Sanford is a male given name of Old English origin, meaning "sandy ford". Notable people with the name include:

• Sanford Barsky, American professor of pathology
• Sanford Bates (1884–1972), American politician and administrator
• Sanford Berman (born 1933), American librarian
• Sanford I. Berman (1924–2015), American philanthropist and author
• Sanford Dennis Biggar (fl. 1905–1906), Canadian politician
• Sanford Augustus Brookins (1877–1968), American architect and builder
• Sanford Diller (1928–2018), American billionaire
• Sanford Biggers (born 1970), American artist
• Sanford Bishop (born 1947), American politician
• Sanford Bookstaver (born 1973), American television director
• Sanford Brown (writer) (born 1957), American Methodist minister
• Sanford E. Charron (1917–2008), American politician
• Sanford E. Church (1815–1880), American lawyer and politician
• Sanford Clark (1935–2021), American singer and guitarist
• Sanford Lockwood Cluett (1874–1968), American businessman and inventor
• Sanford Coats (born 1971), American federal attorney
• Sanford Johnston Crowe (1868–1931), Canadian politician
• Sanford B. Dole (1844–1926), American politician and judge
• Sanford Jay Frank (1954–2014), American television writer
• Sanford Friedman (1928–2011), American novelist
• Sanford Garelik (1918–2011), American politician
• Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823–1880), American landscape painter
• Sanford Gold (1911–1984), American jazz pianist
• Sanford M. Green (1807–1901), American judge
• Sanford J. Grossman (born 1953), American economist and historian
• Sanford Hunt (1881–1943), American football player and newspaper editor
• Sanford Jackson (1909–2000), Canadian biochemist
• Sanford M. Jacoby (born 1953), American economist
• Sanford Kadish (1921–2014), American criminal law scholar
• Sanford Brown Kellogg (1822–1893), American lawyer and politician
• Sanford Kirkpatrick (1842–1932), American politician
• Sanford "Sandy" Koufax (born 1935), American Major League Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher
• Sanford Kwinter, Canadian-American writer and publisher
• Sanford R. Leigh (born 1934), American civil rights activist
• Sanford Levinson (born 1941), American legal scholar
• Sanford Lieberson (born 1936), American film producer
• Sanford N. McDonnell (1922–2012), American businessman
• Sanford Meisner (1905–1997), American actor and acting teacher
• Sanford K. Moats (born 1921), American Air Force officer
• Sanford A. Moeller (1886–1960), American musician
• Sanford Alexander Moss (1872–1946), American aviation engineer
• Sanford Palay (1918–2002), American scientist and educator
• Sanford Panitch, American film executive
• Sanford Plummer (1905–1974), Native American painter
• Sanford Jacob Ramey (1798–1866), American politician
• Sanford Ransdell (1781–1854), American pioneer and soldier
• Sanford E. Reisenbach (1932–2015), American marketing executive
• Sanford Rosenthal (1897-1989), American scientist
• Sanford Ross (1907–1954), American painter and printmaker
• Sanford H. Roth (1906–1962), American photographer
• Sanford Schram (born 1949), American political scientist and author
• Sanford L. Segal (1937–2010), American mathematician
• Sanford C. Sigoloff (1930-2011), American businessman
• Sanford W. Smith (1869–1929), American judge
• Sanford Socolow (1928–2015), American broadcast journalist
• Sanford L. Steelman, Jr. (born 1951), American judge
• Sanford Sylvan (1953–2019), American baritone
• Sanford E. Thompson (1867–1949), American engineer
• Sanford J. Ungar (born 1945), American journalist and author
• Sanford Wallace (born 1968), notorious American "Spam King"
• Sanford I. Weill (born 1933), American banker
• Sanford Wheeler (born 1970), first African-American Australian rules football player
• Sanford White (1888–1964), American football and baseball player
• Sanford Calvin Yoder (1879–1975), American Mennonite pastor and scholar
• Sanford Yung (1927–2013), Hong Kong accountant and politician
• Sanford Myron Zeller (1885–1948), American mycologist

• Sanford (disambiguation)