Selim E. Woodworth (November 27, 1815 – January 29, 1871) was a commander in the United States Navy, prominent San Francisco businessman, and member of the Woodworth political family.

Woodworth was born in New York City, the second son of poet and dramatist Samuel Woodworth. He was a descendant of colonial settler Walter Woodworth. At age twelve he set out with a rifle to cross the continent, but was intercepted after walking 300 miles and sent home. In 1834 he sailed as captain's clerk in the ship Margaret Oakley, which was shipwrecked off Madagascar. He lived on the island with the natives, but eventually reached Mauritius, returning home after an absence of four years.

Appointed a midshipman on 16 June 1838, Woodworth was ordered to join the Wilkes Exploring Expedition. However, the order was sent to Norfolk, Virginia and was not forwarded to him. When he reported in response to a duplicate order, the expedition had already sailed. He was instead sent to the Mediterranean Sea for duty in the ship of the line Ohio. On 3 August, he was detached for a three-month leave; he received an additional leave of three months to visit Milan, Italy, and on 24 December was ordered to join the Falmouth, then fitting out at New York.

Samuel Woodworth (January 13, 1784 – December 9, 1842) was an American author, literary journalist, playwright, librettist, and poet.

Woodworth was born in Scituate, Massachusetts to Revolutionary War veteran Benjamin Woodworth and his wife Abigail Bryant. He was apprenticed to Benjamin Russell, editor of the Columbian Sentinel. He then moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he briefly published the Belles-Lettres Repository, a weekly. He next moved to New York City, but recalled New Haven in his A Poem: New Haven.

Woodworth married Lydia Reeder in New York City on September 23, 1810. They had ten children between 1811 and 1829. Woodworth remained in New York for the rest of his life, dying there in 1842 at the age of 56.

Woodworth's son, Selim E. Woodworth, was a U.S. Navy officer who took part in the rescue of the snowbound Donner Party in California. The USS Woodworth (DD-460) was named for him.

Woodworth is best known for the poem The Old Oaken Bucket, which has been described as one of the most beautiful works in the English Language. The first stanza reads: