Fairfax (name)

Fairfax is both a surname of English (Yorkshire and Northumberland, with a few branches later settling in Scotland) origin which means "fair hair",{{cite book |last1=Sims |first1=Clifford Stanley |title=The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames. With a Vocabulary of Christian Names. |date=1862 |publisher=J. Munsell |location=Albany, New York |oclc=1060940902 |page=[https://archive.org/details/originandsignif00simsgoog/page/n55 43]|url=https://archive.org/details/originandsignif00simsgoog|via=Internet Archive}} and a given name. Notable people with the name include:

Surname:

• Alan Fairfax (1906–1955), Australian cricketer
• Betty Fairfax (?-2010), American educator, counselor, and philanthropist
• Daphne Fairfax, a British comedian
• Edward Fairfax, translator
• Henry Fairfax (Royal Navy officer), British Admiral and Naval Commander K.C.B., F.R.G.S.,
• James Fairfax (1933–2017), Australian businessman and philanthropist
• Jean E. Fairfax (1920–2019), American educator, civil rights worker, community organizer, and philanthropist
• John Fairfax (disambiguation), name of several notable people

:* John Fairfax (delegate) (1762–1843), manager for George Washington

:* John Fairfax (minister) (1623–1700), English ejected minister

:* John Fairfax, 11th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1830–1900), British peer with American citizenship

:* John Fairfax (poet) (1930–2009), English poet

:* John Fairfax (rower) (1937–2012), British ocean rower and adventurer

• Justin Fairfax, American Democratic politician and lieutenant governor of Virginia
• Lance Fairfax (1894–1974), New Zealand baritone in Australia
• Lettice Fairfax (1876–1948)
• Michael Fairfax (born 1953), English sculptor
• Robert Fairfax (disambiguation), several people:

:* Robert Fairfax, 7th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1707–1793)

:* Robert Fairfax (rear-admiral) (1666–1725)

:* Robert Fayrfax (1464–1521), English Renaissance composer

• Ruth Fairfax, first president of the Queensland Country Women's Association
• Russell Fairfax, Australian rugby league footballer
• Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, parliamentarian general in the English Civil War
• Thomas Fairfax (Gilling), 16th-century owner of Gilling Castle, North Yorkshire
• Warwick Oswald Fairfax, (1901–1987), Australian businessman, journalist and playwright
• Warwick Fairfax (born 1960), Australian businessman, son of W. O. Fairfax
• William Fairfax, 18th-century colonial official and plantation owner in Virginia
• William George Fairfax, a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy
• Lord Fairfax of Cameron (multiple individuals), a title in the Peerage of Scotland
• Viscount Fairfax of Emley (multiple individuals), a title in the Peerage of Ireland

Given name:

• Fairfax M. Cone (1903–1977), American businessman
• Fairfax Downey (1893–1990), American writer and military historian
• Fairfax Fenwick (1852–1920), New Zealand cricketer
• Fairfax Harrison (1869–1938), American president of Southern Railway and author
• Sir Fairfax Moresby (1786–1877), Royal Navy officer

Fictional characters:

• Gavin Fairfax, a character played by John D. Collins on the British sitcom series 'Allo 'Allo!
• Colonel Fairfax, a character in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera The Yeomen of the Guard.
• Mrs. Fairfax, a character in Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre
• Jane Fairfax, a character in Jane Austen's novel Emma
• Gwendolyn Fairfax, a character in Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest
• Abigail Fairfax, a character from the 2022 adventure comedy film The Lost City, who is egotistical, eccentric billionaire seeking to find the treasure of the eponymous lost city.