Notable people named Wharton include:

• A C Wharton, Former Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee
• Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr. (1899–1990), American diplomat
• Clifton R. Wharton, Jr. (1926–2024), United States Deputy Secretary of State
• James Wharton (born 1984), British politician, ex member of parliament and minister
• Jeff Wharton, Canadian provincial politician from Manitoba
• John Austin Wharton (1806–1838), soldier and statesman in the Republic of Texas
• John Wharton (fl. 1407–1420), MP for Guildford
• John Wharton (MP for Beverley) (1765–1843)
• John Lloyd Wharton (1837–1912), British Member of Parliament for Durham, 1871–1874, and Ripon, 1886–1906
• Robert Wharton (Philadelphia) (1757–1834), Mayor of Philadelphia
• Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735–1778), Governor of Pennsylvania
• Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton and Malmesbury (1648–1715), English Whig politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
• William H. Wharton (1802–1839), Republic of Texas politician

• Adam Wharton (born 2004), English footballer
• Alan Wharton (1923–1993), English cricketer
• Albert Buckman Wharton, Jr. (a.k.a. Buster Wharton) (1909-1963), American rancher and polo player.
• Arthur Wharton, (1865–1930) Ghanaian-born footballer who played in England
• Ben Wharton, English footballer.
• Jackie Wharton, (1920–2007), English footballer
• Ken Wharton (1916–1957), Formula One racing driver
• Kenny Wharton (born 1960), English footballer
• Louis Wharton (1896–1957), West Indian-born English cricketer
• Shonica Wharton (born 1996), Barbadian netball player
• Tershawn Wharton (born 1998), American football player
• Wharton Davies (1874-1961), Welsh rugby union and rugby league footballer

• Albert Buckman Wharton III, American rancher.
• Anne Wharton (1659–1685), English poet and playwright
• Edith Wharton (1862–1937), American novelist, short story writer, and designer
• Gabriel C. Wharton (1824–1906), Confederate general in the American Civil War
• Gabriel Caldwell Wharton (1839–1887), Union lieutenant colonel in the American Civil War
• George Wharton, (1618–1681), English pamphleteer and astrologer
• Gordon Wharton, (1929–2011), English poet
• Henry Wharton (writer) (1664–1695), English writer
• Henry Wharton (soldier), (died 1689) English soldier who served in Ireland
• John A. Wharton (1828–1865), Confederate general during the American Civil War
• John F. Wharton (lawyer) (1894–1977), American entertainment lawyer
• John F. Wharton (general) (born c. 1959), United States Army general
• Joseph Wharton (1826–1909), prominent Philadelphia merchant, industrialist and philanthropist
• Joseph John Cheyne Wharton, (1859–1923), journalist in South Australia and New South Wales
• Michael Wharton (1913–2006), newspaper columnist who wrote under the pseudonym Peter Simple
• Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton (1613–1696), English peer and Parliamentarian during the English Civil War
• Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton (1698–1731), powerful Jacobite politician, notorious libertine and rake
• Steve Wharton, British academic
• Thomas Wharton, 1st Baron Wharton (1495–1568), English nobleman
• Thomas Wharton, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), English nobleman
• Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton (1648–1715), English nobleman and politician, credited with being the lyricist of Lilliburlero
• Thomas Wharton Jr. (1735–1778), American politician and 1st President of Pennsylvania
• Thomas Wharton (anatomist) (1614–1673), English anatomist
• Thomas Wharton (author) (born 1963), Canadian novelist
• Tiny Wharton (1927–2005), Scottish soccer referee
• William Wharton (author) (1925–2008), American novelist
• William Wharton (hydrographer) (1843–1905), British admiral and hydrographer
• Baron Wharton, a title of English nobility