Wagner (surname)

The surname "Wagner" is derived from the Germanic surname Waganari, meaning wagonmaker or wagon driver. The surname is German but is also well-established in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, eastern Europe, and elsewhere as well as in all German-speaking countries, and among Ashkenazi Jews.

The Wagner surname was first found in Saxony, where the family became a prominent contributor to the development of the area from ancient times. The alternatively spelled surname Wegner has its origin in Silesia.

This common occupational surname was often given to one who transported produce or other goods via high-sided wagons or carts. Among some German populations, especially the Pennsylvania Germans, Wagner also denoted a wagon-maker, wainwright, or cartwright.

People with the surname Wagner

 * Adolph Wagner, (1835–1917), German economist
 * Agnieszka Wagner (born 1970), Polish actress
 * Allan Wagner (born 1942), Peruvian diplomat
 * Allan R. Wagner (1934–2018), American experimental psychologist and learning theorist
 * Alex Wagner (born 1977), American television host, liberal journalist and author
 * Andreas Wagner (born 1967), Austrian-American evolutionary biologist
 * Andreas Wagner (politician) (born 1972), German politician
 * Ann Wagner (born 1962), American politician, U.S. Representative from Missouri
 * Annett Wagner-Michel (born 1955), German chess master
 * Wagner (footballer, born 1966) (born Antonio Wagner de Moraes in 1966), Brazilian football forward
 * Arthur Wagner (1824–1902), English clergyman from Brighton
 * Ashley Wagner (born 1991), American figure skater
 * Audrey Wagner (1927–1984), American baseball player (1943–1949), obstetrician and gynecologist
 * Austin Wagner (born 1997), Canadian professional ice hockey player playing for United States teams
 * Ben Wagner (born 1980), American radio sportscaster
 * Billy Wagner (born 1971), American Major League Baseball player
 * Blake Wagner (born 1988), American soccer coach
 * Bobby Wagner (born 1990), American NFL football player
 * Carl-Ludwig Wagner (1930–2012), German politician
 * Charles Wagner (1852–1919), French pastor and author who was invited to preach at the White House
 * Chris Wagner (born 1991), American National Hockey League player
 * Cosima Wagner (1837–1930), director of the Bayreuth Festival, daughter of Liszt and widow of Richard Wagner
 * Dalton Wagner (born 1998), American football player
 * Daniela Wagner (born 1957), German politician
 * Dan Wagner (born 1963), British entrepreneur
 * Dan Wagner (data scientist)
 * Danny Wagner, American basketball player
 * David Wagner (disambiguation), several people
 * David A. Wagner (born 1974), American computer security and cryptography researcher
 * David L. Wagner (born 1956), American entomologist
 * Dennis Wagner (born 1958), American football coach
 * [[Dennis Wagner (chess player)] (born 1997), German chess grandmaster
 * Dietrich Wagner (1945–2023), German engineer
 * Dinara Wagner (born 1999), German chess woman grandmaster
 * D. J. Wagner (born 2005), American basketball player
 * Eberhard Wagner (born 1938), German academic, linguist and author
 * Eduard Wagner (1894–1944), quartermaster-general of the German Army in World War II
 * Eric Wagner (1959–2021), American heavy metal vocalist
 * Florence Signaigo Wagner (1919–2019), American botanist who served as president of the American Fern Society
 * Franz Wagner (basketball) (born 2001), German basketball player
 * Franz Josef Wagner (born 1943), German journalist
 * Friedelind Wagner (1918–1991), German writer and broadcaster, daughter of Siegfried and Winifred Wagner
 * Fridolin Wagner (born 1997), German footballer
 * Gary Wagner (baseball) (born 1940), American baseball player
 * George D. Wagner (1829–1869), American politician, farmer and Union general during the American Civil War
 * Gerhard Maria Wagner (born 1954), Austrian Roman Catholic priest who was nominated auxiliary bishop in Linz, but didn't accept
 * Gerhard Wagner (physician), (1888–1939), the first Reich Doctors' Leader (Reichsärzteführer) of Nazi Germany
 * Gottfried Wagner (born 1947) writer and critic of the Wagner family, son of Wolfgang Wagner
 * Gudrun Wagner (1944–2007), second wife of Wolfgang Wagner
 * Günter P. Wagner (born 1954), Austrian biologist
 * Guillermo Wagner Granizo (1923–1995) American ceramic tile muralist in Northern California.
 * Gustav Wagner (1911–1980), Austrian Nazi SS officer at Sobibór extermination camp
 * Gustav Wagner (disambiguation)
 * Harvey M. Wagner (1931–2017), American management scientist and professor
 * Haylie Wagner (born 1993), American softball player in the National Pro Fastpitch league
 * Heinrich Leopold Wagner (National Pro Fastpitch), German dramatist and author
 * Henry Michell Wagner (1792–1870), Vicar of Brighton 1824–1870
 * Honus Wagner (1874–1955), American baseball player
 * Ina Wagner (born 1946), Austrian scientist and university professor
 * James Elvin Wagner (1873–1969), American clergyman
 * James Wagner (poet) (born 1969), American poet
 * James W. Wagner (born 1953), president of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
 * Jane Wagner (born 1935), American writer, director and producer
 * Jaques Wagner (born 1951), Brazilian federal government's Minister of Defence
