Merton is a surname of English origin. Notable people with the surname include:
Alice Merton (born 1993), German singer-songwriter Don Merton (1939–2011), New Zealand conservationist Ernst Merton (1848–1920), American politician and lawyer Hugo Merton (1879–1940), German zoologist Paul Merton (born 1957), British actor and comedian Robert C. Merton (born 1944), American Nobel Prize–winning economist Robert K. Merton (1910–2003), American sociologist, father of Robert C. Merton Thomas Merton (1915–1968), American Cistercian monk, social activist and author Sir Thomas Ralph Merton KBE FRS (1888–1969), British physicist and art collector Walter de Merton (c. 1205 – 1277), Bishop of Rochester, England and founder of Merton College William "Bill" Ralph Merton (1917–2004), British military scientist and merchant banker William Ralph Merton (1848–1916), German entrepreneur, founder of the University of Frankfurt and Metallgesellschaft AG Zachary Merton (1843–1915), Anglo-German industrialist and philanthropist