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
  • 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

See also

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