{{Short description|Surname}} '''Rainsford''' is an English-language surname, a variation of the toponymic surname Rainford from the village Rainford, Lancashire.<ref name="Hanks Coates McClure 2016">{{cite book | last1 = Hanks | first1 = Patrick | author-link = Patrick Hanks | last2 = Coates | first2 = Richard | author-link2 = Richard Coates | last3 = McClure | first3 = Peter | title = The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2016 | isbn = 978-0-19-252747-9 | oclc = 964412220 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0AyDDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA2207 | page = 2207 | access-date = 26 June 2019 }}</ref> Other variants include Raynsford, Rainforth, and Ranford. Notable people with the Rainsford surname variant include:
* Andrew Rainsford Wetmore (1820–1892), New Brunswick politician and jurist * Charles Rainsford (1728–1809), British Army officer * Ed Rainsford (born 1984), Zimbabwean cricketer * George Payne Rainsford James (1799–1860), English novelist and historical writer * George Rainsford (politician), Australian politician * George Rainsford (actor), English actor * Harold Rainsford Stark (1880–1972), officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II * Jenny Rainsford (1986–) English actress * Jill Rainsford (1905–1994), actress, songwriter, painter and author * Marcus Rainsford (c. 1758 – 1817) Officer in the British Army, serving in the Battle of Camden 1780, during the American Revolutionary War, and historical author * Sir Mark Rainsford (c. 1652 – 1709), Irish Lord Mayor of Dublin and the original founder of the St James' Gate (Guinness) Brewery * Peter Rainsford Brady (1825–1902), American military officer, surveyor and politician * Sarah Rainsford BBC foreign correspondent * Rainey Qualley (born 1989), singer and actress, uses the name '''Rainsford''' while releasing and writing music
'''Fictional characters''' * Sanger Rainsford, from Richard Connell's 1924 short story "The Most Dangerous Game"
== See also == * Rainsford Historic District, group of Victorian houses in Cheyenne, Wyoming, many designed by architect George D. Rainsford * Rainsford Island, 11-acre island in the Boston Harbor, between Long Island and Peddocks Island
== See also == * {{intitle|Rainsford}} * Rainforth, variant spelling * Ranford (surname), variant spelling * Raynsford, variant spelling
== References == {{reflist}}
{{surname|Rainsford}} <!-- It does not help to add disambig or hndis tags where the page only contains people who share a given name or surname -->
Category:English-language surnames Category:English toponymic surnames