Winder is a surname originating from England seen primarily in the United Kingdom and the English-speaking nations, but also in some places in mainland Europe, particularly Austria.

The United Kingdom has the next highest population of those with this surname (2,547), followed by Canada (1,059), Austria (613), the Netherlands (356), New Zealand (277), Germany (237), Australia (215), Ireland (69), Poland (49) and Sweden (48).

Vikings moved from Ireland and the Isle of Man to settle Cumberland in the 10th century, and one of their chieftains was named Vinandr.

[6] In southern England, the pronunciation is with a short "i" (wɪndər), and a version of the name first appears in Hastings in the Hundred Rolls for Sussex taken in 1274.

"[12] Wynde "is surely the old and correct pronunciation" of wind, pronounced with a short "i", "preserved to us even to the present day", according to an 1881 English study of etymology.

[15] When the next great survey of England was taken, in the Sussex Subsidy of 1296, there are not many last names with both the French “de” and “le”, but instead there is the growing use of the Middle English contraction "atte" (meaning "at the").

[17] The letter "y" was often used to represent the short "i" sound in Middle English, and even the will of Richard Wynder in 1555 used spellings such as "wyll" (will), "gyve" (give), "Alyce" (Alice), and "dyshes" (dishes).

The branch of this family to first come to America was that of the Mormon convert John Rex Winder, born in Biddenden, Kent who immigrated from England to Utah in 1853.

[20] In some Southern states, between one-quarter to one-third of slaves after the American Civil War adopted the surnames of their last owners.

[25][26] The arms are described as "chequy, Or and vert, a fess gules," meaning a gold and green checkerboard pattern, with a red band across the middle.

The crest is described as "Out of a ducal coronet Or, a bull's head ermine holding in the mouth a cherry branch slipped and fructed all proper."