His wife, feminist author Edith Ayrton Zangwill (1875-1945), was the daughter of British physicists Hertha (1854-1923) and William Edward Ayrton (1847-1908). His son, Ayrton Israel Zangwill (1906-1985), was a metallurgical engineer. Another son, Oliver Louis Zangwill (1913-1987), was a noted British neuropsychologist.