taft is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:
- William Howard Taft (1857–1930), 27th president of the United States and 10th Chief Justice of the United States
- The Taft family, a political dynasty that includes the above-named president:
- The Tafts of Mendon and Uxbridge, Massachusetts:
- Robert Taft Sr. (c. 1640–1725), immigrant, patriarch of the Taft family, and ancestor of President Taft
- Robert Taft, 2nd (1674–1748), colonial-born pioneer son of Robert Taft Sr., he founded the Tafts of Ohio
- Josiah Taft (1709–1756), grandson of Robert Sr and husband of Lydia Chapin Taft
- Lydia Chapin Taft (1712–1778), widow of Josiah and the first woman to vote in colonial America
- Peter Rawson Taft (1785–1867), descendant of Robert Sr, grandfather of President Taft, and a Vermont legislator
- The Tafts of Ohio:
- Alphonso Taft (1810–1891), Attorney General and Secretary of War of the United States, co-founder of Skull and Bones, descendant of Robert Sr, and father of President Taft
- Louise Taft (1827–1907), second wife of Alphonse and mother of the president
- Henry Waters Taft (1859–1945), American lawyer and brother of the president
- Charles Phelps Taft (1843–1929), American lawyer and brother of the president
- Horace Dutton Taft (1861–1943), American educator and brother of the president
- Robert A. Taft (1889–1953), United States senator from Ohio, son of the president
- Robert Taft Jr. (1917–1993), Robert A. Taft's son, 1960s U.S. representative and 1970s U.S. Senator from Ohio
- Bob Taft (born 1942), Robert A. Taft's grandson, a governor of Ohio
- The Tafts of Mendon and Uxbridge, Massachusetts:
- Bill Taft, American rock musician
- Catherine Taft, American art critic
- Earl Taft (1931–2021), American mathematician, husband of Hessy
- E. W. Taft, statistical engineer who developed the economic production quantity model
- George Taft (born 1993), English footballer
- Hessy Levinsons Taft (born 1934), Jewish child model for Nazi propaganda, wife of Earl
- Lorado Taft (1860–1936), American sculptor
- Kevin Taft (born 1955), Canadian politician
- Robert F. Taft (1932–2018), a Jesuit priest
- Jerry Taft (1943–2020), American meteorologist