Bolton is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include:

Academics

• Andrew Bolton (curator) (born 1966), British museum curator
• Geoffrey Bolton (1931–2015), Australian academic historian
• Herbert Eugene Bolton (1870–1953), American historian and professor
• Jim Bolton (historian), English medieval economic historian
• Patrick Bolton (born 1957), American economist and professor
• Robert Bolton (1572–1631), English clergyman and academic
• Samuel Bolton (1606–1654), English clergyman and scholar

Art

• Clarence Bolton (1893–1962), American painter and lithographer
• Constance Bolton (née Beard, 1884–1949), New Zealand painter
• William Jay Bolton (1816–1884), English-American designer and manufacturer of stained glass windows

Banking and finance

• Anthony Bolton (born 1950), British investment fund manager and investor
• Frederic Bolton (1851–1920), English shipowner and underwriter
• James C. Bolton (1899–1974), American banker in Louisiana; son of James W. Bolton
• James W. Bolton (1869–1936), American banker in Louisiana; son of George Washington Bolton, father of James C. Bolton

Entertainment

• Betty Bolton (1906–2005), British actress
• Emily Bolton (born 1951), Dutch actress
• Joe Bolton (television personality) (1910–1986), American radio and television personality
• John Bolton (actor) (born 1965), American actor
• Marc Bolton (born 1968), English actor
• Mary Catherine Bolton (1790/91–1830), English actress, later known as Lady Thurlow
• Michael Bolton (born 1953), American singer
• Roger Bolton (producer) (born 1945), British television producer and radio presenter
• Zach Bolton (born 1981), American director, producer, and voice actor

Military

• Cecil H. Bolton (1908–1965), United States Army colonel and Medal of Honor recipient
• Claude M. Bolton Jr. (1945–2015), American Air Force Major General
• Daniel Bolton (1793–1860), English military engineer
• Edward L. Bolton, United States Air Force major general
• Francis Bolton (1831–1887), British Army officer and engineer
• William Bolton (Royal Navy officer, died 1817), captain in the Royal Navy
• William Bolton (Royal Navy officer, died 1830) (1777–1830), post-captain in the Royal Navy
• William Compton Bolton (died 1849), English-born officer in the United States Navy
• William Kinsey Bolton (1861–1941), Australian soldier and politician

Music

• Dupree Bolton (1929–1993), American jazz trumpeter
• Ivor Bolton (born 1958), English conductor and harpsichordist
• Steve Bolton (born 1949), English rock musician, also known as Boltz
• Tangelene Bolton (born 1991), American composer and music producer

Politics and law

Religion

• Charles Anselm Bolton (c. 1905–c.1970), English priest and professor of history and languages
• Frederick Bolton (1908-1987), Dean of Leighlin from 1963 to 1983
• George Bolton (priest) (1905–1968), Dean of Elphin and Ardagh from 1963 to 1967
• Hugh Bolton (priest) (died 1758), Dean of Waterford from 1723 until his death
• John Bolton (priest) (1665–1724), Dean of Derry from 1700 until his death
• William Bolton (priest), Dean of Ross, Ireland, from 1630 to 1637

Science

• Barry Bolton, English myrmecologist
• Charles Bolton (pathologist) (1870–1947), British physician and pathologist
• Charles Francis Bolton (born 1932), Canadian professor of neurology
• Elmer Keiser Bolton (1886–1968), American chemist
• Henry Carrington Bolton (1843–1903), American chemist and bibliographer of science
• Herbert Bolton (palaeontologist) (1863–1936), British palaeontologist
• James Bolton (1735–1799), English naturalist, mycologist, and illustrator
• John Gatenby Bolton (1922–1993), British-Australian astronomer
• Joseph Shaw Bolton (1867–1946), British physician, pathologist, alienist, neurologist, and professor of medicine
• Lissant Bolton (born 1954), Australian anthropologist
• Malcolm Bolton (born 1946), British soil mechanics engineer and professor
• Reginald Pelham Bolton ((1856–1942), Anglo-American engineer, archaeologist and historian
• Sarah Bolton (physicist), American physicist and university administrator
• Scott J. Bolton, American theoretical and experimental space physicist
• Thaddeus L. Bolton (1865–1948), American psychologist
• Tom Bolton (astronomer) (1943–2021), American-Canadian astronomer
• Werner von Bolton (1868–1912), German chemist and materials scientist

Sports

Writing

• Deric Bolton (1908–1993), Scottish poet and research chemist
• Edmund Bolton (c.1575–c.1633), English historian and poet
• Gambier Bolton (1854–1928), English author and photographer
• Guy Bolton (1884–1979), Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies
• Isabel Bolton (born Mary Britton Miller; 1883–1975), American poet and novelist
• Ivy May Bolton (1879–1961), English-American nun and writer
• Joe Bolton (poet) (1961–1990), American poet
• John Bolton (illustrator) (born 1951), British comic and graphic artist
• Ken Bolton (born 1949), Australian poet
• Muriel Roy Bolton (1908–1983), American film and television writer
• Sarah Knowles Bolton (1841–1916), American writer
• Sarah T. Bolton (1814–1893), American poet and women's rights activist
• Sharon Bolton, British author of mystery fiction, published as S. J. Bolton

Other

• Charles B. Bolton (1909–1976), American dentist
• Deirdre Bolton, American journalist and news anchor
• Kerry Bolton (born 1956), New Zealand occultist and far-right activist
• Linda Burnes Bolton, American nurse and healthcare administrator
• Mary Bolton (addiction counsellor) (1920-1996), Irish counsellor and (non-clinical) psychotherapist
• Reg Bolton (clown) (1945–2006), English-born clown in the United Kingdom and Australia
• Roxcy Bolton (1926–2017), American feminist and civil rights activist
• Steve Bolton (entrepreneur) (born 1967), British entrepreneur
• Walter James Bolton (1888–1957), New Zealand criminal
• William Robert Fossey Bolton (1905–1973), Australian businessman and philanthropist

Fictional characters

• Jack Bolton (High School Musical), a character in the 2006 American television film High School Musical
• Jambo Bolton, a character in the British Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks
• Kevin Bolton, a character in British soap opera EastEnders
• Michael Bolton, a character from the 1999 American film Office Space
• Ramsay Bolton, a character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels
• Roose Bolton, a character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels
• Troy Bolton, a character in the 2006 American television film High School Musical

See also

• Bolten
• Bolton (disambiguation)
• Boulton (surname)