 * Jasmin Wagner (born 1980), stage name Blümchen, German singer, actress, model and spokeswoman
 * Jenny Wagner (born 1984), German physicist and cosmologist
 * Jenny Wagner (author) (born 1939), Australian writer for children
 * Jens-Christian Wagner (born 1966), German historian
 * Jill Wagner (born 1979), American actress
 * Johann Wagner (footballer) (born 1990), Australian rules footballer
 * Johann Peter Alexander Wagner (1730–1809), German rococo sculptor
 * Johann Andreas Wagner (1797–1861), German zoologist
 * Johann Philipp Wagner (1799-1879), German merchant and inventor
 * John Wagner (born 1949), American-born British comics writer
 * Josef Wagner (disambiguation), several people
 * Kai Wagner (born 1997), German footballer
 * Karl Willy Wagner (1883–1953), German pioneer in the theory of electronic filters
 * Karl Edward Wagner (1945–1994), American horror, science fiction and fantasy writer
 * Katharina Wagner (born 1949), German opera director, daughter of Wolfgang and Gudrun Wagner
 * Klaus Wagner, (1910–2000) German mathematician
 * Kurt Wagner (general) (1904-1989), German general
 * Lindsay Wagner (born 1949), American actress
 * Martin Wagner (disambiguation), several people
 * Mary Wagner (born 1949), American politician and jurist
 * Matt Wagner (born 1961), American comics writer and artist
 * Melinda Wagner (born 1957), American composer
 * Mike Wagner (born 1949), American retired football player, retired football coach, and bank officer
 * Mirel Wagner (born 1987) Ethiopia-born Finnish singer-songwriter
 * Moritz Wagner (naturalist) (1813–1887), German explorer, collector, geographer and evolutionary biologist
 * Moritz Wagner (basketball) (born 1997), German basketball player
 * Nándor Wagner (1922–1997), Hungarian sculptor
 * Neil Wagner (born 1986), South African-born New Zealand cricketer
 * Neil Wagner (baseball) (born 1984), American Nippon Professional Baseball and Major League Baseball player
 * Nike Wagner (born 1945), German dramaturge, daughter of Wieland Wagner
 * Nikolai Wagner (1829–1907), Russian zoologist, writer and psychic researcher
 * Otto Wagner (1841–1918), Austrian architect and urban planner
 * Paul Wagner (born 1967), American baseball player
 * Paula Wagner (born 1946), American film and theatre producer and film executive
 * Renan Wagner (born 1991), Brazilian footballer
 * Richard Wagner (1813–1883), German composer
 * Richard Wagner (judge) (born 1957), Canadian judge and 18th Chief Justice of Canada (2017–present)
 * Richard Wagner (novelist) (1952–2023), Romanian-German novelist
 * Richard E. Wagner (born 1941), American economist
 * Richard K. Wagner, American psychologist and professor
 * Richard Paul Wagner (1882–1953), Chief of Design for Deutsche Reichsbahn 1922–1942; standardized locomotive designs
 * Robert Wagner (born 1930), American actor
 * Robert Wagner (disambiguation), several people
 * Robert F. Wagner (1877–1953), American politician, U.S. Senator from New York
 * Robert F. Wagner Jr. (1910–1991), American politician and mayor of New York City
 * Robert Heinrich Wagner (1895–1946), German Nazi Gauleiter and Reich Governor of Alsace, executed for war crimes
 * Robin Wagner (figure skater), American retired skater and skating coach
 * Robin Wagner (designer) (born 1933), Broadway set designer
 * Ruth Wagner (born 1940), German politician
 * Ryan Wagner (born 1982), Major League Baseball player
 * Sandro Wagner (born 1987), German footballer
 * Siegfried Wagner (1869–1930), German composer and conductor, son of Richard and Cosima Wagner
 * Stanley Wagner (disambiguation), several people
 * Steve Wagner (disambiguation)
 * Sue Wagner (born 1940), American politician
 * Thomas Wagner (disambiguation)
 * Tini Wagner (1919–2004), Dutch swimmer
 * Tyler Wagner (born 1991), American Major League Baseball and Atlantic League of Professional Baseball player
 * Thomas M. Wagner (c. 1824–1862), Confederate artillery officer and eponym of Fort Wagner
 * Viktor Wagner (1908–1981), Russian mathematician
 * Vladimir Wagner (1849 –1934), Russian psychologist and naturalist
 * Walter Wagner (footballer) (born 1949), German footballer
 * Walter Wagner (notary) (1907–1945), German notary who married Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun
 * Warren H. Wagner (1920–2000), American botanist
 * Warren Lambert Wagner (born 1950), American botanist and botanical curator for the National Museum of Natural History
 * Webster Wagner (1817–1882), American railroad inventor, manufacturer and politician
 * Wieland Wagner (1917–1966), German opera director and producer, son of Siegfried Wagner and Winifred Wagner
 * Wilhelm Richard Wagner, full name of German composer Richard Wagner
 * Wilhelm Wagner (scholar) (1843–1880), a German scholar of Greek poetry
 * Wilhelm Wagner (entomologist) (1895–1977), German entomologist
 * Willi Wagner (born 1941), German Olympic athlete
 * Winifred Wagner (1897–1980), British-born director of the Bayreuth Festival, wife of Siegfried Wagner and friend of Adolf Hitler
 * Wolfgang Wagner (1919–2010), German opera festival director, younger brother of Wieland Wagner
 * Wolfgang Wagner (social psychologist), Austrian social psychologist

Fictional characters

 * Ivan Wagner, protagonist of Alexander Belyayev's series Professor Wagner's Inventions