Potapov (masculine, ) or Potapova (feminine, ) is a Russian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Aleksandr Potapov (1818–1886), Russian statesman Anastasia Potapova (born 2001), Russian-Austrian tennis player Leonid Potapov (1935–2020), Russian politician Leonid Potapov (ethnographer) (1905–2000), Russian ethnographer Maksim Potapov (born 1980), Russian ice hockey player Mikhail Feofanovich Potapov (1921–1943), Soviet artillery captain Mikhail Ivanovich Potapov, Major General of the 5th Guards Combined Arms Army Viktor Potapov (1947–2017), Soviet–Russian sailor Viktor Pavlovich Potapov (1934–2021), Soviet–Russian naval aviation officer Vladimir Potapov (1914–1980), Soviet–Ukrainian mathematician
See also 13480 Potapov, a main-belt asteroid