Thaxter is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Celia Thaxter (1835–1894), American writer of poetry and stories Edward Thaxter Gignoux (1916–1988), United States federal judge John Thaxter (1927–2012), British theatre critic Phyllis Thaxter (1919–2012), American actress Roland Thaxter (1858–1932), American mycologist, the son of Celia Thaxter and Levi Thaxter Samuel Thaxter (1665–1740), colonel and magistrate in Plymouth, New England Sidney St. Felix Thaxter (1883–1958), justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court Winfred Thaxter Denison (1873–1919), United States Assistant Attorney General and Secretary of the Interior